When the Maui County Council’s land use committee was debating the proposed Honua’ula Development, water was identified as a critical issue. As Maui continues to grow, council members were adamant that the developer show that they had sufficient water supply to support the development. During a meeting on Friday, the County Council voted in favor of a bill that would require that all future developments must show sufficient water supply in order to get the approval of the council’s land use committee. County council member Michelle Anderson sponsored the bill that has been in the works for over three years. Some island developers opposed the bill arguing that it was essentially a moratorium on development. Council members argued that this wasn’t the case. The bill is based in part on a similar ordinance already in place in California. Thus far, the bill in California has done little to put the brakes on new development. Mayor Charmaine Tavares will need to sign off on the bill for it to go into effect. With water director Jeff Eng in support of the bill, her signature is likely.
Check out today’s Maui News for additional information on the new water bill. We will continue to follow this bill and future development issues on THE Maui Real Estate Blog.
