HLU-18 Bill 80 (2023 BILL 80 (2023), RELATING TO GRANTING CAROLEE HIGASHINO A CONDITIONAL PERMIT TO OPERATE SMALL SCALE SPECIAL EVENTS WITHIN THE COUNTY R-3 RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT (HLU-18)
Aloha,
My name is Kimiko Hosaki. I am a member of the Maui event community and a venue strategy consultant.
I strongly support HLU-18 Bill 80 (2023 BILL 80 (2023) and Carolee as a professional.
I specifically want to address some of the comments that have been made below as there are simple solutions to some of these concerns.
Noise:
The maximum size of the events being held at this proposed venue is 40 people. The amount of noise that a group of this size is minimal.
A ceremony for a wedding often only has acoustic ukulele, violin or harp being played which the neighboring properties will not hear.
Cocktail hour also usually has acoustic music or a very low background music playing, the same goes for during the dinner hours. The only time that the music may get louder is when dancing occurs. If this is a concern, higher quality sound systems can be used that have directional sound capabilities or you can restrict the amount of decibels permitted and there are also options for silent discos now where guests wear headsets and the DJ plays the music through the headsets. Sound does not have to be an issue we only have to discuss what the solutions are that would make everyone in the area happy and I know that Carolee would be happy to discuss these options.
Large vehicles servicing the event:
With this particular venue having a maximum capacity of 40 people the large rental and guest transportation vehicles will not be required like they were at Sugarman that hosted much larger parties, often over 100 people. Guest transportation can be limited to chauffeured options only rather than self drive and the vehicle size can be limited to a 13 sprinter. With the bridal party often arriving much earlier the guests would only require a maximum of 3 vehicles which can also be staggered for their arrival so there is never more than one vehicles in the direct vicinity of the venues at one time. The size of the rental delivery and catering vehicles can be limited to a certain size and timing of deliveries can be managed as well in order to not disturb the community.
The Maui event community supports Maui's event economy in a much larger ways than most residents are aware. With the loss of a number of venues in Lahaina from the tragic fires and a significant number of private venues shutting down during the pandemic we are losing locations to host groups for weddings which provide so many local businesses with a way to support and feed their families as well as employ numerous residents. We are in desperate need of more wedding venues but more importantly we need venues run by responsible, professional people like Carolee who will be respectful of the land and the community.
I urge you to support this venue and work through the small concerns to help the local wedding economy and those who need it to survive.
1/10/24 HLU-18 TESTIMONY
by John S. Rapacz, Attorney at Law
Good Morning. My name is John Rapacz, and I am the attorney for Carolee and Peter Higashino and A White Orchid Wedding.
I submitted a December 6, 2023 letter, in response to the legal theories raised by the attorney for the property to the south. I won’t re-argue those points, because I think you already know that it is completely within your authority to decide what the appropriate conditions are for this permit. And I’m sure your attorneys would advise you if there actually were any genuine legal concerns.
A year and a half ago, the Maui Planning Commission gave Carolee a State Special Permit, to have weddings and events at the property, subject to 15 conditions; and recommended that the Council approve this Conditional Permit, with those same15 conditions, to ensure that the weddings and events will be compatible with the surrounding area. So, the question for Council today is whether the Planning Commission’s recommended conditions are adequate. If you believe there’s credible evidence that they are not adequate, then you can revise the conditions accordingly.
In many cases, considering conditional permits is difficult, because the proposed use is brand new, which means that the Council has to actually predict what kind of impacts that new use will have, and then decide whether the recommended conditions are adequate.
This is not one of those difficult cases. Before she became aware she needed a permit and stopped operating, Carolee established a 20-year track record, showing that the weddings do not negatively affect the area. What is that track record? 20 years without a single formal or informal complaint, to the County or to Carolee about noise, parking, traffic, or any of the impacts that you’ve heard testifiers speculate about. Not a phone call, not an anonymous note, nothing! There were no complaints from her neighbor the LLC to the south; and her neighbors to the north have actually provided a letter of support. And that record was established when the operation had no conditions or restrictions on it. Considering that she has now invested several years and a lot of money in trying to get these permits, Carolee will be even more considerate, responsible and cautious than she was in the past, to avoid putting her permits at risk.
