If every meaningful provision in the South Maui Community Plan that inconveniences development should be deleted and handled later through the County Code, then what exactly is the Community Plan supposed to accomplish? A community plan that establishes goals but retreats whenever those goals impose an actual constraint is not a plan—it is a document describing what government hopes will happen while preserving maximum flexibility for development to do something else.
Tamara Paltin, Chair
Nohelani U‘u-Hodgins, Vice-Chair
Disaster Recovery, International Affairs, and Planning Committee Members
SUBJECT: Bill 108 (2026), South Maui Community Plan Update (DRIP-25) - Support with Flood-Mitigation and Resilience Priorities
Aloha Chair Paltin, Vice-Chair U‘u-Hodgins, and Members of the Committee,
Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony on Bill 108 (2026), which would repeal the Kihei-Makena Community Plan, as amended, and adopt the updated South Maui Community Plan. ABC Stores supports advancing an updated plan that strengthens South Maui’s long-term resilience, provided that the Policy Framework clearly addresses recurring flooding, drainage capacity, emergency preparedness, and continuity for employees and local businesses.
ABC Stores has served Hawai‘i’s residents and visitors for decades and understands firsthand the importance of a community plan that balances economic vitality, housing, transportation, environmental stewardship, infrastructure, and community character. As the Committee reviews Section 2, Policy Framework, we respectfully ask that the plan translate its resilience goals into clear, actionable policies for flood-risk reduction and stormwater management.
The Kona storms had a severe and lasting impact on our employees and operations. Store #80 was closed for almost one year, disrupting employees’ livelihoods, work schedules, financial stability, and sense of security. Even now, a forecast of rain renews concern among team members who remember the flooding, prolonged closure, and uncertainty their families endured. This is not only an operational issue; it is a continuing workforce and community-resilience issue that the updated plan should recognize.
Accordingly, we respectfully request that the updated South Maui Community Plan support prompt evaluation and implementation of an engineered dredging and drainage solution, including a regularly maintained water path capable of safely conveying stormwater away from vulnerable areas. Any project should proceed with appropriate technical and environmental review, defined maintenance responsibilities, and measurable implementation timelines. A reliable system is necessary to reduce repeated flood risk, protect employees, residents, and businesses, and prevent another extended closure.
We ask the Committee to ensure that Section 2 and related implementation measures prioritize drainage and flood-control infrastructure, emergency access and preparedness, and continuity planning for workplaces that serve South Maui. The Policy Framework should account for the human cost of infrastructure failures—not only property damage, but also lost income, interrupted employment, and prolonged stress on workers and their families.
We also encourage continued collaboration with residents, employees, small businesses, employers, landowners, and community stakeholders as the plan is finalized and implemented. Ongoing public engagement and transparent progress reporting will help ensure that the plan’s policies respond to the needs of the people who live and work in South Maui.
As the Committee considers whether to recommend passage of Bill 108 (2026), with or without revisions, we respectfully ask that the updated plan and its implementation measures include:
• A clear policy priority for flood-risk reduction, stormwater management, and drainage capacity in vulnerable South Maui areas.
• Prompt technical evaluation and implementation of an engineered dredging and drainage solution, including a maintained water path.
• Defined agency responsibility, maintenance schedules, funding pathways, and measurable timelines for resilience infrastructure.
• Emergency preparedness and continuity measures that protect employees, residents, and local businesses before, during, and after severe weather.
• Infrastructure investments that keep pace with growth while balancing housing, economic development, transportation, and environmental protection.
• Continued stakeholder engagement and transparent reporting on implementation progress.
ABC Stores respectfully supports the intent of Bill 108 (2026) and asks the Committee to incorporate or reinforce these flood-mitigation, implementation, and accountability priorities before recommending passage. Doing so will help ensure that the updated South Maui Community Plan produces meaningful protections for employees, residents, and businesses and reduces the likelihood that another storm will cause a prolonged, preventable closure. Mahalo for your consideration and for your commitment to a resilient and thriving South Maui.
