The Maui County Council approved the Hale Mua affordable housing project on Tuesday. The project which has been featured in previous blog posts, was approved by a 7-2 margin. This project has been through an expedited review due to the 201 G fast track process. This process is reserved for affordable housing projects and gives the council a 45 day time frame to review the project. If no decision is made in 45 days, the project is automatically approved. The deadline for this project was Thursday August 25th. While many are welcoming the much needed affordable housing. Not all were happy with the decision. Concern remains about traffic and sprawl. One thing that will likely be reviewed as a result of the decision is the 201G process. Even council members who approved the subdivision were unhappy with the process. The sentiment was that the process rushed important decisions and left inadequate time for planning and debate. For more information on Hale Mua and last night’s project approval, check out today’s Maui News.
