HLU-22 Reso 26-130 RESOLUTION 26-130, REFERRING TO THE MAUI PLANNING COMMISSION PROPOSED BILLS TO AMEND THE KIHEI-MAKENA COMMUNITY PLAN AND WEST MAUI COMMUNITY PLAN, AND TO CHANGE THE ZONING FOR PROPERTIES IDENTIFIED AS TAX MAP KEY (2) 3-9-016:019, K?HEI, HAWAI'I, AND TAX MAP KEYS (2) 4-5-013:002 AND 026, LAHAINA, HAWAI'I, IN THE A-2 APARTMENT DISTRICT (HLU-22)
From: Kelcy A. <kelcyasuncion@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 19, 2026 6:20 AM
To: County Clerk <County.Clerk@mauicounty.us>
Subject: Testimony Opposing Resolution 26-129 & 26-130
You don't often get email from kelcyasuncion@gmail.com. Learn why this is important
Chair, Vice Chair, and Members of the Maui County Council:
Mahalo for the opportunity to submit testimony. I respectfully oppose Resolutions 26-129 and 26-130, which would refer proposed bills to the Maui Planning Commission to amend community plan designations and rezone selected A-1 and A-2 apartment-district properties into the new H-3 and H-4 hotel districts.
These resolutions would move Maui further away from the stated purpose of Ordinance 5909: returning apartment-zoned transient vacation rental units to housing for local residents. Creating a broad pathway to convert apartment zoning into hotel zoning risks permanently removing units from Maui’s long-term housing supply at a time when local families, workers, kūpuna, and displaced residents continue to face an urgent housing crisis.
I am especially concerned that Resolution 26-129 focuses on properties within the 3.2-foot Sea Level Rise Exposure Area. Rezoning coastal properties in known hazard areas for continued hotel use does not solve Maui’s long-term planning challenges. Instead, it may encourage continued investment in vulnerable shoreline areas while shifting future infrastructure, emergency-response, erosion, and adaptation costs onto the broader community.
Resolutions 26-129 and 26-130 also raise fairness and process concerns. A Council-initiated rezoning pathway for selected properties can appear to give special treatment to visitor-accommodation interests while residents and community members are still waiting to see the full effects of the short-term rental phase-out. Any proposed change of this magnitude should be evaluated property by property, with robust public notice, meaningful community review, affordable housing analysis, cultural and environmental review, and clear findings that the rezoning serves the public interest.
I urge the Council to reject Resolutions 26-129 and 26-130, or at minimum defer them until the County can provide transparent analysis showing how these rezonings would affect local housing supply, coastal-risk planning, infrastructure costs, and the County’s broader housing goals. Maui should prioritize housing for residents and responsible long-term land-use planning over the permanent expansion of hotel zoning for apartment-district vacation rentals.
I was raised in Lahaina and have worked tirelessly the past three years to rebuild after the 2023 wildfire. Our home is still under construction and some family members affected by the fire are considering moving out of state due to lack of affordable housing. Please prioritize residents.
Sincerely,
Kelcy Asuncion
Aloha-
Please oppose this effort to allow zoning changes for these properties. If these owners had done their due diligence they were aware of the risk they were taking by renting their properties out as STR. They have profited and increased our daily population to unsustainable levels. The local community comes first and the original intent of apartment zones needs to be supported
From: li n <roxypinecone@icloud.com>
Sent: Tuesday, August 18, 2026 2:45 PM
To: County Clerk <County.Clerk@mauicounty.us>
Subject: Testimony Opposing Resolution 26-129 and Resolution 26-130 | 08-18-26
[You don't often get email from roxypinecone@icloud.com. Learn why this is important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification ]
Aloha Chair and Members of the Committee,
Today, I am writing you in strong opposition to proposed Resolution 26-129 and Resolution 26-130 as well as the proposed properties being considered for H3/H4 upzoning.
Please keep sight of the original intent behind Bill 9: #1, To reclaim housing in our apartment-zoned districts and #2, To prioritize homes for our LOCAL residents during an ongoing housing crisis. These proposed resolutions risk moving us in the opposite direction by creating further pathways for short-term rentals/STR's to remain within housing that should serve OUR community.
