Makena project stirs protest

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau

A plan to develop luxury housing on hundreds of acres in Makena has aroused the passion of environmentalists and South Maui residents who say it will add to the area's traffic problems and put a new strain on water resources.

The meeting on the Makena Resort's rezoning application gives the public one last opportunity to sound off on a rezoning proposal that calls for up to 1,100 new residences and a new hotel or time-share complex.

Makena Resort's master plan would add some 200 acres of condominiums and apartments surrounding the Makena North and South golf courses, and designate 28 acres for a hotel or time-share project south of the Maui Prince Hotel.

In October, the Maui County Council's Land Use Committee recommended approval of the resort's rezoning request 5-3. The full council was poised to vote on the matter in December, but the three who opposed the request — Wayne Nishiki, Jo Anne Johnson and Charmaine Tavares — asked that one more hearing be held.

The resort, first developed in 1986, has two golf courses, a tennis complex and the 310-room Maui Prince Hotel. Plans to expand the resort stalled in the 1990s when the Japanese economy faltered.

The Makena Resort is part of Prince Resorts Hawai'i Corp., owned by the Seibu Group of Japan, which also owns the Mauna Kea Beach Resort in South Kohala and the Hawai'i Prince Hotel in Waikiki.

In recent years, the Maui resort has spent $20 million to build a sewage treatment plant, roadways and other improvements to handle development. But its rezoning request comes at a time when the community is questioning just how much more traffic and water use can be endured.

Rush hour in Kihei means long lines of cars on Pi'ilani Highway, and the state Water Resource Commission is considering taking over management of the '?ao Aquifer — South Maui's water source — because of concerns about overpumping.

Robert Parsons of Maui Tomorrow, a citizens planning group, insists there's too much uncertainty over water and traffic issues to allow the resort expansion to go forward.

He said the plan, with its luxury condos and homes, caters to visitors and new residents at the expense of the community.

Developer Everett Dowling, who is considering developing a portion of the plan, said part-time residents who pay full-time property taxes are just the kind of visitors Maui needs. They are here only half the year, he said, but taxes on their luxury properties would provide a huge boost to county coffers.

Makena Resort officials could not be contacted to comment.

Councilman Michael Molina, who voted with the Land Use Committee majority in support of the zoning changes, noted that the committee placed a number of conditions aimed at trying to address traffic, water and other issues.

One condition requires the development to be phased in with major roadway improvements. Another one reduces the density of apartment units, and another is designed to protect the '?ao Aquifer from being overpumped.

Still another condition requires the developer to make available 10 percent of new homes as affordable housing and to build them concurrently with market-priced units.

Parsons said he doesn't have a lot of confidence that such conditions will be enforced. "Our county does not have a good track record for enforcing conditions,'' he said.

Molina said it will take the resort 20 years to complete the build-out and to meet any conditions.

"They've got a long way to go. There are many more approvals they need,'' he said.

Molina said rejecting the development would send an anti-business message in difficult economic times. He said the project would be a boon not only to the island's construction industry but to other businesses that rely on a growing population.

"For me, it's an opportunity to keep our kids here,'' said Molina, a former teacher. "There are lots of young families impacted, and I want to do what I can to help the construction industry. ''