Housing and Land Use Committee (2025-2027) - Regular Meeting

Will the Disaster Recovery International Affairs and Planning Committee meeting of September 14, 2026 at 5 PM come to order? The time is now 5.07. And if everyone can please silence their cell phones or other noise-making devices, that will help our cause. Thank you, everyone, for joining us in person for this evening's meeting. I would like to ask Councilmember Tom Cook to please introduce himself and the members present in today's meeting as his kuleana for being the South Maui Councilmember.

Thank you, Chair Paulton. To my left, I have Kawanoe Petengon from Kahului. To my right, Chair Councilmember Tamara Paulton from Westside. And then Kiani Rollins-Fernandez from Molokai. Gabe Johnson from Lanai. Shane Sinensi from Hana.

Thank you, Member Cook. We have also excused this evening is our Committee Vice Chair, Nohelani Uuhajins, but she said she will be watching us on the live stream, as well as Council Chair Alice Lee and Council Member Yukile Sugimura. All three are excused. This meeting of the Disaster Recovery International Affairs and Planning Committee of the Maui County Council is located on the traditional ʻāina of the Kanakaʻoewe who never ceded their sovereignty to the United States. We recognize that Her Majesty Queen Liliʻuokalani yielded the Hawaiian Kingdom to the U.S. in duress under threat of violence to avoid the bloodshed of her people. We further recognize that Hawai'i remains an illegally occupied nation-state by the U.S., as documented in a 2021 scholarly article for the National Lawyers Guild Review by Andrew Reid, adjunct professor of law at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. Generations of kanaka maoli and their knowledge systems have sustainably cared for Hawai'i and continue to do so. We are grateful to occupy this space and learn the ways in which we can contribute. As a committee, we seek to support the varied strategies that the indigenous people of Hawaii are using to protect their land and their communities, and commit to dedicating time and resources to working in solidarity. From the planning department, we have planning director Jackie Takakura, as well as long-range planner five Karen Komkovich, From Corporation Council, we have Deputy Corporation Council Nahulu Nunukawa. We also have DRIP Committee staff with us this evening, Assistant Clerk Jean Pokipala and Senior Committee Secretary Yvette Boutilier are signing folks up to give public testimony. We have Legislative Attorney Carla Nakata, Senior Legislative Analyst James Krueger, as well as Legislative Analysts Jarrett Pasqua and Ryan Ramirez. And we also have council members' aides with us in attendance this evening. We have Carol Lee Kamikona from Member Sinensi's office, Kate Griffiths from Member Johnson's office, Jared Agtunong from Member Cook's office, and, oh shoot, Kainoa Shimizu from Member Nohe'u Hajin's office. We have Kepa Revell as our media language specialist, and Ryan Martins as our council ambassador. Oh, and Tanya Kealoha as well from Council Member Sinensi's office. On today's agenda, we have one item, DRIP 25, Bill 108-2026, a bill for an ordinance amending section 2.80B.070 Maui County Code to adopt the updated South Maui Community Plan. We will take up public testimony after opening remarks and presentations. Today's meeting was posted with no legislative action being taken and it is not a hybrid meeting although it is streamed. And the reason is that we wanted to come to South Maui and hear directly from you folks in your own town and prioritize you folks that come in person versus online testimony. So we'll, at the end of tonight's meeting, adjourn, and then we'll open back up in the morning in the council chambers for the regular hybrid process. But because it's the first night and we're kicking it off after the two site visits we had this morning, we wanted to come in person and hear directly from you folks and prioritize you folks. So that's why it was posted for no legislative action. It is being live streamed so people can watch. Bill 108's purpose is to repeal the Kihei Makena Community Plan as amended and adopt the proposed South Maui Community Plan. Land use development and infrastructure planning over the next 20 years will be influenced by this plan, which acts as South Maui's long-term vision and policy guide. Attached to this bill are other related documents, including updated sections, policy matrices, and maps that show changes made to the South Maui Community Plan through its development and its policies related to Maui Island Plan and countywide policy plan policies. Before the committee takes public testimony, The Department of Planning would like to share a presentation with a general overview of the South Maui Community Plan. And before that happens, I wanted to get everyone of the members and public ready for tomorrow when we're in the chambers. We're going to start with Section 2, 2.1 and 2.2. And it should be in the meeting details on Granicus, but we're asking everyone to have their attachment three. attachment 10, and attachment 4 ready because we'll be going back and forth with that and the South Maui Community Plan draft booklet that we received from the Maui Planning Commission. So all the members should have received two copies, two hard copies, and they're also online under the meeting details for the South Maui Community Plan. So at this time, any opening comments or presentation from the Department of Planning? And that's why we have the projector and screen set up if somebody can dim the front lights.

Good evening, Chair Paulton, the DRIP Committee, and South Maui community members. Next slide. This presentation is intended to give an overview of the purpose and framework of the Maui County General Plan, explain the structure and purpose of the draft South Maui Community Plan, and discuss the update process. Next slide. Maui County Code 2.80B establishes the framework of the General Plan and process for updating it. Maui County General Plan refers to a series of plans that provide direction for the future growth and policy creation in Maui County. Like Shrek, it has layers. The top layer is the countywide policy plan, which covers the entire county of Maui. The next layer is the island plans, including the Maui Island Plan. The community plans come under the Maui Island Plan. Next slide. The Countywide Policy Plan includes a vision, core principles, and countywide policies. It is an umbrella policy document that provides direction for the entire county. The Countywide Policy Plan was comprehensively updated and adopted in 2010, with an update in 2021 to add a goal to mitigate climate change and work towards resilience. The values and policies in the countywide policy plan are implemented and refined in the island plans and community plans. Next slide. The next layer is the Maui Island Plan. First adopted in 2012, it provides policy direction for land use, infrastructure improvements, economic development, housing, and the protection of natural and cultural resources on Maui. It takes into account interregional issues that span across the community plan area boundaries and includes an island-wide directed growth strategy. The Maui Island Plan establishes urban and rural growth boundaries, ultimately saying we will grow within these boundaries in the next 20 years, but not outside of them. The Maui Island Plan also sets priorities for developing regional facilities and services, including roads, transit, water, wastewater systems, parks, and emergency services. Next slide. Finally, the community plans. The community plans refine and in some ways implement the countywide policy plan and the MIP. The community plans reflect the unique characteristics of each community plan area and enable residents within those areas to address specific challenges and opportunities. The community plans are focused on directing future land use and the character of development and community design. The community plans go a step further than the Maui Island Plan, where the Maui Island Plan set the urban and rural growth boundaries, saying we will grow here and not here. The community plans see the type of growth envisioned within the growth boundaries. The community plans do this through policies, implementing actions, and mapped land use designations. Next slide. This image shows the land use layers from general to specific. The state land use districts are the broadest, establishing large areas where growth is permitted and large areas where conservation or agriculture use are anticipated. The first county layer is the Maui Island Plan growth boundaries. The Maui Island Plan growth boundaries establish location and type of future development within the state land use districts. The community plan designations provide more specificity about the placement and character of future growth. how to grow within the Maui Island Plan growth boundaries. Each layer is meant to further refine the previous layer, but should not conflict with the previous layer. Finally, zoning districts. Zoning is a tool for implementing the community plan and provides the most clear requirements and direction as to what is possible on an individual parcel. Zoning is spelled out in Title 19 of Maui County Code. Next slide. This slide is a simple and easy reference for remembering what different elements of the plan do. Policies guide plans for development and are used to review subdivisions as well as developments in the special management area and may be used to support special use permits and changes in zoning. Maps show where and what type of growth the community supports within the Maui Island Plan growth boundaries, with more specific community plan designations. Developments in the SMA and new subdivisions must align with the community plan maps. The community plan maps are the primary tool in the community plan used to support a change in zoning. Finally, implementing actions tell the county departments what projects and plans to prioritize when it comes to the county budget and staff time. One note, policies can offer support or guidance for private actions like adding a new bike path or an R1 water infrastructure as part of a development. Actions are intended to be led and funded by the county. Next slide. Is the general plan, including community plans, a guide or is it law? The answer is yes. There are specific processes where the community plan has a regulatory function. Otherwise, it is a policy guidance. Section 2.80B.010 Maui County Code relating to the general plan and community plan says, this chapter is designed to provide plans that clearly identify provisions that are meant to be policy guidelines and provisions that are intended to have the force and effect of law. Next slide. WHEN IS THE COMMUNITY PLAN REGULATORY? IN THE SPECIAL MANAGEMENT AREA PERMITS, CHANGE OF ZONING AND COUNTY SPECIAL USE PERMITS, SUBDIVISIONS, AND THE COUNTY BUDGET AND CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM. NEXT SLIDE. When is the community plan specifically not regulatory with ministerial permits? Section 2.80B.030B Maui County Code says all agencies shall comply with the general plan and administrative actions by agencies shall conform to the general plan except for ministerial permits or approvals including not limited to building permits, grading permits, plumbing permits, electrical permits, all community plans, zoning ordinance, subdivision ordinances shall conform to the general plan. Next slide. Now let's focus on the draft South Maui Community Plan. The format of the updated draft plan is quite different from the 1996 plan. The 1996 plan is divided into topics such as land use, environment, economy, and housing. And very little is said about the connections between those topics. A deliberate choice was made to structure the updated draft plan to address the interconnection of issues and potential strategies, emphasizing the interconnectedness of the natural and human-made systems, structures and services that are vital to consider when planning for the future. Next slide. Section 1 Plan Framework provides important background information, explores key challenges, and most importantly, contains the South Maui Community Plan vision statement and the five goals. The vision statement, which provides a guiding light for the community and the county, was written with the community during the engagement phase and confirmed with minor tweaks by the CPAC. As you're reviewing the plan, it is good to be grounded with a vision for the future. South Maui's beaches, coastal waters, wetlands are restored and thriving, with affordable housing close to good jobs and a variety of transportation options, including safe walking and biking paths lined with trees. The region's businesses, parks, and neighborhoods are connected, maintaining the small town lifestyle. Cultural resources are protected and celebrated, enhancing South Maui's sense of place. Next slide. The policy framework for the South Maui Community Plan is arranged by five goals identified in Section 1. Goal 2.1 is a complete, balanced, and efficient, and connected transportation network. Goal 2 is a safe, healthy, livable communities for all. 2.3 is ready and resilient systems. 2.4, Maukata Makai watershed management. and 2.5, Responsible Stewardship of Wahikapuna and Historic Properties. The purpose of this is to show the interconnection and relationship between planning principles and land uses. Next slide. These images show how policies may guide development by encouraging pedestrian infrastructure, mixed use development, more density, or open space preserves. Next slide. Section 3 growth framework is the heart of the community plan. It contains the community plan designations, which we will discuss in greater detail before the DRIP committee reviews Section 3. The key part of the growth framework is the community plan map, which maps areas for future growth using the community plan designations. The draft South Maui Community Plan designates ample area to accommodate projected growth. Next slide. The growth framework also contains descriptions of areas of change and areas of stability. Areas of change are identified for growth and development in the community plan. For example, the CPAC recommended using Honuaula District Phase II development maps as approved by the Maui Planning Commission to guide the community plan map for the area. Next slide. Oh, sorry, go back one. You probably noticed that some undeveloped areas within the Maui Island Plan urban growth boundary are designated for growth, while other areas remain in open space. Areas within the growth boundaries may be designated agriculture open space, but areas outside the Maui Island Plan growth boundaries should not be designated for growth. Areas of stability are expected to remain as they are, including open space and agriculture areas, as illustrated by Figure 3.18 of Ahihi Kina'u. Next slide. The final meaty section is section four, implementation and monitoring, and it contains the actions to be implemented by the county over the 20 year life of the plan. It's a to-do list of actionable items for county departments to help achieve the community plan's vision and goals. The purpose of this section is to implement and enforce plans through prioritization and accountability. Next slide. These images show the physical manifestations of county funding through priorities identified in the Maui County General Plan, including the community plans. There are multimodal transportation improvements, including buses, bus stops, and roadway improvements. There are parks and community facilities improvements, including dune restoration, park facilities, and new recreation facility in South Maui. Next slide. There are eight appendices, including two proposed by the Community Plan Advisory Committee. The appendices are mainly reference materials for the body of the plan. Next slide. The community plan update process is guided by Maui County Code 2.80B. It includes six main phases. Phase one is research. Phase two is community engagement. Phase three is the department draft is released. Phase four is CPAC review. Phase five is Maui Planning Commission review. And phase six is Maui County Council approval. Next slide. I recognize that this slide is very busy. It shows a snapshot of the information gathered during the research phase of the draft South Maui Community Plan, which includes data collection and agency coordination to identify conditions, issues, and significant themes the plan should address. To access the full resource, papers and the related infographics shown on this slide, visit the link above or click the update process on the We Are South Maui homepage. Next slide. Community engagement is an integral part of the update process. It is an opportunity to confirm and refine topics of the plan. Community engagement started in October 2020 with a kickoff meeting, followed by informational storyboard activity, vision workshops, community design workshops, and growth alternative workshops. Much of the community engagement happened when COVID was at its peak, so the planning department had to pivot to host the majority of the events in an online platform. In addition to these independent engagement opportunities on the website, the planning department held stakeholder, alakai, and Talk Story Tuesday meetings on Zoom. Summaries of the engagement activities are also available on the We Are South Maui page. The next phase is the Community Plan Advisory Committee review of the draft plan. This is another opportunity to ensure the values and visions of the South Maui community are incorporated into the plan. The committee held 42 meetings over 12 months, heard testimony from hundreds of community members, received presentations, from the county agencies developers and other relevant speakers and dedicated hundreds hours of their time energy and and ideas to strengthen the draft plan with the community's voice the South Maui community the South Maui CPAC page at the link on the slide has all of the meeting materials and video recordings next slide On November 1, 2023, South Maui CPAC voted to transmit the plan to the Maui Planning Commission. The Maui Planning Commission held 14 meetings over 11 months, during which time they listened to public testimony, reviewed the draft plan, and transmitted their recommendations. The plan is now ready for your review. Next slide. The last few slides highlight some of the challenges and opportunities we heard emphasized by the South Maui community during every stage of the update process. Flooding is a major concern in South Maui. The clips from articles on this slide show that significant flooding and flood damage has impacted South Maui every year since 2021. quoting kihei resident mark eldering it's not a question of if it's a question of when we're going to have the next hundred year flood it's just the next rainstorm away this is a multi-faceted problem which will require a multi-pronged solution as you will see in the draft plan there are policies actions and land use designations that work together for a more resilient future for south maui next slide Speaking of the potential for disasters, Kihei needs improvements to the road network for safe evacuation. This is especially challenging when portions of South Kihei Road close due to shoreline erosion or flooding. The circles on the slide show missing connections In this plan, you will see the emphasis on the community places on the development of a complete north-south collector road. To serve all ages, incomes, and abilities, and alleviate traffic, the north-south collector road is envisioned as a multimodal road, which you guys saw today, with a bike and pedestrian path separated from cars with trees and landscaping. The Department of Public Works has been pursuing this action with the extension of the Liloa Drive. The first two phases of Liloa Drive extension are circled in, it looks orange on the slide, with images for the correlating conceptual plan below. The first phase of the Liloa Drive extension is anticipated to begin development in 2027. Next slide. The South Maui's community's desire to preserve and protect natural and cultural resources was highlighted in the community engagement and in the recommendations of the South Maui Community Plan Advisory Committee made for the plan. The goal of these recommendations include revitalizing water resources Maukata Makai, ensuring Vahupana are protected during development, and preserving special community spaces. Incorporating housing throughout the community planning area for people who live and work in South Maui was important to the South Maui community, both from an equity perspective creating diverse communities and a practical perspective of allowing people to live closer to the jobs so there will be less traffic as some of the main job centers have little housing available to the workforce the chart on this slide is a breakdown of occupied housing units versus total housing units for the sub areas in South Maui housing units include apartments and homes zoned for residential use it does not include hotels or timeshares next slide mahalo thank you for your time