Mahalo,
Johnmark D. Mageo
Employee Relations & Government Affairs Manager
ABC Stores
David Goode on behalf of Ledcor Maui
Testimony Re: Workforce Housing Policies in the Draft South Maui Community Plan, Section 2.2, DRIP-25 Bill 108 (2026)
Aloha Committee Chair Paltin and Members of the DRIP Committee,
I am writing today in regard to the proposed policies relating to workforce housing which conflict with Maui County Code Chapter 2.96, the Workforce Housing Ordinance.
By way of background, I am intimately familiar with the entitlement, planning, design, financing and construction of workforce and affordable housing having directly worked on Iao Parkside, Waiolani Pikake, Na Hale o Kilinahe, and now a new workforce housing project coming up in Wailea. I understand how MCC 2.96 helps to create housing and the need to have flexibility so that more housing can be created.
The proposed policies 2.2.18, 2.2.19, 2.2.20, 2.2.25 (in MPC version or 2.2.25 and “new” in Department recommended changes), and 2.2.26 will make workforce housing more difficult to pursue and create less housing in South Maui in the long term. The more restrictive the terms, the less will be built – it’s as simple as that.
Each of these policies is perhaps worthy of debate on a countywide basis. Therefore, they could be targeted as topics for future deliberations on MCC 2.96, which by its own terms, must be reviewed by the Council every two years (MCC 2.96.110.A). Accordingly, the policies noted above should be deleted as they conflict with MCC 2.96, and at times conflict with each other. If the Council feels they should keep some of them in the plan for future policy consideration, identify them as Actions for biennial MCC 2.96.110.A reviews where a robust debate and analysis can occur.
Mahalo for the opportunity to comment on this very important topic.
The 1970 plan is evidence of history; it is not a mandate for 2046. If Maui is actually writing a new 20-year community plan, then every request to change Residential or Multi-Family land to Resort/Hotel should be justified by present-day facts—existing zoning, lawful use, housing needs, infrastructure capacity, evacuation capacity, water, traffic, economic consequences and measurable public benefit—not simply because somebody drew “Hotel” on a map more than fifty years ago. Otherwise we are not planning South Maui’s future; we are using a 2026 community plan to permanently ratify decisions made before much of modern South Maui even existed.
This statement opposes the Draft South Maui Community Plan designation to the extent that it does not recognize hotel use for Wailea Ekahi, phases I, II and III (“Ekahi”). The property is located at 3300 Wailea Alanui and includes property in TMKs 21008064, 21008065 and 21008060. The draft plan, specifically the community plan map for Subarea 4: Wailea, pages 71 and 79, should be modified so that this property is designated Resort/Hotel, rather than Residential.
First, it should be noted that a portion of Ekahi that is proposed to be “Residential” in the draft plan is currently zoned H-1 and is currently used for transient vacation rentals. This section of Ekahi III that borders Wailea Alanui and is mauka of a gully shown on zoning maps is in an H-1 zoning district. The proposed plan designation of “Residential” land use, instead of “Resort/Hotel”, fails to acknowledge the current zoning and permitted use.
Second, the Maui County Council should take into consideration the historical development of the Wailea area since the late 1960s and early 1970s. Before it was constructed, the Wailea Resort was part of Kihei and was described in the Kihei Civic Development Plan (1970) (“KCD Plan”) as undeveloped wilderness that the community hoped would “become a resort destination unique in the world.” KCD Plan p. 74 (emphasis added).
Maps in the 1970 KCD Plan show that all ocean front properties in Wailea Resort (other than business commercial or open space) were to be available for hotel use. KCD Plan p. 35 and 74 to 75. Property that became Ekahi, on the north end of the ocean front, was shown entirely as “Hotel.”
Even though the property was planned to allow hotel use, Ekahi was developed so that it does not look like a 1970s traditional high-rise hotel. The unique concept under which it was built resulted in low rise apartments in which hotel amenities and uses can be available. Some individual apartment units even had separate spaces that could be blocked off and rented like hotel rooms. The design and configuration of all buildings on the property was consistent with the KCD Plan environmental objective to locate low density buffer zones between high rise hotels and residential areas. The adopters of the plan did not want buildings and shadows of high rises to loom over residences and the beachfront. KCD Plan p. 58.
