2009 Housing News

Maui Land & Pine’s Pulelehua  project
Developer is seeking a Community Plan Amendment and a change in zoning

Victorino proposes resolution seeking fairness for TVR operators
Operators of transient vacation rentals who have been "caught in legal limbo" because of the County’s confusing and contradictory enforcement policies shouldn’t be punished, Maui County Councilmember Michael Victorino said today. Victorino has proposed a resolution calling on the County Administration to suspend enforcement actions against TVR operators until the Council has had a chance to review and enact legislation currently pending before the Council’s Planning Committee. The Committee isn’t expected to review the bills submitted by the Department of Planning and the planning commissions until June.

Maalaea project’s EIS ready for review
The developers of a proposed 949-unit residential community at Maalaea have submitted their draft environmental impact study for public comment. The $400 million Maalaea Mauka would cover 257 acres of former sugar cane land classified by the state and county as agricultural. The project would be mix of single- and multifamily homes, townhouses, rental apartments and affordable housing for seniors. Maalaea Mauka would also include park land and a community center, according to the document issued Dec. 8.
(see also: 1,000-home Hawaii subdivision planned)

Planned Maui Lani complex in question
A Maui Lani official said that she is unsure if the company will be able to build a proposed 72-unit affordable rental complex after a County Council committee imposed additional conditions on the project. The committee wants Maui Lani to lengthen the time that at least half of the units have to be rented to families earning below 80 percent of the median income level.
Maui Lani had proposed it would keep rents in the 80 percent and below median income level ($55,920 for a family of four) for 15 years, but would then make the units available for sale or rent to the "gap" group – those making 120 percent to 160 percent of the median income ($83,880 to $111,840) for an additional 10 years.

Councilors find housing details hard to swallow
With the support of county administration housing officials, Maui Lani Partners is using the state’s fast-track housing law to shorten government reviews of a 72-unit low-income rental complex planned on 2.5 acres next to Pomaika’i Elementary School. Council members can accept the project as proposed, modify it with the developer’s consent or reject it within 45 days of the proposal’s submission on Aug. 24.

Affordable housing mandate added to Honua’ula’s list
Council Member Michelle Anderson proposed that Honua’ula be required to develop 250 affordable units offsite immediately after the County Council approves zoning for the project. She also wants the developers to donate a park as a condition for the project approvals.

Zoning request stalled by neighbors’ protests
Haiku residents up in arms about a proposed Kokomo subdivision petitioned the Maui Planning Commission to prevent a zoning change that would allow landowner Ron Serle to create a 10-lot rural subdivision in the area. According to Serle and his planning consultants, however, the land has been designated for rural use since 1983 in the Paia-Haiku Community Plan.

Developer: Land to stay agricultural
The developer of an 1,800-acre agricultural subdivision in lower Kula said the plan is aimed at keeping the former pineapple land in agricultural use. Farmers and residents in the area were not convinced when representatives of Kula 1800 Investment Partners LLC presented the plans at a special meeting of the Kula Community Association. Waiakoa Ranch would have 86 large lots on the former pineapple and pasturelands running from Pulehu to Naalae Road below Kula Highway. Lot sizes will range from 6 to 40 acres, with one large remnant parcel of 323 acres available for sale or lease.

A&B files for new residential project in Kihei
A&B Properties is proposing long-range residential development of 93 acres in North Kihei. A&B Vice President Grant Chun said A&B’s petition for land reclassification from agricultural to urban is the "first step in a long process" toward development of nearly 68 acres of multifamily units, 25 acres of single-family residences and 1.4 acres of commercial space. The amount of acreage eyed for the project would be enough room for about 600 multifamily and single-family units, he said.

Na HALE O Maui offers hope to future homeowners with a radical new approach to affordable housing
Under the old rules of affordability, people on Maui earning the median income shouldn’t move into a home that costs more than about $160,000-to do otherwise is to spend far too much each month on mortgage payments, leaving nothing for savings. But for the last few years it’s been impossible to find a house for even twice that amount anywhere on the island that’s fit for human habitation.

Sustainable communities will benefit all
The sustainable communities we envision are affordable and welcoming – free from financial or physical barriers preventing anyone from entering. In Hawaii, developers must also respect and preserve the beauty of our islands by including open space and recycling waste instead of diverting it to landfills. And our best communities will help reduce Hawaii’s dependence on imported fuels by generating half of their power on-site.