Thank you very much, Planner Komkovic, for your presentation. Checking in with our Corporation Council, do you have any opening comments you'd like to give the committee and public at this time before we go into public testimony? thank you alright as a reminder for today's meeting on this meeting is in person only oral testimony will be received exclusively in person today please let staff know if you would like to testify on the sign up is right there by the entrance If you have completed the form provided by staff when you entered and turned it in, you will be placed on the testifier list. Written testimony is also encouraged and can be submitted via the e-comment link at maui-county.us backslash agendas. Oral testimony is limited to three minutes per item. If you are still testifying beyond that time, I will kindly ask you to complete your testimony. If you wish to testify anonymously, please notify staff. Otherwise, please state your name for the record at the beginning of your testimony. Thank you all for your cooperation. I will now proceed with oral testimony. Staff, please call the first testifier.

Chair, the first person signed up to testify is Kay Anderson, to be followed by Nick Drance.

I have two agenda items, but one testimony, so it's only going to take about three and a half minutes. Is that okay?

There's only one item on the agenda. Oh. Yeah, so it's three minutes, and then you'll have some time to wrap up.

Okay. Aloha Chair and DRIP committee members and thank you for allowing me to speak today concerning the South Maui Community Plan. South Maui Community Growth Plan project projects population growth between 3,700 and 6,100 new residents by 2045. All projects in this plan are based on these numbers. However, based on the details within this plan, they have identified over 8,000 new units, which could easily increase the population by 16,000. This requires increased resources, infrastructure, water, roads, emergency services, police and more. I was unable to locate a legally required financial plan that would implement the proposed plan. It has many projects and actions. I'm not sure how this will be addressed. Will it be addressed during the budgeting process where every community plan will be lobbying for monies to ensure they can fund their plan? This is certainly why it is required to have a legal financial plan associated with the South Maui Community Plan's proposed projects and actions. I noticed that there was limited discussion on water in this plan when the Kaumau aquifer is at least 90% of its sustainable yield and we have 2.54 million gallons per day obligated for the Hawaiian homelands New developments are stating they will provide private water through reverse osmosis. By using this technology, they will potentially withdraw two gallons for every one gallon of potable water. First, the water is not private. It is Maui's water. Second, this technology is extremely energy intensive, and I recommend, based on Governor Green's executive order, that the County Council require the developers to implement Hawaii's Clean Energy Initiative, including the state's 100% renewable portfolio standard by 2045, by using a solar farm and battery backup with a reverse osmosis. and rooftop solar with battery backup for home electricity. This would take a huge burden off Higo and when we have major storms these homes would be less likely to have power and water issues. Waialea is a master-planned community covering approximately 1,400 acres or 2.34 square miles. The ULI land use schedule identifies 37.7 acres as common open space or 2.6% of these 1,400 acres in its table. There are approximately 5,000 homes, residential units, condominiums, townhomes, and villa units. The South Maui Community Plan has projected adding approximately 3,000 new homes, approximately 36% of the total projected new homes in all of South Maui. What about the density and open space requirements, traffic congestion, and the fact that emergency egress will be impossible? Finally, I want to remind the committee of the recent email I sent concerning the outdated Waialea Golf Plan with the documentation of the updated plan and all the appropriate approvals. I don't believe you can approve the South Maui Community Plan as it is today without removing the outdated plan and replacing it with a new plan. Mahalo. Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Ms. Anderson, for your testimony. Members, any questions for the testifier? I just had one clarification. When you referenced the financial plan in your testimony, what were you expecting that to look like? Because I think for the code processes, it's in Section 4, generally speaking. But what were you expecting to see?

Well really I read the whole plan and the only thing I saw was that one impact fee section that talked about funding. I really didn't see anything even in generality as far as scope of the projects and in general how much it might cost or where the funding was actually going to come from. And I think in a community plan in order to guide whoever's going to take over that project, they should have some general idea as to what the scope of that project would be and how much that's going to be. There really wasn't that much information there. And I think that's important to have that guidance in a community plan. And I didn't see it.

Thank you. I think, generally speaking, they did their best in Section 4. I did notice the CPAC removed the policy about generating the revenue, but we can discuss it tomorrow. Thank you. Thank you. James, can you call the next testifier?

Chair, the next person signed up to testify is Nick Drance, to be followed by MJ Duberstein.