The zoning of the Ekahi property in the 1970s also was consistent with the KCD Plan calling for construction of properties with a lower physical profile than Waikiki type hotels. A portion or possibly all Ekahi was developed under a revised Maui code provision for planned unit developments – allowing construction on property with mixed zoning of hotel and apartment, permitting uses from both zoning categories throughout the entire property, and resulting in lower heights on the hotel portion of the property.
Most important, transient and tourist rentals were permitted within Maui’s A-1 zoned districts, even before construction began in the 1970s for Ekahi. (Maui Ordinances 548 (1968) and 286 (1960)). In line with the original zoning governing Ekahi, subsequent modifications of zoning ordinances all permitted transient vacation rentals at Ekahi, until Ordinance 5909 was enacted in 2025.
As of the date of this statement, parts of Ekahi remain zoned A-1 and other parts are zoned H-1. Recently, the Maui County Council has considered Resolution 26-111. If enacted, future ordinances may change the zoning for parts of Ekahi from A-1 to H-3 and will allow transient vacation rentals to continue. It is hoped that proposed ordinances also will specify a community plan designation for Ekahi to “Resort/Hotel.”
When the County adopts its South Maui Community Plan, regardless of the status of re-zoning Ekahi A-1 to H-3, the original vision from1970 should not be ignored. Ekahi was intended to be and was, in fact, constructed and operated as a property available for both residents and tourists.
Ekahi is part of what was envisioned and has become a special, unique resort destination. Taking Ekahi out of the Hotel land-use designation would destroy the original concept for this resort property and lead to future reduction in County revenues that could have supported other priorities such as building housing and infrastructure. There is no certainty that taking this property currently designed and used for transient rentals will materially increase housing for residents. Consistent with the original plan for the Wailea resort, the land use designation for Ekahi should allow both residential and hotel use.
Aloha Chair Paltin and Members of the DRIP Committee,
My name is Eliza Yoshida, and I am writing to ask you to amend Bill 108 before moving the South Maui Community Plan forward. While South Maui urgently needs housing—specifically housing that local families can actually afford—we cannot continue approving rapid growth without the essential infrastructure needed to keep our community safe.
Please consider the following critical amendments:
Restore Strong Concurrency Requirements: Ensure community-wide infrastructure—including roads, water, drainage, emergency access, and public facilities—is in place prior to or concurrently with any new developments.
Manage Total Growth Capacity: Reduce the total amount of additional growth permitted under the plan. Thousands of housing units are already approved for South Maui; adding another 3,500 units without demonstrating clear need and proven safety capacity puts our community at risk.
Prioritize Public Safety & Evacuation Route Capacity: Require adequate water, drainage, road capacity, and emergency evacuation infrastructure prior to approving major new growth areas. Specifically, remove or substantially revise the North Kīhei Mauka expansion until these infrastructure and safety concerns are fully resolved.
Protect Residential Housing for Local Residents: Retain residential designations and prioritize long-term, permanently affordable housing. Say NO to redesignating residential land to facilitate luxury development or short-term visitor uses.
We have a crucial opportunity to establish a South Maui Community Plan that protects our residents while addressing genuine housing needs. Please put infrastructure, public safety, water, and Maui’s local families first.
Mahalo for your time and leadership,
Eliza Yoshida
Subject: Bill 108 – South Maui Community Plan / Wailea Golf
We are writing on behalf of owners at Keala O Wailea regarding the Wailea Golf provisions in the proposed South Maui Community Plan.
Our understanding is that, following discussions between Wailea Golf and the Wailea Community Association, a substantially different compromise was reached from the earlier Wailea Golf proposal. Under that understanding, the Blue Course would remain as it presently exists, the Gold Course would remain as it presently exists, and redevelopment or reconfiguration could occur with respect to the Emerald Course.
