WAILUKU — Plans were approved Tuesday for a 91-acre mixed-use project in Maui Lani, including residential units with commercial uses, a service station and a distribution warehouse, The Maui News reported yesterday.

But there will be no "big-box" retailers in the mix.

Before they endorsed the project, members of the Maui Planning Commission on Tuesday added a condition that no big-box stores over 70,0000 square feet would be allowed.

The commission approved Phase 2 project district plans for a 57-acre parcel to be developed with 150 multifamily residential units mixed with commercial buildings, and a 34-acre parcel with 114 single-family homes and 211 multi-family units.

The commission also approved a special-use permit allowing the service station and warehouse.

The project site is along an extension of Ku'ikahi Drive, which will connect to Maui Lani Parkway.

The commercial-residential mixed-use development will be along Ku'ikahi Drive from Wai'ale Road, serving as a new entry into Maui Lani and access route to Wailuku.

In discussions, the Maui Lani 100 LLC representatives emphasized that their development is not part of an ongoing dispute on the northeast side of the 1,200-acre project district, the Fairways at Maui Lani.

At the Fairways site, a gully was filled to create a hill next to an older Kahului subdivision, blocking neighbors' views and towering over their homes.

Representatives for Maui Lani 100 LLC stressed that they were not VP& PK LLC, the development company responsible for the Fairways project.

David Gleason, general manager for the Dunes at Maui Lani golf course and special projects coordinator for Maui Lani, said the company sold the Fairways and nearby Sand Hills Estates property to other private developers, who later brought in fill.

"If you asked me if we would do it all over again, I would probably say no," he said.

At the Maui Lani 100 project site, the planning commission confronted questions about ancient burials and historical sites that were uncovered in the grading and grubbing process.

Testifying to the commission, Native Hawaiians and residents of the area quoted ancient texts and historical books, saying a battle had been fought on the site, and many warriors died there.

But Les Kuloloio, a Hawaiian cultural expert and member of the Maui/Lanai Island Burial Council, questioned the accuracy of the historical claims. All the bones found in the area appear to be ceremonial burials, not fallen warriors, and there is no evidence of an ancient battle, he said.

Steve Miller, of Maui Lani Partners, said grading was almost complete on the land, and about 28 burials had been discovered at five sites. The bones were handled according to state law and under the guidance of the burial council, either preserved where they were found, or moved and reburied nearby, he said.

Planning commissioners added a requirement that the developers provide space in the project to explain the history and culture of the area and "memorialize those that walked before us on this land."

Other conditions added to the project included requirements that the developer not install gates restricting entry to the project, create a plan for the preservation of archaeological sites, and make an effort to establish more bus stops within the community.