I have understood since the beginning that there may be properties that required individual consideration, and I do indeed support thoughtful upzoning where it will make sense. But our housing and zoning are now becoming a free-for-all, and myself as well as the rest of my community will not sit idly by for, nor stand for it.
We as a community are still struggling with displacement and uncertainty, and families are still struggling to find stable housing. With FEMA assistance expected to end in early 2027, we cannot afford to keep creating exceptions that preserve short-term rentals, nor can our locals get a foot in the door of the current housing market as it is.
Regarding the shoreline parcels, previous discussion has included public beach access, public parking, and managed retreat conditions—none of which have appeared with time passed, (and MUCH time has passed). With consideration to the vulnerability of these properties, the answer should be NO.
I and my community do also oppose expanding exemption lists like the SLRXA list. These patchwork exception lists will only serve to encourage more property owners to seek continued STR operations while some of these units could provide much-needed housing for local residents. The County should instead look at these areas comprehensively, including potential acquisition where appropriate.
These were meant to be residential properties—not permanent commercial short-term rentals. We are not just an attraction, families live here and are struggling, do not allow commercial industry ahold of our housing to further gain ground.
I and my community respectfully urge the Committee to reject Resolutions 26-129 and 26-130 TODAY, and to stay true to the original intent of Bill 9: Recovering housing for our community, keeping our families home.
I and my community will support reasonable exceptions. What we will and must not support is turning H3/H4 proposed resolutions into a free-for-all.
EVERYONE is watching you and your decisions, and we will not stand by while housing opportunities for our people are given away FOREVER for monetary gain and greed.
Mahalo for listening to the voices of our community,
Testimony for the Housing and Land Use Committee Hearing - Wednesday, August 19, 2026
OPPOSING
Resolutions 26-129 and 26-130
Aloha e Chair Uʻu-Hodgins, Vice Chair Batangan, and Members of the Housing and Land Use Committee:
I am a working parent raising two boys in Wailuku. I personally know four people who've had to move this year because they could not afford the place where they were currently living anymore.
These were both single people and people with families, all in situations where the price was going up and they could not afford the next jump.
At this time, any housing under consideration for vacation rentals needs to open up Maui residents who are in need of housing so that they have more options and at a more affordable price.
Please do not pass Resolutions 26-129 and 26-130, which would rezone about 500 units from residential to newly created H-3 and H-4 hotel zones. Please oppose all such proposals in the future.
Mahalo nui loa for your consideration of these housing concerns which are impacting so many in our community,
From: Kelcy A. <kelcyasuncion@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 19, 2026 6:20 AM
To: County Clerk <County.Clerk@mauicounty.us>
Subject: Testimony Opposing Resolution 26-129 & 26-130
You don't often get email from kelcyasuncion@gmail.com. Learn why this is important
Chair, Vice Chair, and Members of the Maui County Council:
Mahalo for the opportunity to submit testimony. I respectfully oppose Resolutions 26-129 and 26-130, which would refer proposed bills to the Maui Planning Commission to amend community plan designations and rezone selected A-1 and A-2 apartment-district properties into the new H-3 and H-4 hotel districts.
These resolutions would move Maui further away from the stated purpose of Ordinance 5909: returning apartment-zoned transient vacation rental units to housing for local residents. Creating a broad pathway to convert apartment zoning into hotel zoning risks permanently removing units from Maui’s long-term housing supply at a time when local families, workers, kūpuna, and displaced residents continue to face an urgent housing crisis.
I am especially concerned that Resolution 26-129 focuses on properties within the 3.2-foot Sea Level Rise Exposure Area. Rezoning coastal properties in known hazard areas for continued hotel use does not solve Maui’s long-term planning challenges. Instead, it may encourage continued investment in vulnerable shoreline areas while shifting future infrastructure, emergency-response, erosion, and adaptation costs onto the broader community.
Resolutions 26-129 and 26-130 also raise fairness and process concerns. A Council-initiated rezoning pathway for selected properties can appear to give special treatment to visitor-accommodation interests while residents and community members are still waiting to see the full effects of the short-term rental phase-out. Any proposed change of this magnitude should be evaluated property by property, with robust public notice, meaningful community review, affordable housing analysis, cultural and environmental review, and clear findings that the rezoning serves the public interest.