Aloha council members and staff. Nice to see some of your faces. I haven't seen in a while. The previous testifier really gave a fantastic presentation, and I think her written testimony would be very useful to everybody. I have some general comments to make, and the first thing I want to concentrate on is financial. because we're talking about a business. The county's budget is well over a billion dollars. I remember when it was like 800,000 or 800 million. The cost that we are talking about here are astronomical, and as the previous testifier indicated, they are not taken into account. We don't need a general idea. This is business. We need a specific idea, and this is taxpayer money. So I wanted to point out some infrastructure things in addition to the lack of specificity of costs. So taxpayers are the ones that finance these things. So there's an obligation to us for accountability. So we've already assumed millions of dollars of infrastructure costs related to YLAIA 670. It's a betrayal that what was originally agreed about when that infrastructure is going to be built before the development, now that changed along with a diminishment of affordable housing. So there's a trend here. we don't have an adequate evacuation route. This plan that's shown here, we're putting the cart before the horse, talking about planning a bunch of things that we're not even close to being able to accommodate. I want to mention that For those of you who have looked at the beaches in South Maui, it's kind of a disaster. The water treatment facility adjacent to Kam 1 is about 10 feet away from the edge of the sand cliff. That's not going to be there for a long time. across from Dolphin Plaza, so much land is eroded. It's, you know, it's starting to get close to South Kihei Road where the sewage treatment, water treatment pipes run. This is, this is dire. All of our boardwalks that go down to the beach, they're gone. Now, this occurred in the last couple of years primarily, so who's going to say that it's going to stop all of a sudden? I would expect that the erosion that we're seeing is going to continue. There's no reason why we could say that it won't. This is millions, hundreds of millions of dollars for the county, and that money needs to be addressed, recognized as a cost in addition to the other infrastructure costs that we've talked about. The other point I want to mention is the community has not seen a list of benefits for this plan? What are the benefits to those who reside here now? What is a list of pros and cons that determine whether and how we should move forward? Without that list of benefits to us personally, I can tell you there is no benefit to us that live here. It only diminishes our quality of life. We already have traffic jams, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And with all due respect to the people that work so hard on putting this plan together. I will say it's completely contradictory to a lot of policy statements. Island plan, countywide plan, even some of the policy statements in this, it's completely contradictory to that. I went to a couple of planning meetings. I was completely embarrassed and humiliated to watch residents sit there stone-faced. like opposing like armies with the planning staff sitting there stone-faced listening to conclusions that I've perceived as being completely contrary to what they said. I saw one of the greatest leaders of advocacy for preservation of the island. This person actually said, I humbly ask you. Now she may, whoops, that person may have said, I humbly beg you to just preserve some little piece of McKenna or something like that. But wait a minute, we're coming hat in hand to those who govern and represent us. We're coming hat in hand to like beg for something. That's not the way it's supposed to work. So... I guess the last thing I wanted to make, thank you for bringing up Queen Liliuokalani. As far as I'm concerned, that, I'll wrap this up, that overthrow was, she was at Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. She was invited there. This is a serious monarchy. American businessmen came while she was gone, hair standing up, and they overthrew her. American businessmen took over. And this is the same thing. These are mainland corporations' business interests that we're, what are we rushing to do this for?

Thank you, Mr. Drance. Members, any questions for Mr. Drance? Thank you. You'll be continuing to follow the process the rest of the time. It should be hybrid.

The process of...

The community plan will be meeting on through October 8th.

Well, that's another issue. It keeps changing. We can't keep up with the plan, how it is when it's revised, what the revisions are. It's not happening in an organized way for the community really to be aware of what's happening. So that's a challenge to us. We're talking about approving something that's still... in the works and being modified and stuff like, well, one part of it modifies a different part of it. And again, we're rushing. Let's be systematic about this. What's the rush? Don't keep changing stuff between now and October. It doesn't give us a chance.

OK. If you saw the presentation, each group reviews the plan. So the planning department drafted it. Then this body chose a community plan advisory committee. They reviewed the draft over the course of a year.

I know that, yeah. I'm aware of that. I respect that.

The planning commission reviewed their draft over the course of another year. And we have about a month to review it. So we're going to be reviewing it from now through October 8.

Well, if you're talking about multiple years of effort and you're only giving it a month without these other issues being resolved, like infrastructure costs, like the hundreds of millions of dollars, just shoreline protection in north and south Kihei, not to mention evacuation routes, these hundreds of millions of dollars. You know, we're putting the cart before the horse. You know, I hate to say this. I debated whether I should say this because I don't want anybody to take it as a personal criticism, but I understand the amount of work that went into this. I almost hesitate to say this, but a lot of work went into the Titanic. So we have, okay, thank you so much for all the tremendous work there, but let's get something that doesn't contradict policy, which it does. Okay, thank you so much. Thank you. All right.

James, can you call the next testifier?

Chair, the next person signed up to testify is MJ Duberstein, to be followed by Charlotte Chandrika McLaughlin.

Aloha kakou. I have been involved. I first came to Maui County in 1983. bought our home in Keanakai Heights in 97, participated in the Focus Maui New in 05, had a kuleana maintaining the unfortunately now closed South Maui Heritage Trail from 05 to 2012, the chair of District 11 South Maui Democratic Party from 08 to 14, and the Akaku board from 07 until now. I strongly oppose this ill-advised rush to judgment. I also echo the phrase that is capital P planning for people without the people. And indeed, you have a council member with a direct conflict of interest making key decisions. And it isn't you, Mr. Cook. Now, instead, it is as if the building trades industry had one of their own voting on issues directly affecting them. Now, your voting record affects me. It deals with who pays for Pialani widening, about show me the water. about my safety if there is an emergency, about approving unlimited South Maui growth instead of development. And have I read all 500 pages? No. But I have read the 2012 Maui Island Plan and know its economic policy objectives. And I know that you've continually failed to create viable policy limiting the percentage of tourists to resident population. And that failure affects us all, not just in South Maui. So, finally, as you speed up approving this plan, I ask you, where is your detailed plan for affordable and workforce housing? Where is your plan for short-, medium-, and long-range policies dealing with the unhoused? That's what we need, not this. Mahalo and malama pono.

Thank you, Mr. Duberstein, for your testimony, and thank you for keeping it in the time. Members, any questions for Mr. Duberstein? Yeah, thank you for the written copy as well.

Mahalo. Aloha.

Aloha. Members, I've just been informed, too, if you can do something else instead of the clapping, I think something like this or like this for decorum's sake, that would help our cause. James, can you call the next testifier?

Yes, Chair. The next person signed up to testify is Charlotte Chandrika McLaughlin, to be followed by Stephanie Musbach.

Aloha, Council Members. My name is Chandrika McLaughlin. I oppose adding more development to the South Maui Community Plan. Traffic gets bumper to bumper even now, which is the off season. Going out of Kihei routinely backs up for miles. It gets worse in winter and during the months when Kihei is impacted by more frequent flooding, which closes South Kihei Road. During a disaster, and we have seen this, during a disaster evacuation, Kihei is already gridlocked. Water and other infrastructure is potentially an even more serious concern. The entire central Maui water system's projected demand is already 98% of estimated capacity. The saltwater lens of the Eao Aquifer has been rising. Now, developers plan to pump the Kamaole aquifer and desalinate it. This is high risk. Current and planned pumping of the Kamaole aquifer will exceed the estimated sustainable yield of that aquifer. Eight projects total 11.542 million gallons per day, even if they don't exceed their own estimates. The Kamioli sustainable yield was set in 1990 at 11 million gallons per day. Other aquifer estimates were reduced since then. The county kept this one the same without studying it using new, more accurate technology. The estimate has a class three designation, which is the lowest confidence level. Also, the USGS expects the Kamaoli aquifer to become more dry. When aquifers are over-pumped to a certain point, they are destroyed and do not recover. Desalination plants are expensive and also harmful for reefs, fish, and the ocean. The geology of Maui is particularly bad for injection wells for the saline sludge and toxic chemicals required. They will drift into the ocean. If Maui County puts in a solar farm, that should provide electricity and bring down costs for Maui residents. It should not power risky, costly, and inflationary desalination plants, which will not be needed if planning is in line with existing water resources. My sister wrote the smart code for sustainable development. She told me proper planning requires preserving precious areas like McKenna as open space and ensuring there's ample water and adequate updated infrastructure before adding development into community plans. Maui has been doing the opposite. Also, the profits from these developments don't benefit the Maui community enough to justify the sacrifices. Just two examples are the German Halaba Bank owner, developer of Wailea 670, and Aris Management, the LA-based multinational corporation who owns the 1,800-acre McKenna Golf and Beach Club. Luxury development is almost always inflationary, and Maui residents need costs to come down, not up, if you can wrap it up. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Members, any questions for Ms. McLaughlin? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony.

Chair, the next person signed up to testify is Stephanie Musbach, to be followed by Kelly King.

Hi. So, I have a question. I don't understand why all of us here in the community have to stand up here and repeatedly say exactly the same thing over and over and over again and everyone in the council sitting in front of us or planning or everyone that is supposedly listening to what we have to say feels like you're going la la la la la la la la while we're talking we don't have enough roads you're talking about building more stuff why don't you finish what you started Where's the money for the infrastructure that we so desperately need right now? Not six months in the future or six years in the future. What we need now. You're talking about adding more population, more houses, more cars. We can't accommodate what we have. And people have been speaking to you about this, I'm sure, since the very first meeting of the South Maui Plan. But you're not listening by what you're showing us that you have planned to do. nobody's listening it's like okay well everybody listened and then we're just gonna still go with the big developers we're gonna give them what they want they're gonna line our pockets or somebody else's we're not gonna make the big guy down in Wailea even widen the highway now we took that off the list it was something they were supposed to do which was the road The Pialani, they were supposed to handle that. Now they're not. Why? What was the big gift? I mean, what did they give us? What did they give us when we took that back? Nothing. Stop it. Listen. We don't need all these houses. that county's population and employment forecast projects that by two thousand forty five need seventeen hundred housing units to house the people that live here forget the rest of them they're empty houses that sit there second homes owned by people who don't live here they water their lawns they'd use up all the water they're not here they're not residents You guys need to stop. Listen to us. This is our town. This is our South Maui. Stop.

Thank you. Members, any questions for the testifier, if we can keep the clapping to a minimum? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony.

Chair, the next person signed up to testify is Kelly King, to be followed by Eve Hogan.

