On May 8, the Land Use Commission met on Maui to receive an update on a project that first received LUC approval more than three decades ago. Initially, more than 1,700 homes were proposed for what was called Pu\u02bbukoli\u02bbi Village, although that was pared back to 940 for the more makai portion, with still more units planned for the more makai so-called Pu\u02bbukoli\u02bbi Triangle area. The original LUC Decision & Order (D&O) called for some 340 units in the Triangle area, but now that number is uncertain, given the landowner\u2019s changed plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No vertical construction has gone up in all that time. Members of the commission placed the blame for the lack of progress not on the Ka\u02bbanapali Land Management Corporation (KLMC), which, as successor to Amfac, has owned the land since the project was first approved, but on the state Commission on Water Resource Management. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two years ago, after numerous public hearings, CWRM designated West Maui as a water management area for both surface and groundwater. The determination means that the commission found that water sources were stressed. Existing users would need to apply for water use permits to continue their uses, while permits for new uses are to be considered after applications from existing users have been issued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Pu\u02bbukoli\u02bbi project would draw water from the Honok\u014dwai aquifer, where, at the time of designation, existing and authorized planned uses totaled 10.181 million gallons a day. The aquifer\u2019s sustainable yield is only 6 million gallons a day, and that number could decrease if cumulative rainfall in the area continues to fall below the long-term average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The legal framework for such decisions is set forth in the state Water Code, Chapter 174 of Hawai\u02bbi Revised Statutes, and in the commission\u2019s implementing rules. Deviating from the procedures set forth in law and rules would almost certainly be challenged in court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But comments from the commissioners at the May 8 meeting betrayed an almost astonishing lack of understanding of the legal issues associated with designated water management areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chair Dan Giovanni: \u201cSeems like we\u2019re prepared to move forward with this valuable project \u2026 but it\u2019s all hung up with this water issue. My sense is that they [the Water Commission] have made a generalized priority to prioritize all the existing applications, existing water users, before they would consider something new at all. That seems to be to be pretty myopic in the grand scheme of things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Commissioner Brian Lee wanted to know why the LUC had to defer to the Water Commission. \u201cWe need to consider, if CWRM is going to be the obstacle, why are we deferring to them without any examination?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Katia Balassiano, the land use development administrator of the state Office of Planning and Sustainable Development, as well as Alison Kato, the deputy attorney general representing the OPSD, described how a team of agency heads convened by the governor meet every Friday to discuss ways to move forward with housing and other needs of the Lahaina area following the devastating wildfires of last August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On learning of the Friday morning meetings, commissioners wanted to make sure that the participants were aware of the Pu\u02bbukoli\u02bbi project. \u201cI would really encourage this Friday morning meeting to consider opportunities to make an exception to get a little more priority for consideration of the water application for a new project such as this, because it just seems so important for a community in this part of the island,\u201d Giovanni said, addressing his comments to Balassiano and Kato. He and other commissioners also charged the OPSD with seeking comments from CWRM as to why this project was not being given the consideration that they felt was its due.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe can raise that again with them, but we don\u2019t make CWRM\u2019s decisions for them,\u201d Kato replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEverything\u2019s pointing to them,\u201d Giovanni added. \u201cThey\u2019re what\u2019s holding this up. Is that a fair representation? That\u2019s the plug in the wall, right there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, after listening to representatives of KLMC describe a long process of planning for almost all its undeveloped properties in the Ka\u02bbanapali area that began around 2009 and is still unfinished, commissioner Lee Ohigashi of Maui, in one of his last hearings before leaving the LUC at the end of this month, criticized the company for its apparent lack of urgency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m hoping that the parties are understanding the sense of urgency in that area and that thirteen years to do a development agreement and put into a plan is kind of unacceptable,\u201d he said, referring to a \u201cdesperate need\u201d for housing in the area. \u201cI\u2019m not happy with the fact that we don\u2019t have a sense of urgency on the part of the petitioner in this matter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the LUC received the original petition for redistricting the Ka\u02bbanapali land for the mauka area and the triangle, the state housing agency was a co-petitioner. After the D&O was amended in 2009, the Hawai\u02bbi Housing Finance and Development Corporation (HHFDC) was left out of all discussions concerning affordable housing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Diane Praywell, attorney for KLMC, told the commission that KLMC was \u201cstill in discussions, and we need to work out with HHFDC the terms of \u2026 a new or modified version of the current development agreement.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ohigashi asked Stan Fujimoto, representing HHFDC, about those negotiations. \u201cWhen was the last time you were in touch\u201d with KLMC, he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNot until recently,\u201d Fujimoto replied. