#Michael Hopper

Pulelehua zoning condition amendment gains Council committee approval, despite West Maui water scarcity concerns

A Maui County Council committee tried to breathe life Wednesday into the languishing 304-acre Pulelehua development in West Maui, a “shovel ready” housing project with the promise of hundreds of affordable units but long dying of thirst. Chaired by West Maui Council Member Tamara Paltin, the Disaster Recovery, International Affairs and Planning Committee voted 7-1, […]

Four Seasons wins SMA permit after Maui Planning Commission backs off property-wide water monitoring

The Maui Planning Commission voted 5-1 Tuesday to grant a special management area use permit for the Four Seasons Resort Wailea’s $16.3 million project to make exterior renovations, including new swimming pools. But the approval came after legal concerns compelled the commission to back off attempts to impose property-wide monitoring of the resort’s water usage.

Planning panel OKs rebuild of smaller Front Street home amid precedent-setting concerns

The Maui Planning Commission approved a special management area permit Tuesday for a somewhat scaled-back reconstruction of an oceanfront home on Front Street property owned by a retired Boeing executive and his wife, Stanley and Dilara Deal. In the end, the most hotly disputed issue: the size of the home was reduced about 10% from […]

Rent stabilization considered to slow runaway post-disaster housing costs

Rent stabilization is legal, but will it work to help residents at the mercy of landlords seeking the highest possible return on their Maui property investments? That’s the question left hanging after Maui County Council members heard Monday evening from more than two dozen testifiers, most of whom favored putting brakes on runaway rental costs.

Maui Planning Commission advances vacation rental phase-out bill

The Maui Planning Commission heard more than seven hours of often impassioned testimony Tuesday, then deliberated nearly three hours before recommending that the Maui County Council approve a bill to phase-out of thousands of short-term rentals in apartment districts, mostly in South and West Maui.

New cap creates “point-in-time freeze” on Maui TVRs; starts regulation on camper vans

In an ongoing effort to manage tourism, the Maui County Council passed Bill 159 Friday with a series of amendments that effectively caps transient accommodations and regulates camper van rentals on public property.