We are therefore very concerned that the materials presently before the Committee appear to include an earlier owner-proposed Wailea Golf plan rather than the later compromise reached through that community process. The concern is particularly significant to Keala O Wailea because the earlier proposal contemplated changes to the Blue Course and development in the area immediately below Keala. The correspondence circulating among Keala owners likewise reflects concern that the older plan, rather than the more recent negotiated approach, may be moving forward. For the avoidance of doubt, Keala O Wailea remains opposed to any plan that would alter the Blue Course or permit residential development on it.
Before advancing Bill 108 as it relates to Wailea Golf, we respectfully ask the Committee to determine:
1. Which Wailea Golf plan reflects the most recent ongoing discussions, which are nearly complete, with the Wailea Community Association;
2. Why the earlier owner-proposed plan appears to be included in the materials presently before the Committee; and
3. That the South Maui Community Plan ultimately reflect the later compromise preserving the Blue and Gold Courses while permitting changes to the Emerald Course.
We are not suggesting that all future development in Wailea should be prohibited. To the contrary, the compromise described above reflects an accommodation of both development and community interests. But after that process occurred, it would be inappropriate to revert to an earlier proposal without explanation and without giving the affected community an opportunity to address the change.
Separately, any significant additional development in Wailea will necessarily require consideration of broader issues including traffic, water, infrastructure, public resources and cumulative impacts. Those matters will also need to be addressed as the planning and entitlement processes proceed. At this stage, however, our immediate request is simply that the Committee not advance the earlier Wailea Golf proposal until the discrepancy between that proposal and the later community compromise has been clarified and resolved.
Plan for what—an island population of 250,000? Maui keeps planning for more people, more development, more density and more economic activity while failing to finish the infrastructure promised to the people already here. Before government adopts another 20-year plan telling us where Maui should grow, it should account for the last one: what was promised, what was built, what was never built, and why. Otherwise, this is not planning—it is approving future growth while pushing yesterday’s unfinished roads, water, wastewater, housing and public facilities onto the next generation of taxpayers.
Testimony received via email
If every meaningful provision in the South Maui Community Plan that inconveniences development should be deleted and handled later through the County Code, then what exactly is the Community Plan supposed to accomplish? A community plan that establishes goals but retreats whenever those goals impose an actual constraint is not a plan—it is a document describing what government hopes will happen while preserving maximum flexibility for development to do something else.
TO: Maui County Council
Tamara Paltin, Chair
Nohelani U‘u-Hodgins, Vice-Chair
Disaster Recovery, International Affairs, and Planning Committee Members
SUBJECT: Bill 108 (2026), South Maui Community Plan Update (DRIP-25) - Support with Flood-Mitigation and Resilience Priorities
Aloha Chair Paltin, Vice-Chair U‘u-Hodgins, and Members of the Committee,
Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony on Bill 108 (2026), which would repeal the Kihei-Makena Community Plan, as amended, and adopt the updated South Maui Community Plan. ABC Stores supports advancing an updated plan that strengthens South Maui’s long-term resilience, provided that the Policy Framework clearly addresses recurring flooding, drainage capacity, emergency preparedness, and continuity for employees and local businesses.
ABC Stores has served Hawai‘i’s residents and visitors for decades and understands firsthand the importance of a community plan that balances economic vitality, housing, transportation, environmental stewardship, infrastructure, and community character. As the Committee reviews Section 2, Policy Framework, we respectfully ask that the plan translate its resilience goals into clear, actionable policies for flood-risk reduction and stormwater management.
The Kona storms had a severe and lasting impact on our employees and operations. Store #80 was closed for almost one year, disrupting employees’ livelihoods, work schedules, financial stability, and sense of security. Even now, a forecast of rain renews concern among team members who remember the flooding, prolonged closure, and uncertainty their families endured. This is not only an operational issue; it is a continuing workforce and community-resilience issue that the updated plan should recognize.
Accordingly, we respectfully request that the updated South Maui Community Plan support prompt evaluation and implementation of an engineered dredging and drainage solution, including a regularly maintained water path capable of safely conveying stormwater away from vulnerable areas. Any project should proceed with appropriate technical and environmental review, defined maintenance responsibilities, and measurable implementation timelines. A reliable system is necessary to reduce repeated flood risk, protect employees, residents, and businesses, and prevent another extended closure.
