Bill to expedite Lahaina rebuilding gains final County Council approval : Maui Now

A bill to fast-track building permits in areas hard-hit by the August wildfires has received final approval by the Maui County Council. Bill 21 advances to the mayor for final action.

The measure broadens current emergency repair provisions of Maui County’s building code for four years from the date of the governor’s most recent emergency proclamation. The bill also clarifies repair and approval procedures for issuing emergency building permits.

Council Member Tom Cook, chair of the Water and Infrastructure Committee, said the bill was submitted by the Department of Public Works in response to the wildfires in Lahaina and Upcountry.

In the revised building code’s emergency permitting process, driveway and grading permits would be consolidated with electrical and plumbing permits in a modified permit application. A third-party vendor will be selected and contracted by the County to review and approve emergency building permit applications.

“I would like to acknowledge the work that the departments have done, their responsiveness to our community over the past few months and the level of commitment that all of the county workers have shown,” said Cook, who holds the South Maui residency area seat. “Recovery efforts require a multifaceted approach, and this bill pursues multiple parallel solutions to address the county’s permitting process.”

To provide more housing opportunities, the bill also allows eligible property owners to exceed their previous building footprint, and owners of vacant land may construct ʻohana units to create homes for survivors, Cook said.

Approval of a permit application may be requested by the property owner after 15 days if no action is taken. Permit approvals may be held up if: disaster debris removal is not complete; essential services are not restored; an agency review is required; or if there’s a pending a land use approval or unfinished public infrastructure improvements immediately adjacent to the property.

In other Council action Friday, council members approved on first reading:

• Bill 34, which amends the fiscal 2024 County budget to provide $10 million from the Affordable Housing Fund for Catholic Charities Housing Development Corp.’s 178-unit Hale Pilina project on 4.8 acres at 150 South Pu‘unēnē Avenue, next to the Kahului Post Office.
• Bill 35, which also amends the fiscal 2024 budget to grant Pacific Development Group a $14 million loan from the Affordable Housing Fund as part of financing needed to build Aikanaha, a 212-unit, low-income rental project within the master-planned Waikapū Country Town development.
• Bill 44, which authorizes the mayor to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the Hawaiʻi Housing Finance and Development Corp. for development of long-term affordable workforce housing at the Haggai Institute, the former 216-room Maui Sun Hotel, in central Kīhei.

Also, on second-and-final reading, council members passed:

• Bills 17 and 18, which make available $2.9 million in bond money for the Lānaʻi Youth Center and Skate Park.
• Bills 13 and 14, which set aside $2,020,000 in bond money for a transportation baseyard facility in Central Maui.
• Bill 9, which appropriates $800,000 for Kīhei Community Center improvements.
• Bill 19, which provides $510,000 for Maui County’s share of overhead power pole relocation costs at the Lower Pāʻia Park parking lot.
• Bill 136, which appropriates $223,290 for administration of the East Maui Water Authority.