Council Land Use Committee Chairman Michael Molina said Monday he doesn't know what the fate of Johnson's conditions might be, and he's ready for the council to stop hearing public testimony and focus on making a final decision on the controversial South Maui project.

After listening to more than 100 people speak out and reading dozens of e-mails and copies of written testimony, Molina said he's heard and read enough and is ready for the council to deliberate on the project when the panel reconvenes at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the eighth-floor Council Chambers of the Kalana O Maui Building.

"We can't wait any longer on this," he said Monday. "I think the public wants a resolution, and it's our job to make those tough decisions."

The Land Use Committee spent two afternoons last week listening to passionate pleas for and against Honua'ula, formerly called Wailea 670. Molina closed the public testimony portion of the committee meeting late Friday, announcing the committee would return to work Wednesday.

The Honua'ula project calls for developing 1,400 single-family homes and multifamily units, 80,000 square feet of commercial space and a private golf course on 670 acres in Wailea. The project property is at the southern end of Piilani Highway, mauka of the Wailea Resort.

Honua'ula's developers have applied for zoning and a project district amendment to allow the project to revise its initial late-1980s proposal to build two golf courses, 2,600 housing units and a resort.

The project has had about six hearings over the past two years.

"We're at the point where the council just needs to deliberate and come to a decision," Molina said.

Johnson disagrees with Molina, saying she plans to ask for another evening meeting in Kihei to allow residents to testify on Honua'ula's application.

"I know a lot of people feel it's redundant testimony," Johnson said, acknowledging that another public hearing would further delay the Honua'ula development. But she said she wanted another hearing to honor requests last week by several individuals who indicated there would have been more testimony if people could have attended an evening meeting in their community, instead of a meeting held during weekday working hours in Wailuku.

The gist of last week's testimony involved concerns that the new project would bring traffic congestion and the unnecessary development of multimillion-dollar homes to the island. Opponents also argued the project would burden Maui's taxed water system and damage a fragile native Hawaiian ecosystem in the area.

Some of the project opponents brought signs and wore T-shirts saying: "Wailea 670, Just Say No. No to more traffic, more golf courses, more wasted water, more urban sprawl."

Project supporters wore T-shirts saying, "Wailea 670, Just Say Yes." They applauded project developers for the subdivision's design and their willingness to pay more than $40 million in fees to pay for roads and parks, among other items.

Among the biggest selling points for Honua'ula was the developer's pledge to provide up to 700 affordable housing units. Honua'ula supporters pointed out it would be the first major project to fulfill requirements of the new county residential work force housing policy that mandates all new development to supply up to 50 percent affordable units.

"I was really impressed by both sides of the issue," Molina said. "They kept their emotions in check and respected one another."

He said the council's decision on Honua'ula would weigh Maui's housing needs against the project's impact on the island's infrastructure.

The project already has 30 proposed conditions, not counting seven Johnson said she wants to add, Molina said. The new proposed conditions include one to ban transient vacation rentals in the project and a requirement that developers construct a new South Maui high school before receiving a certificate of occupancy.

"The conditions are only as good as the enforcement," Johnson said. One of her primary reasons for calling another public hearing is to solicit comments from residents who might want to suggest other conditions.

Honua'ula representative Charlie Jencks said most of Johnson's conditions might be good ideas worthy of consideration, but he saw no "rational nexus" between the project and building a new high school.

The developer already has agreed voluntarily to increase the project's education fee from $895 to $3,000 per unit, he said. "I think we're doing what is appropriate at this point."

The Department of Education is taking the lead in finding a school site, Jencks said, adding that the developer stands ready to provide appropriate assistance.

Johnson said she did not believe another hearing would adversely affect Maui's lack of affordable housing. She said thousands of other affordable housing units have been approved and have yet to be built.

"If people would actually go forward on a timely basis," she said, "we wouldn't have the affordable housing crisis we have now."

Molina said he considered holding another hearing in Kihei but decided against it. Factors in deciding against another hearing included the amount of testimony already received and the poor acoustics and difficult logistics of arranging a televised hearing at the Kihei Community Center, he said.