Those are the facts in your record, and I can’t imagine any stronger evidence to support a decision that the proposed conditions will ensure that the use is compatible with the surrounding area.
So, again the questions for the Council are, based on those facts in the record…not the speculation, whether the Planning Commission’s proposed conditions are adequate, and if not, what revised conditions would mitigate any specific remaining concerns?
Carolee still needs SMA and Shoreline approvals, and any Shoreline issues will be addressed in those permit processes with the Planning Department.
Aloha I am a resident of South Maui and I manage the State Lands adjacent to this property as a DLNR Employee.
I strongly oppose.
This is a land use decision and as such I ask the committee to look at the land. This subject property is listed as .80 acres but in reality due to sea level rise and erosion of the shore line it is much smaller. The accessory dwelling at this property is in the public shoreline. Most of the grassy area where they would hold the events is in the public shoreline. Wedding photography along with any other commercial activities is illegal on State Lands which includes the shoreline. By granting this conditional permit the Committee and Council would encourage illegal activity on public lands and this is inconsistent with public trust. To remedy the encroachments into public lands will cost millions of dollars. This is the responsibility of the land owner. White Orchid Weddings and Carolee are not the land owners. They are leasing this property and attempting to run a business on it. There are several displaced people on Maui due to the recent wildfires. The County Government and the State are supportive of converting short term rentals into long term housing for residents but this Committer is considering granting a venue permit on a property where someone could be housed. How is this in line with the goals of the Housing and Land Use Committee I ask? Please do your homework, require a certified shoreline and completed compliance for the necessary upgrades to the infrastructure and removal of all encroachment on public lands before any event permit is considered. These actions by the Committee would demonstrate public trust.
Please consider all of the details. Makena RD cannot support this type of activity. It is easy to say that people will shuttle in, but where do they shuttle from. The applicant is not telling the whole story. They pay to use the property across the street 6925 Makena RD to host these events. Approving the venue creates a situation where another property is operating illegally as a venue with no oversight.
Please deny or at least defer this decision until the landowner completes necessary upgrades (septic system) and removes all encroachments into public property in good faith.
I am a resident in close proximity to this venue and believe having large events in this area would be detrimental to the neighborhood. The constant stream of traffic to set up break down and the actual event itself would cause a lot of congestion. There is not ample parking for large events and large buses and shuttles would be very intrusive to the atmosphere. It is already very hazardous down here on busy beach days with cars all over the road not leaving enough room for two cars to pass each other and absolutely no room for emergency vehicles. The police are called frequently for this problem. There are many other spots around the island that are legally permitted to run these events. These events have no place in a small and quiet neighborhood .
Thank you so much for hearing our testimony and for your good and generous hearts in serving our County.
I want to stand with Carolee today and her business, White Orchid Weddings.
When I first started my business, Carolee invited me for lunch and she shared with me everything on how to run a wedding business.
She knew I was her competition and yet she opened her heart and her mind and she shared all her experience and expertise with me.
This is someone with Aloha.
I have spoken with Carolee many times over the past few years, through Covid, through the fires and through being shut down.
We share a deep and sincere concern for the folks in our community. All the good local people who bring their talent, their hearts, their kindness and their hard work to make our weddings shine……. As the best in the world.
These people have become family to us. We know their families. We know their worries. They are trying to pay their rent but there is very little or no business. There is little or no income.
We are local working people. Some Hawaiians, some locals and some newer families. Life has been very difficult for us these past few years.
There is only one industry on Maui. It is Hospitality. We are in Hospitality so we have been shut down here for a lot of the past 3 or 4 years.
I think it’s very nice that some people can afford to come here and purchase multi million dollar homes. Bless them and all the best to them.
But I hope that there is some consideration for the hundreds and hundreds of families and businesses who would be impacted by these complaints about this wedding venue.
Thank you for considering the bleak circumstances of others.
Aloha Committee Chair Kama and other committee members,
I am the home owner of 7381 Makena Road, south of the proposed Event Venue. I hereby oppose the proposal to grant the event venue associated with this agenda item.
