Proposal likable but not yet endorsable

General Plan update could affect A&B project — county

By ILIMA LOOMIS, Staff Writer
MAKENA — County planning staff said Thursday that it will be difficult to endorse A&B Properties’ proposed 600-unit residential project in north Kihei while the General Plan update is still under way.

The 94-acre site is proposed to be included in the plan’s urban growth areas, but that might change while the General Plan is being reviewed, said county planner Ann Cua. She said her department was in a difficult position when asked to make a recommendation on the project before the state Land Use Commission.

“The General Plan process is not to a point where we feel comfortable giving our testimony,” she said.

During a meeting Thursday at the Maui Prince Hotel, the commission voted unanimously to accept a final environmental impact statement for the project, moving it forward to a hearing on its petition for a district boundary amendment from agricultural to urban classification.

According to A&B’s proposal, the project would create 600 residential units, along with a park and a small commercial center. As required by the county Workforce Housing Policy, at least 40 percent of the units would be affordably priced. The site is located along the Waiakoa Gulch, abutting the Hale Piilani subdivision.

While the land is proposed for urban designation in the updated General Plan, that plan has not yet been approved, Cua noted. The property’s current designation is “agricultural,” and the Planning Department has taken the position that it will not endorse community plan amendments for developments while the update is under way.

“This project we feel is a good one,” she said. “The problem is, we don’t know how the South Maui growth map will take its final form.”

A&B has been participating in the General Plan update process and has indicated that it will not seek a community plan amendment for the project while the update is under way, Cua said. The Planning Department did not oppose the Land Use Commission accepting the environmental impact statement, she said, but it was concerned that proceeding with its district boundary amendment petition could put it ahead of the General Plan.

“We are concerned with the next step,” she said.

Land Use Commission Member Randy Piltz questioned whether the commission should make A&B wait until the General Plan update was complete, noting the process had already been beset by delays.

“It could mean we’d be back another 10 years before you come up with a plan,” he said.

Cua acknowledged the past delays but said deadlines would go into effect now that the draft plan had been transmitted to the General Plan Advisory Committee for review. After a six-month review by the advisory panel, the Maui Planning Commission will have six months to make recommendations, and then the Maui County Council will have one year to approve the document.

“We anticipate that within two years these growth boundaries will be defined,” she said.

• Ilima Loomis can be reached at iloomis@mauinews.com.