Aloha council members. I'm sorry to not see all the council members here, but I also was reminded that when I chaired the planning committee in my first term in 2017, we only had seven members on the planning committee. So Kiani knows because she was right there testifying for the Molokai Community Plan almost every meeting. But it's good to see you all. It's good to see Carla back. I didn't know you were back. So I wanted to make some general comments on this community plan. And I pretty much agree with everybody who's spoken before me, other than the fact that I know that some of you do care and some of you do listen. And some of you have been trying. It's just that right now you're in the minority, unfortunately. So thank you for pulling for us when it came to that horrible decision that the rest of the council made for Weather 670. I wanted to comment on the version of the plan that was created by the 13 South Maui residents who became known as the CPAC, the Community Plan Advisory Committee. People who live in our district and understand life in our district and they know and appreciate the great beaches and playgrounds, the open space and beautiful landscapes. They also know the lack of infrastructure and the unbearable traffic. The CPAC tried to put in, in fact they did put in a requirement for an infrastructure cost study that was supposed to happen before the plan ever went to the planning commission. Unfortunately the planning department sent it over to the planning commission anyway before that happened and it never has happened because it got taken out. The CPAC knows about the overdevelopment and destruction of our once prolific wetlands, which has led to a lot of the flooding that we've been experiencing. And so they've tried to put in safeguards. They put in policy statements that were very strict, and it basically said the infrastructure must go in first. That got taken out by the Planning Commission. And one of the things that was really egregious was the fact that when the CPAC did finish their work, we did not have a complete planning commission. We didn't have a South Maui member on that planning commission for many, many months, and yet they went ahead and started their work with zero representation from South Maui. So whether that means it has to go back to them and now go all through it, I'm not sure because Most of the people in this room testified on who we wanted to be that member of our community. And instead of putting a longtime resident who's lived here, who has a business here, this council approved a guy who has only been in Wailea for two years and does not rep- most of us don't even- we didn't even know who he was. So, you know, the name that was put to- was given to you was not approved by the majority on this council and that had a lot to do with the way this came out. That person works in development. I think you're hearing from the community how we feel about the current version of the plan and how much work it needs to go back. The best thing you could do is go back to the CPAC version of it. I was a big advocate when I chaired the planning committee of just getting rid of that oversight by the Planning Commission because they don't represent us. There's one person from South Maui, there are 30,000 people who live here, one person on that, on that Planning Commission representing us supposedly, you know, we didn't even want him to be our representation. So anyway, I wanted to put that suggestion to you, is to go back to the original CPAC version of it, take a look at what it was when it passed out of there, and it still had too much development in it, but the policies in there were strict enough that that was the safeguard that we had. Those policies are gone now, and that's why we all feel pretty much pulverized by this plan. I also wanted to say, and I know my time's up, but I wanted to say that to let everybody here know that I did sit through, I was on the council when we went through the West Maui Community Plan. Tamara Paulton chaired that and she did a great job. She brought back a lot of those policies that had been taken out and I'm hoping that we can do the same thing for our community plan, but like everybody says, let's slow this process down. I'm not sure if you're having a meeting tomorrow evening or if it's during the day, but okay, because tomorrow evening is the Kihei Community Association meeting, so I hope not to conflict with any of our community events. But anyway, thank you for being here and Gosh, if it was only these people here on the committee, then I had more faith that we would be able to pass the policies back into where they should be. But I don't know what's going to happen when the others come back and we see the majority overrule us, you know, along with our own council member who votes against us most of the time. So, you know, it's been a frustrating process.

Thank you. Members, questions for the testifier? I did want to, oh, did you have?

Oh, yeah.

Okay. And you have a question?

Okay.

Aloha, Ms. King. Mahalo for your testimony. I found it very instructive. Did you... Did you see Attachment 3? It's posted on Granicus on the Council's website. It outlines in columns the different policies and then it has the CPAC draft, the Maui Planning Commission, oh sorry, the Department draft, then the CPAC draft, then the Planning Commission's draft, and then what was transmitted to us. And so it's broken down by policy and then that, like, have you seen this document?

I've seen the document but I didn't know which one because generally you're working off the Planning Commission version since that was the last one. That's a terrible idea in this case. If you go back to the CPAC one, at least we'd be starting from where our community members left off.

Planning Commission this is the Planning Commission draft and that's why I asked the members to bring attachment 3 which shows all the changes from the department's version up through the Planning Commission drafting guidelines and I think some lawyer guidance and then attachment 10 is going to include how the policies are in alignment with the Maui Island Plan and countywide policy plan. Attachment 4 is an updated version for like 2.4 and 2.5 intros. So that's why we're asking the members to bring those because we're planning on cross-referencing things, not just looking at one copy.

Okay, but when you, and that's great, but when you talk about the vision, I mean, I heard Karen talk about the vision being responsible growth. This version that we've been looking at is not responsible at all, you know, and that's what you're hearing from the members over here. And so, you know, I mean, you're lucky because you have the CPAC right here. I had to go hunt them down on Molokai because the county had set the Molokai community plan aside for so many years. And I think I was able to find two-thirds of them and go meet with them in person and find out from them exactly why they came to the conclusions they came to.

Yes, we have invited the chair and vice-chair, especially when the chair cannot make it, to serve as resources to give the perspective from the CPAC as well as the planning department will be there to give their perspective as well. Not to talk on their own behalf, but to represent conversations that were had on the CPAC.

The other thing that you may remember, Councilmember Rollins-Fernandez, is that we did an extensive half-day exercise on Molokai where we brought the community to the community center and we went through all of the action items, implementation items, and let the community prioritize them. And so instead of just having number one and number two, we had one through ten and then we knew which ones were the most important to work on first. And unfortunately we didn't get the Molokai Council member at the time to support that, but Council Member Rollins-Fernandez was hugely supportive in that effort, and I think it gave... I was surprised how many community members actually stayed there for that whole exercise, and they were invested in it. So I hope you give us some opportunity to do some kind of hands-on prioritization like that, because that's probably one of the most meaningful things that can happen at this point.

Okay, mahalo. And then I think it does have like a priority, like a... Section 4. Yeah, so in Section 4. But are they just 1 and 2? Low, medium, I think it's like low, medium, high or something.

Oh, yeah, okay. So it wasn't as detailed as what you and I did on Molokai. Yeah.

So it has that in Section 4, and we can also have the copy of the CPAC plan to reference. But thank you for being specific on how it can be improved.

I appreciate it, and I know that you folks are listening because you can tell when you ask questions. Anyway, thanks for listening.

Did you have a question?

No, you said it.

Go ahead, James.

Chair, the next person signed up to testify is Eve Hogan, to be followed by Autumn Ness.

Aloha. Aloha Chair and DRIP members. I'm Eve Hogan. A professor of mine used to say, the map is not the territory. And I did not fully understand what he meant then, but I do now. A map can designate Ma'alai'a as residential, but that label does not create residential infrastructure. A census table can classify a condominium as vacant, but that does not mean it's abandoned or available for workforce housing. And the existence of a kitchen and a bedroom does not necessarily make a condominium affordable, resilient, insurable, or capable of providing lasting generational wealth or housing to a Maui family. I am a Ma'alai'a condominium owner and member of the Ma'alai'a Village Association, and I'm asking that the updated South Maui Community Plan recognize Ma'alai'a as the unique historic ocean-oriented area it is and plan for its actual circumstances rather than imposing a conventional residential model that does not fit its history, infrastructure, economics, or environmental future. The reality on the ground is this. Most of Ma'alea condominium complex lie substantially or entirely within the sea level rise exposure area. Owners face increasing costs for insurance, repairs, shoreline impacts, infrastructure, and special assessments, as well as government limitations on how the threatened properties may be protected. encouraging local families to make decades-long investments in these properties could transfer extraordinary future risk to the very people we are trying to help. Ma'alaya Village lacks the infrastructure of a conventional residential town. It has one village road, limited parking, limited public services, no school, neighborhood, grocery store, bank, medical office, post office, et cetera. And changing the designation to residential will not create the missing infrastructure. For generations, Ma'alaya has functioned as a mixed-use harbor area. Visitor and occasional use are not recent intrusions into a traditional residential neighborhood. They are part of Ma'alea's established character. I respectfully ask that the updated South Maui Community Plan recognize Ma'alaia as a distinct mixed-use area rather than treating it as an extension of Kihei or Wailea or even Wailuku as it's addressed. Acknowledge Ma'alaia's long-standing mixture of residences, second homes, visitor accommodations, harbor activities and commerce. Avoid assuming that units in the SLRX are appropriate long-term or generational housing merely because they can be physically occupied. Require consideration of infrastructure, affordability, parking, traffic, insurance, financing, wastewater, evacuation, shoreline exposure, maintenance costs, and long-term property value before identifying these units as a housing solution. The map is not the territory. The community plan should address the ma'alaya that already exists, not attempt to create a different ma'alaya merely by changing a designation on a map to residential. Mahalo for your consideration.

Thank you, members. Any questions for the testifier? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony.

Chair, the next person signed up to testify is Autumn Ness to be followed by Robin Knox.

Hello everybody, my name is Autumn Ness. I'm going to share some stories that I hope will implore you to create the strongest language possible to make it absolutely unquestionably mandatory that any further development be allowed only when water, wastewater and stormwater management systems are upgraded enough to handle it. In 2021, the rains blocked flood water off Haleakalā. The next day, there were 12-inch tall berms of debris along the beach at the high tide mark. When I got close, I saw that it was about 75% deer poop. That berm went from North Kihei all the way through Wailea. Deer poop floats until it doesn't. So for weeks, the tide would go in and out, deer poop in and out of the ocean, absorb water, and start to sink. You could see lines of deer pellets on the ocean floor even as the water cleared up. Kids and tourists who don't realize what it is frolicking in it. I keep an almanac and notes show that I didn't swim in the South Maui Ocean for four months that year. I live on South Kihei Road in Welikahao in a post and pier house that is 18 inches from the ground on a gravel permeable lot built to retain and filter water and when we have storms and the water comes to my yard I celebrate it because that's where it belongs. And I know that the water that ends up in my yard gets filtered and doesn't become part of the brown water problem. During the last Kona Lowes, I watched the wetland across from my house top out, overflow, max out the street drains, and then head straight to the ocean, where it would choke what's left of our reef system for weeks. It filled and drained three times over that two-day period. I got emotional watching the wetland try to do what she's meant to do, to see how badly we have overwhelmed her, to watch her fail repeatedly because of our mistakes. When the water receded and the machines came to clear a path on the road, it was shocking. The soil that the machines were moving was otherworldly. Because of Malcolmist management, it is devoid of organic matter and it actually repels water. If you hold that dry soil in your hand and put water on top of it, it will bead on top. As the machines pushed, it moved like slime, like lava. This is top-to-bottom system failure. During a 2022 storm, I walked along Halama Street where the newest houses in the wetland were okay because their foundations are a foot and a half high. Those foundations displacing water from the wetlands onto Halama Street were as routed straight into the ocean which defeats the whole point of the wetland. Mana is 15 today. When she was five, she learned to snorkel at Ulua in front of the Andaz because that was one place where you didn't have to swim out far in order to see a living populated reef. So for a little kid, it's perfect. We stopped going there years ago because the line between the land and where there is a living reef has moved so far out that it's depressing. As we watch degradation happen in her short lifetime, I find myself saying to her, I'm going to take a good look at this because I need you to remember what it's like when it's healthy here so that you know when it's not healthy that it's not normal. That's a heartbreaking and unfair thing to say to our kids. Asking our children to commit healthy ecosystems to memory so they can fight for them when they're gone is not a plan. And I'm hoping we can do better. Thank you.

Thank you for your testimony, Ms. Ness. Could you repeat the first part? I didn't. It was water, wastewater.