The proposed venue is on the narrow, winding, and steeply graded section of Makena Road that already has a heavy load of traffic by visitors accessing Secret Cove Beach, Ahihi Bay, and through traffic southbound to La Perouse Bay. Road infrastructure and the natural surroundings are already seeing heavy use and stress from residents and visitors alike. Wedding parties and photographers already enjoy Secret Cove Beach and enjoy the surroundings. Other than the commercial interests of home owners who own property in a residential zone, there is not compelling interest to add more traffic and stress to the natural resources of this section of Makena. Therefore, I oppose this proposed permit.
Mahalo,
Omar Dennis
My family has lived at the south end of Big Beach for many years and have experienced the problems with the illegal commercial operations at the Orchid House first hand. Our neighborhood and access roads are not set up for any type of commercial venue let alone a high volume one that is being proposed. The road south of from 3rd Entrance is so crowed from Friday to Sunday night that it becomes gridlocked one-way traffic almost every weekend. The posted speed limit through this whole stretch of road is 10 miles an hour which gives you an idea of the egress problems moving people and equipment in masse to and from this area.
If you approve this permit, it will only add to the chaos in our south Makena community. My family and my neighbors, that I have spoken with, strongly object to this commercial venue permit. We enjoy a quite tight knit community down here and would like to keep illegal commercial operations in the appropriate areas of Maui. There are a lot of beautiful venues on the island that are already legal and permitted.
We live on makena and used to be quite negatively affected by the sugarman estate weddings that were very intrusive to our quiet community. The vans for set up were noisy and dangerous on this small road. The party goers would gawk over our fence from the elevated seats on the buses which they arrived and departed on. The guests who would arrive by own transport would decide they didn’t want to leave the area at the curfew time and drink, create disturbance, litter and urinate on our fence until all hours of the night including sometimes thinking it was oaky to come over our fence and enjoying our hot tub. The traffic is already a challenge on makena road and this will only make it more of a problem. All of the residents chose this very rural area for the peace and tranquility which will be very much infringed upon with a commercial operation. We pay huge property taxes for this priviledge and if we are to live in a commercial area then they should be reflected in this.
Aloha,
My name is Kimiko Hosaki. I am a member of the Maui event community and a venue strategy consultant.
I strongly support HLU-18 Bill 80 (2023 BILL 80 (2023) and Carolee as a professional.
I specifically want to address some of the comments that have been made below as there are simple solutions to some of these concerns.
Noise:
The maximum size of the events being held at this proposed venue is 40 people. The amount of noise that a group of this size is minimal.
A ceremony for a wedding often only has acoustic ukulele, violin or harp being played which the neighboring properties will not hear.
Cocktail hour also usually has acoustic music or a very low background music playing, the same goes for during the dinner hours. The only time that the music may get louder is when dancing occurs. If this is a concern, higher quality sound systems can be used that have directional sound capabilities or you can restrict the amount of decibels permitted and there are also options for silent discos now where guests wear headsets and the DJ plays the music through the headsets. Sound does not have to be an issue we only have to discuss what the solutions are that would make everyone in the area happy and I know that Carolee would be happy to discuss these options.
Large vehicles servicing the event:
With this particular venue having a maximum capacity of 40 people the large rental and guest transportation vehicles will not be required like they were at Sugarman that hosted much larger parties, often over 100 people. Guest transportation can be limited to chauffeured options only rather than self drive and the vehicle size can be limited to a 13 sprinter. With the bridal party often arriving much earlier the guests would only require a maximum of 3 vehicles which can also be staggered for their arrival so there is never more than one vehicles in the direct vicinity of the venues at one time. The size of the rental delivery and catering vehicles can be limited to a certain size and timing of deliveries can be managed as well in order to not disturb the community.
The Maui event community supports Maui's event economy in a much larger ways than most residents are aware. With the loss of a number of venues in Lahaina from the tragic fires and a significant number of private venues shutting down during the pandemic we are losing locations to host groups for weddings which provide so many local businesses with a way to support and feed their families as well as employ numerous residents. We are in desperate need of more wedding venues but more importantly we need venues run by responsible, professional people like Carolee who will be respectful of the land and the community.
