The county initiated the rezoning two years ago with a proposal for an abandoned vehicle and scrap metal recycling facility — back when the county was facing a crisis of junked cars piling up on roadsides. Since then, two private scrap recyclers have opened, and the county began considering alternative uses for the site, said Deputy Public Works Director Mike Miyamoto.

"We want to be flexible," he said.

But it remains unclear if the county can do the rezoning without having a specific plan for how the land would be used, he said.

Yesterday, the Maui County Council Land Use Committee deferred action on a proposal to rezone the land.

The scrap metal crisis — and the difficulties faced by private operators at the time in finding land zoned for a scrap yard — revealed the need for more industrial-zoned land in general, Miyamoto said.

While a materials recovery facility for recycling is one possible use for the parcel, the department will likely wait until it completes work on an Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan before deciding how to use the site, he said.

Miyamoto said his department's next step would be to consult with Planning Department officials and county attorneys about whether the project can simply be renamed to allow for a broader array of industrial uses, or if the county must redo an environmental assessment on the project and return to the Maui Planning Commission. That panel has already voted to recommend the rezoning under the old scrap facility proposal.

Public Works will also meet with the Department of Land and Natural Resources to determine if possible proposed uses for the site will meet the conditions of the executive order that granted 222 acres at the old Puunene airfield from the state to the county in 2004, Miyamoto said.

He told council members that when the project started the county was in a rush to clear land for a scrap yard.

"It was a hot item 18 months ago," he said.

But the original plan may have inadvertently conflicted with the state's conditions for the land. The county had been looking to enter into a contract with a private operator to run the scrap facility, but the state could object to the county leasing the land or using it for "profit," said state land agent Daniel Ornellas.

Council members said they wanted to wait for more information before moving ahead with the rezoning, and they expressed some irritation at the way the proposal had come before them.

"We are putting the cart before the horse," said Danny Mateo. "This is why we get screwed up."