We ask the Committee to ensure that Section 2 and related implementation measures prioritize drainage and flood-control infrastructure, emergency access and preparedness, and continuity planning for workplaces that serve South Maui. The Policy Framework should account for the human cost of infrastructure failures—not only property damage, but also lost income, interrupted employment, and prolonged stress on workers and their families.
We also encourage continued collaboration with residents, employees, small businesses, employers, landowners, and community stakeholders as the plan is finalized and implemented. Ongoing public engagement and transparent progress reporting will help ensure that the plan’s policies respond to the needs of the people who live and work in South Maui.
As the Committee considers whether to recommend passage of Bill 108 (2026), with or without revisions, we respectfully ask that the updated plan and its implementation measures include:
• A clear policy priority for flood-risk reduction, stormwater management, and drainage capacity in vulnerable South Maui areas.
• Prompt technical evaluation and implementation of an engineered dredging and drainage solution, including a maintained water path.
• Defined agency responsibility, maintenance schedules, funding pathways, and measurable timelines for resilience infrastructure.
• Emergency preparedness and continuity measures that protect employees, residents, and local businesses before, during, and after severe weather.
• Infrastructure investments that keep pace with growth while balancing housing, economic development, transportation, and environmental protection.
• Continued stakeholder engagement and transparent reporting on implementation progress.
ABC Stores respectfully supports the intent of Bill 108 (2026) and asks the Committee to incorporate or reinforce these flood-mitigation, implementation, and accountability priorities before recommending passage. Doing so will help ensure that the updated South Maui Community Plan produces meaningful protections for employees, residents, and businesses and reduces the likelihood that another storm will cause a prolonged, preventable closure. Mahalo for your consideration and for your commitment to a resilient and thriving South Maui.
Mahalo,
Johnmark D. Mageo
Employee Relations & Government Affairs Manager
ABC Stores
David Goode on behalf of Ledcor Maui
Testimony Re: Workforce Housing Policies in the Draft South Maui Community Plan, Section 2.2, DRIP-25 Bill 108 (2026)
Aloha Committee Chair Paltin and Members of the DRIP Committee,
I am writing today in regard to the proposed policies relating to workforce housing which conflict with Maui County Code Chapter 2.96, the Workforce Housing Ordinance.
By way of background, I am intimately familiar with the entitlement, planning, design, financing and construction of workforce and affordable housing having directly worked on Iao Parkside, Waiolani Pikake, Na Hale o Kilinahe, and now a new workforce housing project coming up in Wailea. I understand how MCC 2.96 helps to create housing and the need to have flexibility so that more housing can be created.
The proposed policies 2.2.18, 2.2.19, 2.2.20, 2.2.25 (in MPC version or 2.2.25 and “new” in Department recommended changes), and 2.2.26 will make workforce housing more difficult to pursue and create less housing in South Maui in the long term. The more restrictive the terms, the less will be built – it’s as simple as that.
Each of these policies is perhaps worthy of debate on a countywide basis. Therefore, they could be targeted as topics for future deliberations on MCC 2.96, which by its own terms, must be reviewed by the Council every two years (MCC 2.96.110.A). Accordingly, the policies noted above should be deleted as they conflict with MCC 2.96, and at times conflict with each other. If the Council feels they should keep some of them in the plan for future policy consideration, identify them as Actions for biennial MCC 2.96.110.A reviews where a robust debate and analysis can occur.
Mahalo for the opportunity to comment on this very important topic.
The 1970 plan is evidence of history; it is not a mandate for 2046. If Maui is actually writing a new 20-year community plan, then every request to change Residential or Multi-Family land to Resort/Hotel should be justified by present-day facts—existing zoning, lawful use, housing needs, infrastructure capacity, evacuation capacity, water, traffic, economic consequences and measurable public benefit—not simply because somebody drew “Hotel” on a map more than fifty years ago. Otherwise we are not planning South Maui’s future; we are using a 2026 community plan to permanently ratify decisions made before much of modern South Maui even existed.
