Posted on: Wednesday, November 3, 2004
West Maui growth discussed
By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau
As Maui County Council members prepare once again to consider the proposed subdivision in Lahaina known as Pu'unoa, a community group has launched a campaign to warn county leaders that the overall number of developments proposed for West Maui could overwhelm the area's water supply, roads, schools and basic services such as police and fire protection.
Maui Tomorrow, a group that advocates measured development, says 30 projects with a proposed 16,000-plus units between Kapalua and Olowalu could nearly triple the West Maui population of 16,000.
Ron Sturtz, an attorney who is president of Maui Tomorrow, said the group wants to help county policymakers see the big picture as individual projects such as Pu'unoa come up for approval.
He said Maui County Council members will be given a chart and map showing the planned developments, their proposed densities and approval status.
The group contends that the additional resort and residential units will strain the area's infrastructure and basic services and, based on county figures, could increase West Maui's traffic load by 30,000 vehicles.
"This unprecedented and unanticipated level of development will affect everything from traffic and water demands to beach access, and may undermine the quality and appeal of the area to tourists, the foundation of the West Maui economy," Sturtz said.
The Pu'unoa subdivision, rejected by the council a year ago, is back after being revised and then unanimously approved by the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawai'i as a 201-G "fast track" development because of its affordable-housing component.
The council, which will consider the project at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow at Lahaina Intermediate School, has 45 days to accept or turn down the development.
Developer Kent Smith proposes to build 268 houses on 54 acres of agricultural land mauka of Honoapi'ilani Highway owned by investors who also want an agricultural subdivision on the remainder of a 235-acre property.
Even though most agree that affordable housing is desperately needed, the project was opposed by Mayor Alan Arakawa and the council majority last year, in part, because it would bring even more traffic into a congested area of Honoapi'ilani Highway.
West Maui Council member Jo Anne Johnson agreed that her colleagues should consider the overall development picture instead working in a piecemeal approach. If not, she said, the area's infrastructure will be overwhelmed.
As for Pu'unoa, the traffic is a "nightmare," she said. "This is not going to solve traffic problems. It's only going to worsen them."
The two-lane Honoapi'ilani Highway is the single route by which residents commute to work in Central Maui and access the hospital, airport, shopping and government offices.
Sturtz said an expansion of the highway or alternate route should be a prerequisite before any new major developments are allowed.
Maui County Planning Director Mike Foley said that although 16,000 units might be the total build-out in West Maui, he would discount Maui Tomorrow's total by at least 5,000, which represents the latter phases of the Department of Hawaiian Homelands project known as the Villages of Leali'i, a development that has been on the books for more than a decade. He said it's doubtful the water and sewer capacity will be developed for most of the project.
Even so, there is a "tremendous" number of projects, "and to say there's a lot of activity is accurate," Foley said.
Reach Timothy Hurley at (808) 244-4880 or thurley@honoluluadvertiser.com.
