#special management area permit

State lawmakers passed legislation aimed at accelerating Maui’s wildfire recovery and approving a 60-day “shot clock” for counties to review building permits, a chronic cause of delaying construction projects in Hawaiʻi. Those were a couple of takeaways from a May 16 Grassroot Institute of Hawaii legislative wrap-up event titled “What went down at the Capitol […]

The Grassroot Institute of Hawaiʻi hailed the 2025 Legislature’s passage this week of bills intended to increase the state’s housing stock, speed up the recovery of Lahaina and increase government accountability. 

Rebuilding in historic Lahaina town would not require special management area permits, under a bill introduced by West Maui Sen. Angus McKelvey, if the structure was destroyed by the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfire and planned reconstruction stays within the footprint of structure that stood before the disaster.

The County of Maui has approved with conditions building permits for Kahoma Village to reconstruct four multi-family buildings totaling 24 units that were destroyed in the August 2023 wildfires. 

Baldwin Beach Park was reopened on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, after work to remove the park pavilion was completed. The pavilion was irreparably damaged over time by high surf and rising sea levels, according to the County of Maui Department of Parks and Recreation

The County of Maui Department of Planning launched an expedited Special Management Area exemption process for parcels in the Lahaina Disaster Area.  The link went live Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, and the Planning Department has 20 exemptions in the pipeline. 

Without resuscitation, the future is bleak for Queen Kaʻahumanu Center, with the aging, once premier Central Maui shopping destination caught in a downward spiral — store closings lead to less foot traffic, which beget more loss of business, and so on.

A redevelopment project to beautify the rundown Kīhei Marketplace ran into strong community opposition Tuesday before the Maui Planning Commission with dozens of testifiers irked about plans for 13 transient vacation rentals.

The owners of the luxury yacht Nakoa have hired a private contractor to salvage the vessel which grounded nearshore at Honolua Bay early on Sunday, state officials with the Department of Land and Natural Resources report.

The County of Maui issued an emergency permit to assist in the removal of a private charter yacht that went aground on rocks in the area of Honolua Bay, officials said. The action comes after attempts to remove the vessel during high tide Monday afternoon failed.