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat does recently mean,\u201d Ohigashi asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh, 2024,\u201d Fujimoto answered. \u201cJust discussions in response to this inquiry,\u201d referring to the LUC request for a status report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prior to that time, Ohigashi asked, \u201cwas there any other negotiation being conducted?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fujimoto: \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ohigashi: So there\u2019s been 13 years of non-negotiation in this matter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, Chad Fukunaga, vice president of KLMC, pushed back against the suggestion that the company had been dragging its feet. In response to a question by commissioner Nancy Carr Smith, Fukunaga said the company had been working on this for some 17 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was a top priority even before the fire,\u201d he said, referring to the devastating fires on Maui last August. He then launched into a description of the discussions leading up to designation of West Maui as a surface and groundwater management area. \u201cThat process in itself puts pause into whether you need to move forward with design and development, particularly the water system,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re at the mercy of CWRM\u2019s decision.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet the designation process, by Fukunaga\u2019s own admission, didn\u2019t start until a good 10 years after the Land Use Commission\u2019s consent to the amendment of the original redistricting decision, which reduced the affordable housing requirement in the mauka area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fukunaga also clarified that his company wouldn\u2019t actually be the party eventually applying for a water permit. \u201cTo clarify, Hawai\u02bbi Water Service has an established water service area equivalent to most of our lands,\u201d he said. \u201cSo our request for water service would go through that company.\u201d HWS had applied for an existing use permit, he went on to say, \u201cand that is the permit they\u2019re trying to process now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among other things, KLMC also attributed delays to Maui County\u2019s development of a new community plan for West Maui, finally adopted in 2022. Land use designations in the plan \u201care not entirely consistent with the [Ka\u02bbanapali 2020] Master Plan,\u201d Praywell stated in the most recent annual report to the LUC. \u201c[A]dditional efforts will take place to continue with revised planning and with permitting and other regulatory approvals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the May 8 meeting, Jeff Rebugio of KLMC elaborated. The Triangle area \u201chas been reconstituted into the Ka\u02bbanapali 2020 project,\u201d he said. Following the county\u2019s adoption of a new community plan, \u201cthe final plan was inconsistent with the 2020 land plan, leaving out a significant portion of the urban area \u2013 mainly, the entire south end, which we approximate to be about 200 acres\u2026 Because of this discrepancy with the West Maui Community Plan, Ka\u02bbanapali is regrouping to identify a revised land plan. We may need a community plan amendment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Maui County Planning Director Kate Blystone disputed that characterization. KLMC had stated that they were disappointed in the outcome of that process, she noted. \u201cBut that\u2019s not in relation to the area under discussion today,\u201d she said. The Triangle area was designated \u201csmall town center\u201d in the plan, a designation that \u201cis not meant to regulate uses so much as to regulate the form and character of the place.\u201d It allows for \u201clower profile buildings, all the amenities a community would need. Residential, commercial \u2026 all are appropriate for this designation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
***<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Financial Disclosures<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n All members of the Land Use Commission must file financial disclosure statements with the state Ethics Commission. State law requires that such interests include sources of income above a minimum level, real estate and other ownership interests, and indebtedness, among other things. The statement should also disclose the financial interests of the commissioner\u2019s spouse and dependent children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nancy Carr Smith, who began serving on the LUC last year as a member representing the island of Hawai\u02bbi, has filed two financial disclosure statements. In her first statement, for 2023, she identifies one source of income for herself: Aloha Kohala Realty, with the amount earned ranging between $100,000 and $150,000. She also identifies a source of income for her husband, Riley Smith. His employer is identified as Lanihau Properties, with the income ranging between $150,000 and $250,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since 2022, Riley Smith, a member of the state Board of Land and Natural Resources, has also been required to file a financial disclosure statement. At no time has he identified an income source for his wife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Carr Smith\u2019s most recent filing (made April 17, 2024), there is no mention of Riley Smith\u2019s income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Patricia Tummons<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On May 8, the Land Use Commission met on Maui to receive an update on a project that first received LUC approval more than three decades ago. Initially, more than 1,700 homes were proposed for what was called Puʻukoliʻi Village, … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[525],"tags":[7],"class_list":["post-16002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-june-2024","tag-patricia-tummons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16002\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}