Council backs Honua‘ula

Construction could begin within 5 years
By CHRIS HAMILTON, Staff Writer

After 20 years of stops, starts and rancorous debates — Maui County Council members voted 6-3 on first reading in favor of the Honua‘ula development.

With a rare nearly empty gallery on hand to witness the proceedings Thursday, council members debated their final touches on land-use measures to pave the way for the 1,400-unit, roughly $800 million development in South Maui. Construction of the project, formerly known as Wailea 670, could begin within five years.

The bills face another full council vote when they return for second-and-final reading.

Then, if approved by Mayor Charmaine Tavares, the project would go before the Maui Planning Commission for Phase II approval.

Finally, Phase III requires acquiring building permits before any shovels hit dirt or concrete is poured.

Plans for the Honua‘ula project call for building 700 luxury and 700 affordable homes as well as a golf course and 90 acres of parkland and open space. Proponents said it would be the first housing development to fulfill the county’s new affordable housing ordinance, which requires all new housing developments to be at least 40 percent affordable by federal income guidelines.

Use Committee moved the Honua‘ula bills forward after roughly six months of hearings and hundreds of testifiers — both pro and con.  The County Council, already had added 28 conditions to the project. And the council then supplemented the project ordinances with nine more amendments Thursday.

Most council members said they’ve worked extremely hard to make Honua‘ula the best possible project for Maui, which is suffering from a severe shortage of affordable housing. Many of the council members worked to accommodate the developers as well as people who advocated for the project because they want affordable housing and construction jobs.

Council member Anderson successfully amended the ordinance to guarantee that 450-work force housing units be built within the project district. The remaining 250 units would be off-site, most likely as an apartment/condominium complex in north Kihei off of Piilani Highway and also that developers use the most up-to-date, energy-efficient technology in the homes, such as solar-heated water systems.

She used conditions set out in the existing Kihei-Makena Community Plan to justify many of her requests, such as widening Piilani Highway to four lanes between Kilohana and Wailea Ike drives before any housing construction begins.

She also asked for and won support for a condition that between 18 and 130 acres of critical Native Hawaiian dryland forest plant habitat be preserved. Anderson’s amendment also called on the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to study the area.