It is safe to say that the proposed Honua’ula development has been the subject of more local headlines than any other development going through the subdivision approval process over the last few years. That says something with other well covered projects such as Pululehua in West Maui and the Hale Mua project in Central Maui. There were two separate articles in today’s paper regarding Honua’ula. One article covered items discussed in the county land use committee’s Wednesday meeting on the project. Honua’ula representative Charlie Jencks discussed specifics of how the developer would address the affordable housing requirement in greater detail. Jencks indicated that 250 affordable units would be built prior to any other work being done in the development. As part of the new work force housing policy, Honua’ula will need to include 40-50% of the housing units in the development as affordable. The location of the affordable units was also subject to debate. While the developer is arguing that the affordable housing may be built outside of the development area, some members of council are insistent that the affordable homes be built within the 670 acres of Pulelehua. This particular issue will be subject to additional discussion.
While there was no resolution on the specifics of the affordable housing requirement, four other requirements for the subdivision were agreed upon during the Wednesday meeting. The four requirements included a range of environmental and civil defense requirements. To date, that means seven of the county councils thirty requirements necessary for subdivision approval have been agreed upon.
There was also a Maui News article about County Council Chairman Riki Hokama’s review of the County Charter. Three members of county council have requested additional public discussion on Honua’ula. As per the terms of the charter, three council members out of ten is grounds to mandate a public hearing. Hokama is reviewing when the hearing needs to be held since it is not explicit in the charter. We will continue to follow the review process for Honua’ula on the Maui Real Estate Blog.
