The county land use commission has been debating the Honua’ula development since late July. They have decided to take a break from discussions to address other business. The discussions are set to resume tentatively on October 18th. Honua’ula has been subject to a long and heated debate including lengthy public testimony. Most of the land use commission meetings have been focused on negotiating 19 conditions that need to be satisfied for the developer to get approval. According to a friday article in the Maui News, there is a tentative consensus on nine of the items.
- A drainage master plan and phasing plan of improvements.
- An animal management plan for animal intrusions.
- Notification of intrusions of axis deer and pigs.
- Assessments of the pueo and the Hawaiian hoary bat.
- Use of nonpotable sources of water for irrigation and dust control.
- Agreements regarding the golf course.
- Participating in the fair share of development and funding of wastewater and the effluent-transmission system between the project site and the Kihei Wastewater Reclamation Facility.
- Connection with the public wastewater reclamation facility for treatment of wastewater.
- An exterior lighting plan to shield adjacent residential properties from light pollution.
- A commitment by the developer to pro-rata funding and construction of civil defense measures.
The chair of the land use committee is hoping for a quick resolution of the remaining issues when council reconvenes to debate Honua’ula in October. However, the remaining conditions include a number of very contentious issues. We will continue to follow the debate over Honua’ula on the Maui Real Estate Blog when it resumes in October.