I urge you to support this venue and work through the small concerns to help the local wedding economy and those who need it to survive.
Mahalo,
Kimiko Hosaki
1/10/24 HLU-18 TESTIMONY
by John S. Rapacz, Attorney at Law
Good Morning. My name is John Rapacz, and I am the attorney for Carolee and Peter Higashino and A White Orchid Wedding.
I submitted a December 6, 2023 letter, in response to the legal theories raised by the attorney for the property to the south. I won’t re-argue those points, because I think you already know that it is completely within your authority to decide what the appropriate conditions are for this permit. And I’m sure your attorneys would advise you if there actually were any genuine legal concerns.
A year and a half ago, the Maui Planning Commission gave Carolee a State Special Permit, to have weddings and events at the property, subject to 15 conditions; and recommended that the Council approve this Conditional Permit, with those same15 conditions, to ensure that the weddings and events will be compatible with the surrounding area. So, the question for Council today is whether the Planning Commission’s recommended conditions are adequate. If you believe there’s credible evidence that they are not adequate, then you can revise the conditions accordingly.
In many cases, considering conditional permits is difficult, because the proposed use is brand new, which means that the Council has to actually predict what kind of impacts that new use will have, and then decide whether the recommended conditions are adequate.
This is not one of those difficult cases. Before she became aware she needed a permit and stopped operating, Carolee established a 20-year track record, showing that the weddings do not negatively affect the area. What is that track record? 20 years without a single formal or informal complaint, to the County or to Carolee about noise, parking, traffic, or any of the impacts that you’ve heard testifiers speculate about. Not a phone call, not an anonymous note, nothing! There were no complaints from her neighbor the LLC to the south; and her neighbors to the north have actually provided a letter of support. And that record was established when the operation had no conditions or restrictions on it. Considering that she has now invested several years and a lot of money in trying to get these permits, Carolee will be even more considerate, responsible and cautious than she was in the past, to avoid putting her permits at risk.
Those are the facts in your record, and I can’t imagine any stronger evidence to support a decision that the proposed conditions will ensure that the use is compatible with the surrounding area.
So, again the questions for the Council are, based on those facts in the record…not the speculation, whether the Planning Commission’s proposed conditions are adequate, and if not, what revised conditions would mitigate any specific remaining concerns?
Carolee still needs SMA and Shoreline approvals, and any Shoreline issues will be addressed in those permit processes with the Planning Department.
Thank You for hearing my testimony.
Aloha I am a resident of South Maui and I manage the State Lands adjacent to this property as a DLNR Employee.
I strongly oppose.
This is a land use decision and as such I ask the committee to look at the land. This subject property is listed as .80 acres but in reality due to sea level rise and erosion of the shore line it is much smaller. The accessory dwelling at this property is in the public shoreline. Most of the grassy area where they would hold the events is in the public shoreline. Wedding photography along with any other commercial activities is illegal on State Lands which includes the shoreline. By granting this conditional permit the Committee and Council would encourage illegal activity on public lands and this is inconsistent with public trust. To remedy the encroachments into public lands will cost millions of dollars. This is the responsibility of the land owner. White Orchid Weddings and Carolee are not the land owners. They are leasing this property and attempting to run a business on it. There are several displaced people on Maui due to the recent wildfires. The County Government and the State are supportive of converting short term rentals into long term housing for residents but this Committer is considering granting a venue permit on a property where someone could be housed. How is this in line with the goals of the Housing and Land Use Committee I ask? Please do your homework, require a certified shoreline and completed compliance for the necessary upgrades to the infrastructure and removal of all encroachment on public lands before any event permit is considered. These actions by the Committee would demonstrate public trust.
Please consider all of the details. Makena RD cannot support this type of activity. It is easy to say that people will shuttle in, but where do they shuttle from. The applicant is not telling the whole story. They pay to use the property across the street 6925 Makena RD to host these events. Approving the venue creates a situation where another property is operating illegally as a venue with no oversight.
Please deny or at least defer this decision until the landowner completes necessary upgrades (septic system) and removes all encroachments into public property in good faith.