This statement opposes the Draft South Maui Community Plan designation to the extent that it does not recognize hotel use for Wailea Ekahi, phases I, II and III (“Ekahi”). The property is located at 3300 Wailea Alanui and includes property in TMKs 21008064, 21008065 and 21008060. The draft plan, specifically the community plan map for Subarea 4: Wailea, pages 71 and 79, should be modified so that this property is designated Resort/Hotel, rather than Residential.
First, it should be noted that a portion of Ekahi that is proposed to be “Residential” in the draft plan is currently zoned H-1 and is currently used for transient vacation rentals. This section of Ekahi III that borders Wailea Alanui and is mauka of a gully shown on zoning maps is in an H-1 zoning district. The proposed plan designation of “Residential” land use, instead of “Resort/Hotel”, fails to acknowledge the current zoning and permitted use.
Second, the Maui County Council should take into consideration the historical development of the Wailea area since the late 1960s and early 1970s. Before it was constructed, the Wailea Resort was part of Kihei and was described in the Kihei Civic Development Plan (1970) (“KCD Plan”) as undeveloped wilderness that the community hoped would “become a resort destination unique in the world.” KCD Plan p. 74 (emphasis added).
Maps in the 1970 KCD Plan show that all ocean front properties in Wailea Resort (other than business commercial or open space) were to be available for hotel use. KCD Plan p. 35 and 74 to 75. Property that became Ekahi, on the north end of the ocean front, was shown entirely as “Hotel.”
Even though the property was planned to allow hotel use, Ekahi was developed so that it does not look like a 1970s traditional high-rise hotel. The unique concept under which it was built resulted in low rise apartments in which hotel amenities and uses can be available. Some individual apartment units even had separate spaces that could be blocked off and rented like hotel rooms. The design and configuration of all buildings on the property was consistent with the KCD Plan environmental objective to locate low density buffer zones between high rise hotels and residential areas. The adopters of the plan did not want buildings and shadows of high rises to loom over residences and the beachfront. KCD Plan p. 58.
The zoning of the Ekahi property in the 1970s also was consistent with the KCD Plan calling for construction of properties with a lower physical profile than Waikiki type hotels. A portion or possibly all Ekahi was developed under a revised Maui code provision for planned unit developments – allowing construction on property with mixed zoning of hotel and apartment, permitting uses from both zoning categories throughout the entire property, and resulting in lower heights on the hotel portion of the property.
Most important, transient and tourist rentals were permitted within Maui’s A-1 zoned districts, even before construction began in the 1970s for Ekahi. (Maui Ordinances 548 (1968) and 286 (1960)). In line with the original zoning governing Ekahi, subsequent modifications of zoning ordinances all permitted transient vacation rentals at Ekahi, until Ordinance 5909 was enacted in 2025.
As of the date of this statement, parts of Ekahi remain zoned A-1 and other parts are zoned H-1. Recently, the Maui County Council has considered Resolution 26-111. If enacted, future ordinances may change the zoning for parts of Ekahi from A-1 to H-3 and will allow transient vacation rentals to continue. It is hoped that proposed ordinances also will specify a community plan designation for Ekahi to “Resort/Hotel.”
When the County adopts its South Maui Community Plan, regardless of the status of re-zoning Ekahi A-1 to H-3, the original vision from1970 should not be ignored. Ekahi was intended to be and was, in fact, constructed and operated as a property available for both residents and tourists.
Ekahi is part of what was envisioned and has become a special, unique resort destination. Taking Ekahi out of the Hotel land-use designation would destroy the original concept for this resort property and lead to future reduction in County revenues that could have supported other priorities such as building housing and infrastructure. There is no certainty that taking this property currently designed and used for transient rentals will materially increase housing for residents. Consistent with the original plan for the Wailea resort, the land use designation for Ekahi should allow both residential and hotel use.
