#Maui County Council
Maui Council advances bills for agricultural tourism and food trucks in ag districts
The Maui County Council moved forward two bills this week aimed at bolstering island agriculture, but one — Bill 75, which seeks to establish agricultural tourism — sparked a debate over safeguarding indigenous Hawaiian cultural practices from commercial exploitation. In a less contentious move, Bill 76 received unanimous final Council approval to allow food trucks […]
Lahaina rebuilding dilemma: Commission debates parking lot rezoning for Moku Roots
After three failed attempts to reach an agreement, the Maui Planning Commission finally secured a 5-2 vote Tuesday recommending rezoning of a Front Street lot crucial for customer parking for the new Moku Roots vegan restaurant planned for the former Chart House site in Lahaina. The Aug. 8, 2023, wildfire destroyed the iconic restaurant along […]
Council focuses on zoning issues throughout this month
The Maui County Council will meet July 8 at 9 a.m. to consider zoning legislation on agricultural tourism, parking requirements for electric vehicles, food trucks in the agricultural district, the size of accessory dwellings and the definition of various land-use terms.
First Hawaiian Bank parcels in Lānaʻi City on Maui Council’s July 8 regular meeting agenda
Maui County Council members are set to consider accepting two parcels of land in Lānaʻi City that had been the site of First Hawaiian Bank’s Lānaʻi branch for a century before it closed at the end of June last year. Ready for consideration on the Council’s July 8 agenda, resolution 25-122 would authorize the acceptance […]
Update: Council panel recesses vacation rental deliberations until July 23
The Maui County Council’s Housing and Land Use Committee reconvened its deliberations on Bill 9 at 3:43 p.m. Wednesday after a closed executive session that went on for more than six hours. Later, the panel recessed until 9 a.m. July 23.
Maui Council breezes through remaining agenda items after marathon meeting
After a long “regular” meeting Friday-Saturday, the Maui County Council reconvened Monday morning and made short work of the rest of its agenda items in less than two hours.
Maui Council advances Honuaʻula project amendments with a slim 5-4 vote in marathon session
In a marathon session that stretched from Friday morning to past midnight Saturday, the Maui County Council narrowly approved amendments to the controversial Honuaʻula project in a 5-4 vote at 12:26 a.m. Saturday. The decision followed several hours of passionate public testimony with most of the approximately 50 speakers opposed to the development. The Council’s […]
Maui Council set to begin deliberations on short-term rental phase-out bill
Maui County Council members are set to begin deliberations next week on Bill 9, a proposed measure to phase out short-term vacation rentals that could significantly impact housing, tourism, jobs, tax revenue, and the island’s economy. The Housing and Land Use Committee, chaired by Council Member Tasha Kama, closed public testimony Wednesday after hearing from […]
Maui Council to take up contentious Honuaʻula project for first reading this Friday
The long-debated Honuaʻula master-planned community project is returning to the Maui County Council’s agenda for its regular meeting on Friday. The “hot button” issue has been whether to approve the developer’s request to remove a requirement to build 450 affordable units in the South Maui project district development. Council Member Keani Rawlins Fernandez is proposing […]
A novel idea for Maui’s housing crisis: Using vacation rental profits for residents’ down payments
A novel approach to Maui’s severe housing crisis emerged during a third round of emotional public testimony Monday on the hotly debated vacation rental phase-out bill: leveraging short-term rental profits to finance affordable housing for local families. Jonavan Asato, senior pastor at Grace Bible Church in Kahului, proposed this alternative while testifying on Bill 9 […]
Maui Council hears another 70 testifiers on vacation rental phase-out bill; still more to come
Public debate intensified Wednesday during several hours of sometimes heated testimony over a proposed phase-out of vacation rentals before the Maui County Council’s Housing and Land Use Committee.
Maui County Council voted to urgently close Holomua Road for safety reasons. One year later, it’s still open
Gates to restrict access to the road could be installed anywhere from six months to a year or more. As they sit in limbo, houseless community members living there worry where they’ll go next.
A `promise to restore balance’: Mayor Bissen makes his case for vacation rental phase-out
Citing Maui’s severe post-wildfire housing crisis, the Bissen administration presented its formal case to a County Council committee to phase out approximately 6,000 short-term vacation rentals mostly in West and South Maui. “We simply can’t build fast enough to meet the scale of demand we’re facing,” Mayor Richard Bissen told members of the Housing and […]
Maui Council gears up for pivotal vacation rental phase-out bill hearing; Kama asks for ‘aloha’
The Maui County Council anticipates a large turnout of public testimony on the highly controversial vacation rental phase-out bill. Already, the Council has received many written testimonies, then posted on mauicounty.legistar.com as of late Sunday. Bill 9 will be heard beginning at 10 a.m. Monday in the eighth-floor Council Chambers before the Housing and Land […]
Maui Council approves staff pay raises after contentious debate on transparency
After a tense 90-minute debate, the Maui County Council voted 6-3 on Friday to give its staff a 15% pay increase, plus an additional 5% for experience and performance-based “step” increases.
Maui Emergency Management Agency unveils disaster preparedness roadmap
Almost two years after the disastrous August 2023 wildfires brought to light shortcomings in Maui County’s emergency response, the Maui Emergency Management Agency has completed a comprehensive Strategic Plan and an Integrated Preparedness Plan aimed at reshaping the county’s approach to disasters. While the plans presented by agency Administrator Amos Lonokailua-Hewett were met Wednesday with […]
Residential building that survived Lahaina fire on Front Street set to reopen later this month
Lahaina Roads, which has only seven units owned by permanent residents, reopens at a pivotal time as the Maui County Council prepares to decide on a bill that would ban short-term rentals in certain apartment districts, including Lahaina Roads.
Key amendments proposed for vacation rental phase-out bill ahead of Council committee hearing
The contentious debate over the future of thousands of short-term vacation rentals in Maui County is heading to a much-anticipated public hearing Monday, June 9, before the Maui County Council’s Housing and Land Use Committee. The committee posted an agenda for a meeting beginning at 10 a.m. Monday in the Council Chambers on the eighth […]
Council approves nearly $1.56 billion budget amid ‘economic uncertainty’
Council members ended their work on the fiscal 2026 budget Tuesday, giving final approval to a $1.558 billion spending plan that sets the course for Maui County government beginning July 1.
West Maui Rep. Cochran absent from 85% of House floor sessions, still collected nearly $23,000 in per diem
West Maui state Rep. Elle Cochran missed 51 of 60 House floor sessions — an 85% absence rate — during the 2025 legislative session while collecting $22,725 in per diem payments intended to cover off-island living expenses, according to House records. Her near-total absence from legislative proceedings in Honolulu, coupled with her acceptance of these taxpayer-funded […]