Peter Landon
I am a resident in close proximity to this venue and believe having large events in this area would be detrimental to the neighborhood. The constant stream of traffic to set up break down and the actual event itself would cause a lot of congestion. There is not ample parking for large events and large buses and shuttles would be very intrusive to the atmosphere. It is already very hazardous down here on busy beach days with cars all over the road not leaving enough room for two cars to pass each other and absolutely no room for emergency vehicles. The police are called frequently for this problem. There are many other spots around the island that are legally permitted to run these events. These events have no place in a small and quiet neighborhood .
Aloha Everyone,
Thank you so much for hearing our testimony and for your good and generous hearts in serving our County.
I want to stand with Carolee today and her business, White Orchid Weddings.
When I first started my business, Carolee invited me for lunch and she shared with me everything on how to run a wedding business.
She knew I was her competition and yet she opened her heart and her mind and she shared all her experience and expertise with me.
This is someone with Aloha.
I have spoken with Carolee many times over the past few years, through Covid, through the fires and through being shut down.
We share a deep and sincere concern for the folks in our community. All the good local people who bring their talent, their hearts, their kindness and their hard work to make our weddings shine……. As the best in the world.
These people have become family to us. We know their families. We know their worries. They are trying to pay their rent but there is very little or no business. There is little or no income.
We are local working people. Some Hawaiians, some locals and some newer families. Life has been very difficult for us these past few years.
There is only one industry on Maui. It is Hospitality. We are in Hospitality so we have been shut down here for a lot of the past 3 or 4 years.
I think it’s very nice that some people can afford to come here and purchase multi million dollar homes. Bless them and all the best to them.
But I hope that there is some consideration for the hundreds and hundreds of families and businesses who would be impacted by these complaints about this wedding venue.
Thank you for considering the bleak circumstances of others.
Aloha Committee Chair Kama and other committee members,
I am the home owner of 7381 Makena Road, south of the proposed Event Venue. I hereby oppose the proposal to grant the event venue associated with this agenda item.
The proposed venue is on the narrow, winding, and steeply graded section of Makena Road that already has a heavy load of traffic by visitors accessing Secret Cove Beach, Ahihi Bay, and through traffic southbound to La Perouse Bay. Road infrastructure and the natural surroundings are already seeing heavy use and stress from residents and visitors alike. Wedding parties and photographers already enjoy Secret Cove Beach and enjoy the surroundings. Other than the commercial interests of home owners who own property in a residential zone, there is not compelling interest to add more traffic and stress to the natural resources of this section of Makena. Therefore, I oppose this proposed permit.
Mahalo,
Omar Dennis
My family has lived at the south end of Big Beach for many years and have experienced the problems with the illegal commercial operations at the Orchid House first hand. Our neighborhood and access roads are not set up for any type of commercial venue let alone a high volume one that is being proposed. The road south of from 3rd Entrance is so crowed from Friday to Sunday night that it becomes gridlocked one-way traffic almost every weekend. The posted speed limit through this whole stretch of road is 10 miles an hour which gives you an idea of the egress problems moving people and equipment in masse to and from this area.
If you approve this permit, it will only add to the chaos in our south Makena community. My family and my neighbors, that I have spoken with, strongly object to this commercial venue permit. We enjoy a quite tight knit community down here and would like to keep illegal commercial operations in the appropriate areas of Maui. There are a lot of beautiful venues on the island that are already legal and permitted.
Thanks for your consideration
We live on makena and used to be quite negatively affected by the sugarman estate weddings that were very intrusive to our quiet community. The vans for set up were noisy and dangerous on this small road. The party goers would gawk over our fence from the elevated seats on the buses which they arrived and departed on. The guests who would arrive by own transport would decide they didn’t want to leave the area at the curfew time and drink, create disturbance, litter and urinate on our fence until all hours of the night including sometimes thinking it was oaky to come over our fence and enjoying our hot tub. The traffic is already a challenge on makena road and this will only make it more of a problem. All of the residents chose this very rural area for the peace and tranquility which will be very much infringed upon with a commercial operation. We pay huge property taxes for this priviledge and if we are to live in a commercial area then they should be reflected in this.