And stormwater.

stormwater yeah thank you okay members any um other clarifying questions for miss ness seeing none thank you for your testimony james chair the next person signed up to testify is robin knox to be followed by brad anderson can i like that

Okay, that's a little better. Aloha and thank you for coming to South Maui, committee members and chair, to hear from us. I think it's a little ironic that we've been at this for six years and we feel rushed, but both are true. The goals are good, and there's a lot of good details in the plan, but there seem to be some white elephants in the room that no one's talking about, or actually the members of this community are talking about it, but the plan doesn't adequately address it. The first three, the complete, balanced, and efficient, and connected transportation network, safe, healthy, livable communities for all, and ready and resilient systems, those three cannot happen without infrastructure. And right now this plan seems to emphasize growth and more housing, more housing than we need for residents, more housing than what we need for affordable housing, without first requiring the infrastructure. We're strapped on roads, water, wastewater, stormwater, you know, the whole nine yards. So we really need to put the brakes on and I'm not sure exactly how to do it. I liked Kelly's idea of let's go back to the CPAC plan and thank you for pointing out the attachment that can help us sort out when things changed. But we can't, we have no escape routes and In the 20 years that I've lived in South Maui, it has gotten increasingly hard to live here. You can't go to the grocery store. I feel for the mothers, the parents that are picking their kids up from school and dropping them off because they spend their whole day in traffic. I don't know how they get anything else done. And it takes very little to shut down South Kihei Road, and we all know it's going to be gone soon. And the North-South Collector Road, which is heavily emphasized in this plan, is not the solution. That's going to be the replacement for South Kihei Road, but we still need a highway. And we don't want that highway to be going right through the middle of our community, so it needs to be MALCA. And so this plan, you know, seems more about growth, growth, growth, and not enough about infrastructure, how we're going to pay for it, when it's going to happen, and it needs to happen before you have all those people living there, driving their cars, trying to get their kids to school. You know, so that's really all I want to say. I want to thank I want to thank you for the testimony about the wetlands and that too is in the goals, Mauka to Makai restoration and that also is infrastructure. It's our natural infrastructure. So those are the things we want to see emphasized. Thank you.

thank you miss knox that was a very clear instruction members any questions for the testifier seeing none james chair the next person signed up to testify is brad anderson to be followed by randy wagner

Good evening, Chair Paulton and Council members. Thank you for your time tonight. My name is Brad Anderson. I'm here representing my employer, McKenna Golf and Beach Club. And I just wanted to share about four items that during our review that we wanted to bring up and call to your attention. The first one Dealt with stormwater. It was in 2.4.5 and 2.4.6. This was the improvements within the gulches, which prohibits any stormwater mitigation LID improvements. So one item out in McKenna, we do have torrential rains that do come a number of times a year. And in certain developments we've recently finished, we were able to construct some retention basins and get near some improvements within these gulches and divert water away from the gulches into the retention basins. And after the Kona Low Storms that weekend, we in the over the 16 basins, we were able to keep about 20 million gallons of water outside or up Mauka in the retention basins, keep them out of McKenna Landing. uh and malawaka beach and we flew some drones and i shared it with our council member that following week the next item is 2.4.7 this is the designation of the open spaces the maps are great it calls out where those gulches are the one area of concern is that when we overlaid those maps i know they're kind of high level when we overlaid them with the exact topography they don't line up exactly um you know in some in some instances they're about two to three hundred yards off So I just ask that maybe we could consider some language that says, you know, during any kind of development action, we field verify where those gulches are just so there's no discrepancies between the zoomed out maps and what's actually out there in the field. The third item has to do with affordable housing policies 2.2.18, and I will submit this all in written testimony, 2.2.19, 2.2.20, and 2.2.26. These are affordable housing policies that have some inconsistencies with the 2.96 language. We're all for affordable housing, we're building some of it out in McKenna, but some of these items go against that, and so I just want to make sure that we revise it, take a second look and see if we can get some alignment. One of them, for example, I think it was 2.26, it speaks to giving preference to I believe it was South Kihei members, and we've had that in the past where, you know, look at South Kihei members, lineal descendants, giving preference. Unfortunately, most affordable housing projects do go through HUD, which exclusively prohibits that sort of, I guess, preferential treatment. The last item is in sub-area five, McKenna. There's a map and it talks about kind of just a one-page rundown of the McKenna area. It lists a government facility as McKenna Landing. As far as I know, McKenna Landing Park and McKenna Landing area, which I think this is speaking to, it's privately owned, privately managed. I just was curious. I just wanted to double check if that's in fact a true government facility. Also, it doesn't include McKenna State Park as a government facility, which I think is the largest state-owned county park in the area. That's all. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Mr. Anderson. Can you clarify what you mean by state-owned county park?

So, McKenna Landing Park is owned by McKenna Resort and managed by McKenna Resort. It is a public amenity, if you will, but I don't think it would be considered a government facility. We do have an agreement with the County of Maui that allows us to operate it like a public park, but I don't think it's a government facility. That's all. I think it's just a clarification.

And you said all of this you've submitted in writing already?

I will, tomorrow.

You will, tomorrow. Okay, because we're starting in on policies tomorrow. Okay. And I guess you're going to clarify what you meant about them being contradictory with the processes, 2.96 or whatever. I mean, because if the lawyers allow for it, I'd love to prioritize generational.

I would love to, too. We get that out of McKenna a lot. It's just when affordable housing, like when the lottery happens with HUD, typically you can't give preferential treatment to any race. So that's just one thing, just from a legal perspective. They just wanted to share it.

Okay, so you're going to lay out specifically all the issues. Okay. Members, any further questions for Mr. Anderson? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony.

Chair, the next person signed up to testify is Randy Wagner, to be followed by George Rixey.

Aloha, and thank you for being here. My name's Randy Wagner, and I'm a longtime Kihei resident. My kids grew up here, my grandkids are growing up here, so I really care about this community and this environment. I've been active in KCA for a really long time, and I've been chair of the design review committee, so I'm really familiar with Kihei. The most important thing that I can say tonight is to listen to what Kelly said. Go back to the CPAC language. Do not, all those little lines where they've taken out part of the sentence, put that part back in, because it makes a huge difference on the impact of what they're saying. It holds the vision accountable, The reason I can say that is because I was involved in working with the Kihei Malka part of the project, which I had very mixed feelings about because it's a large area to be developed. But I believe that this is a long-term 30-year plan and planning is really important. And I also saw it as a way to have a secondary exit, even though it's a minor secondary exit, something we really need. that could link south to the north to the Mokulele Highway from Kanani Road. Anyway, There's so much that is taken out of that Kihei mauka that if it's left the way it is, I don't think that development should be allowed. For instance, the gulches are encroached upon. The sea pipe plan has wider areas for the gulches so that you can have paths, so you can have some of the stuff that the McKenna guy was talking about, where you can have small kind basins to slow down flow and whatnot. There's just so much that was removed that I'm trying to think what the other things were, but I'm sort of nervous. The road, the development. There should be no allowed occupancy until that road is operational. That was taken out. The infrastructure needs to be concurrent. That was taken out with development. That was in the old plan in 1996 and it wasn't even listened to and now it's taken out. It's insane. So everything that everyone has been saying here is really important and I really agree with and I think that the guiding light is to go back to the CPAC plan and stick to it respect those volunteers who are from the community who really care and just follow that thank you so much thank you miss Wagner members questions I did have a question

Thank you. Seeing no other questions. When you say things were taken out, did you mean specifically policies, implementation, or were there anything specific or mostly in the policies?

There's a lot that's specific. And Rob Weltman, who I know is a resource for you, has made it really clear. I worked with him on developing those policies and actions, and they are very specific. I can't identify them at this moment, but follow what Rob has created.

as your guide. And then when you're saying go back to the CPAC, are you also including their Section 3 growth framework? Because I have heard conflicting on the growth framework. Some folks are saying no growth until these infrastructure occurs, but I mean, I didn't get to the matrix part about the growth framework, but it looks like a lot of growth was also put in by the CPAC as well, no?

You know, I was mostly involved in the North Kihei portion, so I am not, and I haven't been, I've been kind of like flying under the radar lately, so I'm not prepared to answer your questions right now, but I can get back to you on that.

Oh, that works out great, because we're not going to hit growth framework until, we're going to, so just so everybody knows, we're going policies, then implementation, then growth framework, and, you know, every other day testimony. So if you're going to be following it over the next month, please give us feedback.

My problem is I'm going to be off island from the 29th of September, but I'm going to work with Rob, and I'm going to make some written testimony for you.

Okay, great. And the rest of the time will be hybrid, too, so if you have access to the Internet, you can check in, too.

Oh, yeah. Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

No other questions, right? Okay. Go ahead, James.

Chair, the next person signed up to testify is George Rixey to be followed by Lucienne Dene.

Aloha everybody. It's good to see you. So my name is George Rixey. I'm an architect, contractor, planner. I've been living in Key A for decades. This is kind of funny to say, but Back in the turn of the century, I was the president of the Kiai Community Association, and we started the first planning and development committee, and our goal was to implement actions called from the community plan. Looking at that community plan, it was completely obvious, traffic and drainage. And I can tell you today, after all those efforts, which was a lot of efforts, pretty much nothing has happened. because of deadlock. It's not because of the community. It's because of what we need help from the council, the county, the state. But we all know how challenging that is. So the main thing I have to say is that the vision statement of the community plan back in 1996 was awesome. But when it got into the mechanics of it, the plans, the layouts, the designating of zoning, it was a complete disconnect. I'm looking at this one here now, and the vision is right on. And that vision is almost verbatim from the very first group of people that got together to work on this project. That was before the GPAC. It was just a bunch of people that had been here for a long time and familiar with certain parts of it. From there, it starts to break down into a disconnect. So what I would like to, well just for example, right before the 1996 plan got approved, there was a traffic study plan that was integrated with a drainage study plan which called for drainage and retention basins, Malka of Piolani Highway, to be in place before any development. missing the word shall. Another thing is down by Kihei, the elementary school, the middle school, wetlands everywhere. That whole area got designated industrial. That's about as disconnected as you can get. Last minute changes. So those are the kinds of things that we have to be careful to watch out for. And there's a really easy solution to all of this. I forget who was saying it. Maybe you were mentioning about parts of the plan are kind of guidelines and parts of the plan can be law. Shall. Shall is the word. Must be. Shall. And there's very critical things that need to be done. And I would defer those again to the Kihei Community Association because this is a community plan. They know more about what's going on than the council, the planning department, the planning commission, all that. They know what's going on and listen to them. And also I'd like to echo also what Kelly said.

Thank you, Mr. Rixey. You don't have any objection to just using must instead of shall?