Aloha Chair Paltin and Members of the DRIP Committee,
My name is Eliza Yoshida, and I am writing to ask you to amend Bill 108 before moving the South Maui Community Plan forward. While South Maui urgently needs housing—specifically housing that local families can actually afford—we cannot continue approving rapid growth without the essential infrastructure needed to keep our community safe.
Please consider the following critical amendments:
Restore Strong Concurrency Requirements: Ensure community-wide infrastructure—including roads, water, drainage, emergency access, and public facilities—is in place prior to or concurrently with any new developments.
Manage Total Growth Capacity: Reduce the total amount of additional growth permitted under the plan. Thousands of housing units are already approved for South Maui; adding another 3,500 units without demonstrating clear need and proven safety capacity puts our community at risk.
Prioritize Public Safety & Evacuation Route Capacity: Require adequate water, drainage, road capacity, and emergency evacuation infrastructure prior to approving major new growth areas. Specifically, remove or substantially revise the North Kīhei Mauka expansion until these infrastructure and safety concerns are fully resolved.
Protect Residential Housing for Local Residents: Retain residential designations and prioritize long-term, permanently affordable housing. Say NO to redesignating residential land to facilitate luxury development or short-term visitor uses.
We have a crucial opportunity to establish a South Maui Community Plan that protects our residents while addressing genuine housing needs. Please put infrastructure, public safety, water, and Maui’s local families first.
Mahalo for your time and leadership,
Eliza Yoshida
Steve Bichich
September 13, 2026
Chair and Members of the DRIP Committee:
Subject: Bill 108 – South Maui Community Plan / Wailea Golf
We are writing on behalf of owners at Keala O Wailea regarding the Wailea Golf provisions in the proposed South Maui Community Plan.
Our understanding is that, following discussions between Wailea Golf and the Wailea Community Association, a substantially different compromise was reached from the earlier Wailea Golf proposal. Under that understanding, the Blue Course would remain as it presently exists, the Gold Course would remain as it presently exists, and redevelopment or reconfiguration could occur with respect to the Emerald Course.
We are therefore very concerned that the materials presently before the Committee appear to include an earlier owner-proposed Wailea Golf plan rather than the later compromise reached through that community process. The concern is particularly significant to Keala O Wailea because the earlier proposal contemplated changes to the Blue Course and development in the area immediately below Keala. The correspondence circulating among Keala owners likewise reflects concern that the older plan, rather than the more recent negotiated approach, may be moving forward. For the avoidance of doubt, Keala O Wailea remains opposed to any plan that would alter the Blue Course or permit residential development on it.
Before advancing Bill 108 as it relates to Wailea Golf, we respectfully ask the Committee to determine:
1. Which Wailea Golf plan reflects the most recent ongoing discussions, which are nearly complete, with the Wailea Community Association;
2. Why the earlier owner-proposed plan appears to be included in the materials presently before the Committee; and
3. That the South Maui Community Plan ultimately reflect the later compromise preserving the Blue and Gold Courses while permitting changes to the Emerald Course.
We are not suggesting that all future development in Wailea should be prohibited. To the contrary, the compromise described above reflects an accommodation of both development and community interests. But after that process occurred, it would be inappropriate to revert to an earlier proposal without explanation and without giving the affected community an opportunity to address the change.
Separately, any significant additional development in Wailea will necessarily require consideration of broader issues including traffic, water, infrastructure, public resources and cumulative impacts. Those matters will also need to be addressed as the planning and entitlement processes proceed. At this stage, however, our immediate request is simply that the Committee not advance the earlier Wailea Golf proposal until the discrepancy between that proposal and the later community compromise has been clarified and resolved.
Thank you for your consideration.
Keala O Wailea Board of Directors
Plan for what—an island population of 250,000? Maui keeps planning for more people, more development, more density and more economic activity while failing to finish the infrastructure promised to the people already here. Before government adopts another 20-year plan telling us where Maui should grow, it should account for the last one: what was promised, what was built, what was never built, and why. Otherwise, this is not planning—it is approving future growth while pushing yesterday’s unfinished roads, water, wastewater, housing and public facilities onto the next generation of taxpayers.