I urge the Council to reject Resolutions 26-129 and 26-130, or at minimum defer them until the County can provide transparent analysis showing how these rezonings would affect local housing supply, coastal-risk planning, infrastructure costs, and the County’s broader housing goals. Maui should prioritize housing for residents and responsible long-term land-use planning over the permanent expansion of hotel zoning for apartment-district vacation rentals.
I was raised in Lahaina and have worked tirelessly the past three years to rebuild after the 2023 wildfire. Our home is still under construction and some family members affected by the fire are considering moving out of state due to lack of affordable housing. Please prioritize residents.
Sincerely,
Kelcy Asuncion
Testimonies received from HLU Committee as of 08/19/2026 at 7:45 a.m.
Aloha-
Please oppose this effort to allow zoning changes for these properties. If these owners had done their due diligence they were aware of the risk they were taking by renting their properties out as STR. They have profited and increased our daily population to unsustainable levels. The local community comes first and the original intent of apartment zones needs to be supported
From: li n <roxypinecone@icloud.com>
Sent: Tuesday, August 18, 2026 2:45 PM
To: County Clerk <County.Clerk@mauicounty.us>
Subject: Testimony Opposing Resolution 26-129 and Resolution 26-130 | 08-18-26
[You don't often get email from roxypinecone@icloud.com. Learn why this is important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification ]
Aloha Chair and Members of the Committee,
Today, I am writing you in strong opposition to proposed Resolution 26-129 and Resolution 26-130 as well as the proposed properties being considered for H3/H4 upzoning.
Please keep sight of the original intent behind Bill 9: #1, To reclaim housing in our apartment-zoned districts and #2, To prioritize homes for our LOCAL residents during an ongoing housing crisis. These proposed resolutions risk moving us in the opposite direction by creating further pathways for short-term rentals/STR's to remain within housing that should serve OUR community.
I have understood since the beginning that there may be properties that required individual consideration, and I do indeed support thoughtful upzoning where it will make sense. But our housing and zoning are now becoming a free-for-all, and myself as well as the rest of my community will not sit idly by for, nor stand for it.
We as a community are still struggling with displacement and uncertainty, and families are still struggling to find stable housing. With FEMA assistance expected to end in early 2027, we cannot afford to keep creating exceptions that preserve short-term rentals, nor can our locals get a foot in the door of the current housing market as it is.
Regarding the shoreline parcels, previous discussion has included public beach access, public parking, and managed retreat conditions—none of which have appeared with time passed, (and MUCH time has passed). With consideration to the vulnerability of these properties, the answer should be NO.
I and my community do also oppose expanding exemption lists like the SLRXA list. These patchwork exception lists will only serve to encourage more property owners to seek continued STR operations while some of these units could provide much-needed housing for local residents. The County should instead look at these areas comprehensively, including potential acquisition where appropriate.
These were meant to be residential properties—not permanent commercial short-term rentals. We are not just an attraction, families live here and are struggling, do not allow commercial industry ahold of our housing to further gain ground.
I and my community respectfully urge the Committee to reject Resolutions 26-129 and 26-130 TODAY, and to stay true to the original intent of Bill 9: Recovering housing for our community, keeping our families home.
I and my community will support reasonable exceptions. What we will and must not support is turning H3/H4 proposed resolutions into a free-for-all.
EVERYONE is watching you and your decisions, and we will not stand by while housing opportunities for our people are given away FOREVER for monetary gain and greed.
Mahalo for listening to the voices of our community,
Ky Spradlin
Testimony for the Housing and Land Use Committee Hearing - Wednesday, August 19, 2026
OPPOSING
Resolutions 26-129 and 26-130
Aloha e Chair Uʻu-Hodgins, Vice Chair Batangan, and Members of the Housing and Land Use Committee:
I am a working parent raising two boys in Wailuku. I personally know four people who've had to move this year because they could not afford the place where they were currently living anymore.
These were both single people and people with families, all in situations where the price was going up and they could not afford the next jump.
At this time, any housing under consideration for vacation rentals needs to open up Maui residents who are in need of housing so that they have more options and at a more affordable price.
Please do not pass Resolutions 26-129 and 26-130, which would rezone about 500 units from residential to newly created H-3 and H-4 hotel zones. Please oppose all such proposals in the future.
Mahalo nui loa for your consideration of these housing concerns which are impacting so many in our community,
Jenny Wall