The most direct, indistinguishable word is the word you use. All right. Thanks.

Members, any other questions for the testifier? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony. James?

Chair, the next person signed up to testify is Lucienne Diné, to be followed by Sheila Walker.

Aloha. Nice to see you all, see more of you again today. My name is Lucienne Diné. I'm speaking on my own behalf with my historian hat on today as the author of two books about the history of South Maui. and done a lot of research into South Maui's cultural wonders, and it is a cultural wonderland, little understood and almost forgotten, and so I really urge you to not to build on some of the mistakes of the past, Definitely we want strong and clear language about protections afforded to historical and cultural sites. There's really good intentions, but however, I went on a site visit today. I was given a map showing a big detention basin. Where that detention basin is planned are a lot of archaeological sites. They were very, very poorly recorded by I hate to say it, but a very poor quality firm whose work has been transcended many, many times by more complete archaeology. In other words, this firm goes someplace, they find 50 sites. Another archaeologist goes there and finds like 500 sites. So there's really a big difference here. So we really need to have a sense of historical resources before we sign a big blank check for hundreds of acres, which is the case for Kihei Mauka, which is the case for the golf course that's proposed to be developed in Palawaia and Keaho. These are extremely sensitive areas. The idea that we would give them the blank check of zoning and, you know, enfranchisement without all this due diligent being done first and instead it will be done later and we'll work around it. You know, that's why Wailea 670 took many, many years. They said that. And then finally they had to bite the bullet and realize they had thousands of archaeological sites and they needed a completely different design. And all that just really took up a lot of time in the process. It could have been done differently at the beginning and it should have been thought of in this level, the community planning process. But we don't want to make the mistakes like when Wailea was zoned. A hotel zone was set up in the largest burial ground in South Maui, the Grand Wailea Hotel. Hundreds and hundreds of burials had to be displaced to build. There was no reason for that. It could have been properly surveyed. It could have been set aside for what it was. So we need to learn from the past. We just had a beautiful archaeological site destroyed in the building of the newly POA. Why? Because it was defined out of existence. It was from the ranching era. This high, this thick walls. That had an important story to tell. And it is gone. And we just can't keep making these mistakes. We've been given a limited amount of time. And please don't rush through this process. You need more than a month. Mahalo. Mahalo.

Thank you, members. Any questions for the testifier? Do you have recommendations for the cultural site preservation?

Yes, I do, and I can send you written recommendations. In doing my preparation for my book about the history of Ka'eo, the Makena area, I read every single archaeological report for most of Wailea and a lot of South Maui up until that day. So there's a lot that's known, but what we know from these reports is what hasn't been done yet, you know, the depth that hasn't been done yet. So I'd be happy to share with you. I know you need solutions and not just people pointing fingers.

Thank you. We appreciate that. And as I said, when we get to the growth framework, that will come in very handy.

And any idea what week that would be?

Well, we're going through two. The order is 2-4-3. So it'll be the third section tentatively next week.

Tuesday.

Tuesday if if we make progress in an orderly fashion please give yourself more time I sat through this process myself with Maui Island plan and in order to really hear people and carefully consider their considerations you know it just takes more time Mahalo

Thank you.

James? Chair, the next person signed up to testify is Sheila Walker, to be followed by Anita Spitt.

Thank you, Chair Paulton, and thank you, committee members. And I'm so grateful to be here with such a caring community, and I agree with everything they've testified for today. And thank you for the thorough presentation. I am missing one thing, and maybe it's on the website, but is there an overlay of the tsunami map that affects all of South Maui. I think that would be something to look at and helpful for us to see the tsunami zone because I think that affects a lot of the areas that we're discussing so I would like to see that added. Mahalo.

Thank you. It is online on the real property tax overlay.

On the map, online.

On the real property tax map, there's a list on the side of overlays, and you can turn on the tsunami.

So I have looked, and it doesn't seem super clear, but I would love to see it in your presentation.

Thank you. Okay, thank you. Any questions for the testifier? Seeing none, we're about at the halfway mark right now. Does anyone have a desperate need for a break at this moment, or you want to keep going about 15 minutes or so, or keep going, or break now? How many more testifiers do we have?

Chair, we currently have six more individuals signed up to testify.

Six more individuals. You guys want to try power through? Okay. Go ahead and call the next testifier.

Chair, the next person signed up to testify is Anita Schmidt, to be followed by Suzanne Lal.

Aloha, and thank you for your service. Thanks, Gabe, for coming over from Lanai'i and Kea'ani coming away. I've never been to a meeting before. I've never testified. This is the first time. I'm a business owner. I pay a lot in taxes every month. Get tax, man. Killer. And I'm a homeowner. I've lived in Kihei for close to 20 years, and this development plan is brutal. It's not humane. And I don't know the guys who are voting for this, have you guys ever been here when it's an evacuation plan? This is a death trap. Four hours when we had that tsunami warning, Piolani was backed up four fucking hours. It's insane. And when Lahaina fire was coming, it was coming down by Lepoa. Midnight, the wind changed. We were so lucky, but that fire was coming right forth. We had no way out. You get 8,000 more people down in South Kihei, it's a death trap, you guys. And we all die. That's not good community planning. Right now, my only strategy is go down to the ocean on my paddleboard. I'm not going in the highway, and I don't want a bike path. I don't want green spaces. I want a way to get out of here when there's a tsunami and when there's a fire. And that fire is going to come. You guys know it's like what he said about the 100-year flood. That fire is going to come to Kihei. It's just a matter of when. And you guys need to see what it's like when they try to evacuate. You can't avoid the road thing. Bike path, who cares if we all die? I'm sorry, I just feel really emotional because I've lived here so many years and it's just not development, it's chaos. And like everyone said, Cali, the water not, you know, the beaches are washing away. The roads are washing away. I can't even get out to La Perouse anymore. That's going to be all gone. We don't have a good plan. So thank you so much for your service, but we need to slow it down and think more about what does the community need. It does not need more homes. So again, thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Schmidt, for your testimony. Members, have any questions for the testifier? Seeing one, here you go.

Mahalo for your testimony this evening. You said this development, which development are you talking about?

Yeah, like all of them. Okay. But it's mainly, like, the golf course, and there's a whole bunch more proposed after Wailea 670. So, again, I'm really new to this, so it just seems like I got a list of, like, 4,000 more units on top of the ones that were sort of already put through. Okay. So I'm sorry for my ignorance. No, no, it's okay.

Yeah. Yeah, that clarified it.

Members, any further questions for the testifiers? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony. Go ahead, James.

Chair, the next person signed up to testify is Suzanne Lal, to be followed by Kii Kaho'ohanohano.

Good evening. Thank you. Thank you all. This is inspirational. And it's emotional. And it's disturbing. As a homeowner here, a swimmer, snorkeler, ocean lover, for 23 years, I'm sad because I don't see the fish. I see dead coral. And yesterday, we were out at Molokini. and witnessed coral out there, and I know that that's not part of our local area, but the point being is there was so much coral shaved off by the action of the ocean that I'm just waiting to see the rest of the 10% that's still left around here shaved off in future storms, which we know are coming. And so as we think about development and the plea to slow down, I'm wondering if this isn't a fork in the road. We are having emergency storms and impactful consequences like we have never seen, at least not since I've been here in 23 years. And I'm losing some sleep over this, and I don't know if anybody else is. And I'm checking on my insurance policies and wondering, wow, I better get flood insurance. I don't know if anybody else is looking at their insurance policy, and I'm looking to see if the policy I've had for the last 20 years is even adequate today. given the time it takes to rebuild, et cetera. And so we think about the consequences of this time of climate change. And I mean, we're surrounded by this. Lahaina, what do we say? There's nothing more to say. So sad. So is it even possible to slow this down and to say, you know what, we've got to take a breath. We're living at a point in time on this planet in this very fragile environment where we have just got to take a breath and get in the room together and hear each other and feel each other again. And there can be reports and plans, et cetera, but this is about dialogue. This is very one-way tonight, but there's gotta be some community dialogue, I feel. The other hat I wear in my life other than living blessedly on Maui is I'm a facilitator and a coach to organizations who are going through change. And when an organization, a community of all different kinds of stakeholders are going through change the way we all are, including you all, we have to pause to come together and to hear each other and to give voice. And so my question is, is it possible? And what would you need from us to help you make it more possible that this slows down so that there's more engagement. Thank you.

Members, any questions for the testifier? So I think to answer your question would be community engagement. Ms. Ohanohono?

I think I'm going to go right to what you said, community engagement. Boom. Okay? This is my community. I was raised in this area as well. My mom is still in the same house. She's Kupuna. She's disabled. You talk about being freaked out during storms, during all the fires, during all the things, but I got to run with my own five kids someplace else to go save my mom. And I can't get there, and she can't get out. I look at all the places that I call home, my kids have no idea what those places are. They're gone. The cultural sites that taught me, the Ike Kupuna that came from this place for me, the ancestors that supported me to support these future generations, those roots came from here, and we can't even access them anymore. Stones piled in a little pile that I then found maybe a year or two later going, oh shit, this is it? This is it. I've stood here since the 1990s with Nakapuna Omowee and many others saying the same thing. Slow it down. You've been talking about you've been preparing these things for years. Well, I think I've been to one that I heard of besides tonight, and that was only by chance that I called my friend who said, oh, this is happening. And I know how crucial it is right now more than ever, and that's why I dropped everything and I showed up. And I almost left. I almost left because I'm so tired. I'm tired of not being heard, not just me, everybody in this room and beyond. All the kupuna that passed behind me, that stood like me, saying the same things. Please slow it down. We need housing, yes. We need affordable housing for our people. You know I believe in that. I support you guys in all those ways. However, infrastructure in this area first. I stand on the testimony of Autumn, Ness? Yeah? And Auntie? I'm sorry. This sucks. You guys can't pass this. And I don't want to have to look you all in the eyes if you do. Thank you.

Members, any questions for the testifier? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony. James?

Chair, the next person signed up to testify is Alalani Hill to be followed by Anonymous.