Council’s vacation rental bill shelved
A long-debated bill to regulate vacation rentals was killed Thursday by the County Council Planning Committee, after committee members agreed the proposal on the table just didn’t have enough community support. The proposed bill sought to establish standards and policies for vacation rentals and bed-and-breakfasts, and to clarify and streamline permitting procedures. But it received an unenthusiastic response from the county Planning Department and the Maui, Molokai and Lanai planning commissions. 02.16.07

Ranch a No Show at Commission Meeting
The absence of Molokai Ranch along with the Ranch’s published threat to bring its "Doomsday" plan down on the community if its controversial La’au development plan is not approved were some of the hot topics covered at the Molokai Planning Commission’s January 30 evening meeting at Kaunakakai School. 02.08.07

LUC approves Hale Mua project
The Hale Mua affordable housing project in Waiehu was close to crashing and burning Friday, but at the last minute – actually, an hour past the last minute – it won the Land Use Commission boundary amendment it needs to keep moving. Maybe. The commission passed a version different from the proposal that the County Council passed in 2005 under the state’s 201G fast-track process for affordable housing projects. The changes are potentially substantive enough to force developer Sterling Kim back to an earlier stage in the authorization sequence. He indicated that his costs are mounting so quickly that more delays could kill the project. 01.20.07

Tavares asks for help with housing, energy, water
Mayor Charmaine Tavares gave a low-key pitch to legislators on state money committees Tuesday, saying housing and renewable energy programs would be the county’s top priorities in the coming years. In contrast with her predecessor, former Mayor Alan Arakawa, who often read lengthy and detailed testimony in his annual appeal to state lawmakers, Tavares spoke off the cuff and focused on a few key issues, noting she was in just her 10th working day on the job and was still "sifting through the facts" left to her when she took office. 01.17.07

Council Over-rides Arakawa Veto -Passes Workforce Housing Ordinance
A new residential work force housing policy became law Tuesday after the Maui County Council unanimously overrode a veto by Mayor Alan Arakawa. "This is the win-win situation that we all strive for," said Housing Chairman Danny Mateo, who got in the last word at a special meeting held Tuesday in Council Chambers to override the mayor’s veto. Members voting to override included Mayor-elect Charmaine Tavares, who will be responsible for implementing the new law when she takes office Jan. 2. She was joined by Council Chairman Riki Hokama and Council Members Michelle Anderson, Bob Carroll, Jo Anne Johnson, Dain Kane and Mateo. Council Members Mike Molina and Joe Pontanilla were excused. 12.06.06

Mayor Arakawa vetos Workforce Housing Bill
As promised, Mayor Alan Arakawa vetoed a residential work force housing policy Friday that proposed requiring as much as 50 percent affordable units in future developments. 11.25.06

Council approves Workforce Housing policy
The Maui County Council passed the Residential Workforce Housing Policy that would set strict new requirements for developers to build affordable homes. Mayor Alan Arakawa planned to veto the bill, saying it would do more to hurt the housing market than help. But the council’s unanimous vote indicated more than enough support to override an Arakawa veto. Council members said the policy would be an important first step in providing more housing for local residents and said warnings about the policy just came from developers protecting their business interests. 11.04.06

Planning commission OK’s Dowling’s Keaka project
The pros outnumbered the cons 5-2 when the commission voted Tuesday on a special management area permit and special accessory use permit for the $220 million project down the coastline from the Maui Prince Hotel. 11.18.06

Project district OK’d for Kapalua Mauka
A deadlock in the Maui Planning Commission broke Tuesday afternoon, giving Maui Land & Pineapple Co. approval for its plans to build multimillion-dollar homes and a new private golf course at the Kapalua Resort. The development, which earlier this year had received project district zoning approval from the County Council, also was seeking a special management area use permit for off-site infrastructure improvements to support Kapalua Mauka. 11.18.06

Voters approve affordable housing fund
Maui voters adopted a mandate for Maui County to set aside 2 percent of real property tax revenues for an affordable housing fund in Tuesday’s county special election. Along with an affordable housing policy approved last week by the council, Council Housing Chairman Danny Mateo said the county will be moving to establish affordable housing for the community. 11.08.06

Sessions permit the people’s input on future of Maui’s land
About six months ago, Housing for the Local Person concluded that the County Council was hearing a lot from real estate developers through their lobbyists and from other interested parties but not directly from the common man and woman. HLP felt that it was paramount that the County Council heard from the common man and woman of Maui because they would be the primary beneficiaries of this new law. So we decided to have talk story sessions throughout Maui. 07.12.06

This New House – Maui Tomorrow’s plans to revolutionize affordable housing
"We decided at Maui Tomorrow that we would come up with a model that would work for Maui," said Richard Michaels, the group’s Affordably Housing Committee chairman. Michaels said he and his wife became convinced of the need to overhaul the affordable housing process while attending Makena development hearings last year. 03.24.05

We need an effective Affordable Housing Policy and authority for Maui County
Truly affordable – what has been called ‘real’ housing – is vital to stop the exodus of long term residents and locals to the mainland. More Hawaiians now live on the mainland than here in Hawaii.

Developer outlines ‘green’ subdivision planned for Kihei
Speaking for Maui Tomorrow, Ron Sturtz has been before the Maui Planning Commission "countless times," usually voicing more or less criticism of other people’s developments. Tuesday, he stood up to speak for himself as a developer of a 65-lot residential project in Kihei. "I’ve been to countless hearings, and we listened to what you say," he said of his Liloa Village plans. 02.10.05

Mayor promises water for affordable housing project
Mayor Alan Arakawa said Tuesday that he has assured developer Jesse Spencer that there will be water available for Spencer’s planned 100-acre affordable housing project in Waikapu. After already expending several thousand dollars on preliminary studies for the project, Spencer said he needed to know for sure that he will be able to proceed as planned through a "fast-track" process to build on the agricultural land. 08.07.03