Aloha, iahi, aloha, Corp Council, all of you that are here, thank you. And to all of you, we are the voices. I am also a voice for this area in living here since the 80s. Between these streets where Lailoa is and where we're talking about, I think we really need to look at a lot of this. My mother is from McKenna. She lived between McKenna Landing and Kevalet Church. So I have seen so much in this time. Been part of the planning as a planning commissioner and the Hawaiian cultural advisor for Maui County, for South Maui, serving that seat. We have to listen. We have feelings. So does the earth. So does this island. So does the mana. So does everyone that is here. We are the voices of this time. And if we push and if we race through this, there's gonna be mistakes. Our children might get that, our great grandchildren. And like my sweet sister said, Children not knowing. I was a limu expert. I taught all the seaweeds, all the limus of South Maui, watching everything from the golf courses to the building. How was that going to be? Even in Mackenna, La Perouse, we had bats. Did you know that? Kahulawi, in our time. coming over here. I don't even see the sphinx moth or hawk's moth anymore. But the thing is, is what can she handle? Yeah, I live here. What did I do when we had the fires? Kihei did have a fire. Thank goodness there was enough responders. I didn't get out on the road because I would have gotten stuck. How many times have I gotten stuck? We get stuck. It is a death trap. We have to be responsible in how much we can push through. I remember with Joe Birdstrom, you know, we blessed when Lailoa was created and the bike path and blessing The roundabout, but that was never made for this kind of growth that we're talking about in this area. So we have to slow down. Be more Malia, not these big waves that we don't know. We're not in the same time we were in in the South Maui plan. Mother Earth's telling us. We're in a new time, and more is going to come, and it's going to come hard. Bigger waves, bigger winds, bigger floods, things we've never seen more than anyone has ever seen. We are here on this island, Maui County, our big island earth, and I'm just saying, take some breaths. Let's do this together. Listen to the people, especially the kupuna. Some of you are the kupuna now. So blessings to us and mahalo for listening and just taking some breaths. Mahalo.

Members, any questions for the testifier? Seeing none, thank you. James?

Chair, the next person signed up to testify is anonymous, to be followed by Lexi Sawicki.

Aloha. I know many of you know members of the Anonymous Lee family. And many of them aren't able to be here tonight, and hopefully they're watching. But you represent them, even though they're not here, right? So I'm here representing the Anonymous Leaf family. I've lived in South Miami for a while, and I just want to share some of my observations, just a few. Land use has chronically outpaced infrastructure in South Maui, impacting our quality of life here on a daily basis. I know many people, personally, that are one or two paychecks from losing their home. They are on the brink of becoming homeless. And part of that is because Maui has the highest cost of living in the country if you throw in housing. I know I'm talking to the choir here. I have never seen it this green this time of year in South Maui. We see it during Christmas, but never this time of year. What does that mean? That means there's going to be lots and lots of fuel for potential fire during the dry season. That means there's going to be more deer, and there's going to be more mice, and there's going to be more rats. A storm like Hurricane Lowell doesn't have to directly impact an island to affect it. We could have experienced what they experienced on Kauai. We lost a lot of our beach due to shoreline erosion. We could have lost large sections of South Kihei Road. So what's going to happen if we lose a quarter of a mile of South Kihei Road? Where are we going to go? The Elani Highway, right? Because the North-South Collector Road project has been kicked down the road for decades. So now it's a political football. I've never seen it rain as hard as it did in the March Kona Low. Yes, any of us who live in South Maui, that was the hardest rain we've ever seen. And winds, powerful winds, did more damage than all the hurricanes so far this year. And now it floods regularly, like every other year. And when it floods, North Kihei Road, South Kihei Road is closed down for days, for weeks. I just want to request a few things from the county council. You folks, you need, as planners, you're planners now for our future, to really become Kilo. Practice Kilo. Walk the land. Observe, listen with your and with your ears to understand what's going on. The second request. Chair Palten, please read the vision statement at every meeting that you have. In the beginning of the meeting, read the vision statement. That's your hokulea, that's your guiding star. And finally, please be sure to give your resource people, I think there's two, a parking permit. Yeah. I don't know who they are, but they probably need a parking permit so they can get parking and they don't have to move their car every two hours. Those three simple requests. Mahalo.

Thank you, Mr. Anonymous. Can you repeat the first request?

walk the land walk the maui district take time to do that i know you're going to be busy but walk it and so you learn about this place thank you thank you members any other clarifying questions for the testifier seeing none um miss soeki

Aloha. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to be here. And I'm so touched of you all being here. What's important is that the people of Maui

The people of Maui need to be heard.

We are the stewards of this island. I've been here 20 years. I'm honored to try to make this a better place every day. I think a lot of us are. And I think anything that's rushed through without a comprehensive plan, most importantly, is evacuation. If we've learned nothing from Lahaina, we need to be prepared. I'm not going to go over everything everybody else already has. I got here late, I was working, but I just, I just implore you to really, we have the most beautiful island in the entire world. It could be run correctly. We could have businesses that thrive. We could have a community that comes together and knows one another and thrives in supporting one another. And that is what I am trying to foster in this community. And I think if we all really take time to think things through, the number one thing we need is infrastructure. I have just watched 20 years of just being like, this is Maui. This is how it's done. clean up the mess. I don't see any preparation. And if I had one wish, it would be for people to be long-sighted and see what's the worst case scenario and to plan from there out instead of just trying to play catch up and say, sorry, you guys, you have no way to get out. You have no roads working, you have no power. I was down in South Mau even though I live over here or in North Kihei during the Kona Lo and I was in Paradise Gardens and I was landlocked. There was water all around. You could not get out. That's ridiculous in this day and age. We should have the infrastructure. And that's pretty much the long and short of it. And I thank you all so much for your consideration. And mostly I think the community touches me that we all are here. And let's just keep having these meetings and keep growing and coming together. God bless Maui. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Salicki. Any questions for the testifier? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony. James?

Chair, the last person we have signed up to testify is Kahealani Silva.

I'm here in support of Bill 108, and I'm pretty much just here. It's not that I think everything about it is perfect, but I do have a lot of confidence in all of you council members that, you know, things will be taken care of in a proper way. I appreciate that you folks are having multiple meetings and having the community here. and that I do see that there's going to be a lot of changes. And I know that some people don't necessarily want there to be housing, but I am a mother and I'm a grandmother, and my children have to work out in Wailea. We live in town. And they have to spend all this money on gas all the time. We live on an island. There's going to be traffic. That's all that there is to it. You know, the roads could change any time, just like at the end of Wailea. All I'm saying is I want my kids to not have to move away from this place, our Kula Iwi, like how I had to do to be able to own a home at some point in their life. And if they can do that and work and live, my mopuna will never have to leave this area. Then that's... More than I can ever be grateful for. Because every day that I had to live in the continent hurt my heart to know that my people were back here struggling while I'm having an easy life. I don't want that for them. And I shouldn't have to have it like that just to be able to survive. But I do understand that you folks are going to be taking time to do it and I hope that everybody else realizes that too. And that's pretty much all I have to say.

Thank you, Ms. Silva. Members, any questions for the testifier? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony. James?

Chair, there's currently no one else signed up to testify, so we'll do a last call. If there's anyone present who would like to testify and hasn't done so yet, please identify yourself now. Chair, I see multiple people wishing to testify. Please come up to the microphone.

We'll take the lady and then the gentleman.

Good evening, council members. As I sit here tonight listening to the testimony, originally I wasn't going to testify, but as I listened and gave more thought and pondered, of each council member present tonight and sitting at this table, each of your communities have multiple exits out in an emergency. Hana has at least two ways. Lanai, multiple ways. Molokai, multiple ways. Lahaina and Kihei are the only communities that are one way in, one way out. Now, you could argue in Lahaina there were two ways, and you could go up the North Shore, but that's an extremely dangerous route, particularly at night. So, I would say, having lived in Kihei in 1990, when my kids went to Kihei El and Lokalani, I live upcountry now, but one of the reasons I don't live in Kihei is because upcountry, there's multiple ways in an emergency. I've been down in Kihei when there have been emergencies, and it has stopped traffic. And if it was an impending tsunami, you would have thousands of people die. If we had a fire come through like we did in Lahaina, you have many, many people dying. So as you look at the South Maui Community Plan, I want to support Kelly King, Lucienne Dene, Robin Knox, Daniel Kanahale. These are all long-term members of our South Maui community who've had a major impact. And for you to really listen to their comments, their ideas, And what I would ask is, before you implement anything in South Maui, you put a moratorium in place for the next two to three years, whether you pass the community plan or not, that says we are not going to build one more home. Not an affordable home, not a market home, not a luxury home. until there's more than one way out of Kihei. Until we stop, and during that period of moratorium, we just build infrastructure. Whether that's roads, whether that's grey water transmission, which will give us firefighting, defense, whether that's retention basins, that no new construction, residential, commercial, farm, industrial, nothing, We stop and we protect what we have, and we only do infrastructure. And that is my prayer for our community. Thank you. Yeah, would you like to let us... My name is Michelle Del Rosario, and I've lived on Maui since 1990.

Thank you. Members, any questions for the testifier? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony. And now we'll take the gentleman, if you'd like to let us know your name at some point during the testimony, or let us know what to write down, I guess.

Aloha kakou. My name is John Kukuhiko Plunkett. I was home. I live up on North Kihei by Kiola. And then I flipped the channel. And then I seen this meeting going on. And I called my daughter. I said, hey, Le, I'm going to hit down the community center. And I just wanted to share a little bit of my feelings. I was born in Poonanee. I was raised in Kihei and Makenna. During the development time, I was gone. I went into the military in the beginning of the 70s. Stories are told by my dad. He retired from Pearl Harbor and moved back home. Elmer Cavalier was the mayor, I think. And then the highway came in. As a kid, growing up in Kihei, growing up in Makena, I hear everybody talk about wetlands. I know where the wetlands are. All where the condominiums was built. We talk about the floods. You know, I was looking at a YouTube last night. that a friend of mine from Wa'ehu said, hey, Brother John, check, click this on. There's a Malinini. They ran the drone over the coastline coming from Minuhuni Shores before just past Wailea coming north side. And looking at all the shoreline, When I was a kid, in front of the old K school that I attended, beautiful peaceful sand surf. Just like Big Beach. And then my pony old park, the one just before Maui Lu. Yeah, you know, I just see that we had the storm surge that came in. That was a damage. My opinion, either we're sinking or the ocean rising. But when I look Mauka, and we have the three main rivers coming down, the three main streams, it is being blocked. We cannot go backwards. You know, it's like the video said, you take the sponge, then when the rivers flow, The soil absorbs it. But you take that sponge and you put concrete on it, water flows fast. I do not know, and I know you folks work very hard. I'm brought up from Hana. I'm a Hainaluna graduate. I bled when I had three classmates die in the fire, and I couldn't go there for a long time. And then we had our borders reunion up at the VFW on Plymouth Road. My friend just got through building his home. And I couldn't believe what I seen on Front Street. And it hurt. So now we had that damage down there. We had the damage up in Kula. And we got to do something in Kihei. I agree. Everybody deserves a chance to have a home. Right? But how? You know, I remember when William 670 started. And I knew Charlie Jenks pretty good. I used to work, you know, and, you know, even like David Dowling. Now my cousin Bernie Kalanickow, you know, well, I'm older than him. And when I go down this coastline and I look for people like me, I don't see them. Yeah? So, you know, like my grandma, she told my brothers, I grew up with hooks on the outside of the house. And that was for the four-legged one. Because if the two-legged one was hungry, go inside. Every day my grandma told me, make one person's life better than yourself.

Okay?

And you know what the magic word was always, and I share that with my mo'oponus, we're going to learn something that we didn't know yesterday. Because I feel as a Hawaiian, as a kanaka ma'ole, that education sometimes wasn't in my book. And the only way for me to leave this rock, I joined the military. I grew up away, come home, boom, everything changed. But right now, I pray for you folks. I pray so hard that you folks can deal with these troubling times, that somehow we can compromise or meet halfway to make it more pleasant for the future.

Thank you. Can I clarify, your name is John Kukahiko Plunkett?

Yeah.

And let me see if the members have any questions for you. Members, any questions? Seeing none, we'll probably be around a little bit after. James?

Chair, there's no one else signed up to testify, so we'll proceed with last call again. If there's anyone else who'd like to testify, please identify yourself now by coming up to the microphone. Chair, there is one more individual approaching the microphone.

Thank you. If you can let us know what you want to be referred to as for the record.

My name is Wendy Makahelig and I've lived in Kihei since I was in high school. I have two generations beneath me and I'm deeply invested in this community. There's been a whole lot of talk about coastal erosion and just like the gentleman just said, We kind of all know why we have that situation. And most leeward areas on most islands, including Waikiki and including Lahaina, have all been dewatered or developed over the wetlands. And while I really appreciate the sentiment, I came here and I was kind of skeptical. And truthfully, I work all the time. I don't pay any attention to this. The community plan looked pretty good. The vision is a solid vision, I think, for the people of this community, but I did not see anything about a coastal retreat because of rising water. And I'd really like to see more aggressive restoration of the wetlands area. We've paved over so many, and we have condos in the rivers, literally, and all of these places that get hammered are the ones, are the developments that are in the rivers. Everybody that lives in Kihei knows there's five rivers. There's always been five rivers. It's very common. What I don't see with this development is, and you can see that this is what I do for a living. It's not who I am, it's just what I do. But I would like to see more of an agrarian style plan or more about restoring native plants and grasses and building the sponge back because our sponge is dead. So if you want to save the reef and you want to save the fish and you want to save the ocean, you have to make this area down here verdant and lush like it used to be. And so it doesn't get dried out like the hyena and get burned up like that. And I would like to see in the community plan, I'd like to see a little more aggressive action on that. And that would also help restore our water table. It's not going to fix everything, but it is highly needed. And yes, by putting in the coastal retreat, then we can have some different roads. I mean, when I was in high school, there was one other way out of Kihei, and it was a dirt road through Ulupalakua. We probably would have all made it that way for a tsunami, but we need something better than that. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Markaheli.

Mahalo, Wendy.

We have a question for you, and thank you for your very... Mahalo for joining us tonight.

When you talk about aggressive, would that include maybe acquiring some of these lands?

I'd like to see some acquisition and... I mean, let's face it, and this is not going to be a popular statement, but some places may even need to be condemned to come back, right, under the proper control. And I'd also like to see some design requirements in future development that talk not just about a retention basin, because, you know, that's what I do for a living. The water still runs, just like the man said. You harden it up, it flows, velocity. You have to take an all-encompassing approach. It needs plants. It needs... you know, the grading needs to slow the water down. That's the whole, if you had a farm, this is an interesting thing. I'm in construction for a living, my husband and I both, and then we bought this agricultural property. He does concrete work. And he's all like, we have to get this water off our property for erosion. And I'm like, no, I want a farm. I want to keep this water. I want resilience. I want water table. I want, you know, so it's a whole mental shift. And I don't hear a lot of talk about that in all of this design. That's what I'm talking about.

And then second question, you mentioned a second evacuation route. Is that the route through Oprah's property?

No. When I was in high school, it was a private road through Ulupalakua Ranch, and it came right up from the landing straight up to Ulupalakua. We drove it every day.

And it was that ranch?

It was private. Oh, it was private. So what happened was rental cars were not supposed to drive on it. A lot of tourists took it. The ranch had a lot of liability. They shut it.

Okay.

Thank you. Thank you, Chair.

Any further questions for the testifier? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony. James?

Chair, we'll continue with last call. If there is anyone else who'd like to testify and hasn't done so yet, please identify yourself now and approach the microphone. Chair, we'll do a countdown. Three, two, one. Chair, there is no one else wishing to testify.

Okay. Okay.

members without objection i will now close public testimony which in testimony on continues to uh... remain open throughout the entirety of the process we did not schedule any legislative action for tonight's meeting but with the time we have i would like to discuss the community plan review process uh... so uh... This draft community plan from the Mami Planning Commission is the book that we'll be working out of. As I said earlier, I'd like everyone to bring Attachment 3 especially. It has the department's draft, then the CPAC's draft, the Mami Planning Commission draft, and then changes made per drafting guidelines. And then the last one has recommended changes. This is where I'd like to ask a clarifying question probably to the planning department. Who are the recommended changes from? Is it from Department of Planning, Department of Corporation Council?

The changes that are recommended in that spreadsheet are from the discussions we had with Corporation Council, the Planning Department, and the Department of OEV Resources.

Recommended changes based on Corp Council, Planning, and OEV discussions. Thank you. All right. And so the order of review... that I plan to take up is to start with section two, policy framework, continue on to section four, which is implementation and monitoring, then section three, growth framework, followed by section one, plan framework, and then section five, which is the appendices. Certain appendices and attachments that were provided by planning in their transmittal may be reviewed concurrently with the relative community plan section. Today, earlier today, the committee visited one viewing site from the Kihei Mauka proposed development, as well as the north-south collector road. So the DRIP committee did meet on July 3rd and December 17th, 2025, to discuss the South Maui Community Plan update process under DRIP 9-3. Planning provided a response under Granicus No. 6, which can be found on meeting details. If you go to... MauiCounty.us backslash agendas and look up today's meeting. Under meeting details you can find item number six. This lists planning department's top seven locations to conduct site inspections. So committee members and the public may wish to visit these locations. As I said earlier, we did visit one viewing point for the Kihei Mauka Plan, as well as the North-South Collector Road. The other proposed locations are Kulaniha Koi Gulch, which we are working on getting some aerial drone footage as well, but don't limit yourself to not visiting the gulch. Lipua Mauka, which is in the Maui Research and Technology Park. Honuaula. Makena Mauka, which will need to reach out to Mr. Anderson for access, and that's one of the reasons we didn't include it in the site visits, because per the Sunshine Law, there can be no limitations on access, and we would have needed a liability waiver. And then Wailea Golf Course. These were areas that the planning department recommended this committee visit. Due to the difficulty of official site visits in the Sunshine Lot, my recommendation is for folks in the community, folks from the committee council, try to make the effort to visit those and jot down some notes. And I did want to make a disclaimer to members of the public. The agenda management software used to publish and send out our agendas disables the hyperlinks on an agenda and the items meeting details on the Maui County Legislature website. This occurs when staff prepares an agenda and is sent through review. So there may be brief periods of time when the meeting details or hyperlinks may not function and that's because we're adding more stuff. to the meeting details. Staff will try to minimize the period during which the links are unavailable. When this occurs, to ensure committee members and the public have access to view item files. So if they're not available, check back in an hour and likely it'll be online again. Do the committee members have any questions about the process and information to this point? So as mentioned before, we do have through October 8th, I have a rough outline. We may go faster, we may go slower, but I'm not, you know how the budget sends out a calendar, I'm not sending out a calendar. It's an internal thing because just like in budget, you might get a new calendar every day and then it gets confusing. So the point of it is that all other committees have laid down their timeframe for focusing on the South Maui Community Plan. So we have through October 8th. If the plan review takes longer than that, I don't believe that we will be able to continue to monopolize committee time because there are other committees that need to pass things in a time-sensitive manner. And so if it goes beyond October 8th, it won't be daily review. It'll be weekly review. and then we go into the holidays and a new term. So just putting that out there for folks. There's no hard and fast deadlines, but in the interest of using everybody's time wisely, we have through October 8th to solely focus on South Maui Community Plan. Any questions, comments, discussion? All right. With that being said, we're going to defer this item and we're going to adjourn today. When we start back tomorrow morning, we will be in the regular council chambers with regular hybrid meeting procedures. So if anyone here would like to testify or what have you, you can testify remotely. You can come to the council chambers. You can send in written testimony. But the idea is we're going to recess every other day. So we'll call into order tomorrow morning, take testimony. If it's all day, it's all day, and then we'll work on it the next day. Same thing for the following day. We'll then call the meeting to order on Thursday. If it's testimony all day, it's testimony all day, and then we'll work on Friday. So that's the general... idea and it will go on as long as you know the community is engaged and we have um... decisions to make so two four three one five is the the general order um... our staff will be uploading or have uploaded kind of a bring-with-you sheet. So like I said, for policy, we're gonna be working off of Attachment 3, 4, and 10. When we get to section four, we'll tell you which, or maybe tomorrow we'll upload what attachments to bring with you, because we're going to be cross-referencing so that we take up the relevant issues at the relevant time. And not all of the members are going to make all of the days, so if your member is unable to make the day, but they do have input to share. We're open to testimony from aides, too, if they so choose, or written testimony or what have you. And I think that's about it for instructions on how we're proceeding. Any questions on how we're proceeding? Process? Member Sinensi?

Is there a deadline to the Samoa Community Plan?

Yes, I think if today, no, when did we get it officially? When did we get it from the Planning Commission? When did the clock start? August 4th. August 4th, we received it from the Planning Commission, so we have one year. And then, any other questions?

Are they going to do a presentation in the morning, tomorrow morning? Yes.

I don't think that we have a presentation planned in the morning. The next presentation that we have from the planning department I believe will be in section three regarding the fairly new community plan designations which were first introduced during the West Maui community plan process. THE NEXT PRESENTATION, PRESENTATION FROM PLANNING. I THINK NAHULU DID WANT TO GIVE US SOME GUIDANCE POSSIBLY IN THE MORNING, BUT WE'LL KIND OF PLAY IT BY EAR DEPENDING ON ATTENDANCE. OKAY, ANY OTHER PROCESS, PROCEDURE QUESTIONS? SEEING NONE, COMMITTEE MEMBERS, IF THERE ARE NO OBJECTIONS, THE CHAIR WILL DEFER THIS ITEM.

NO OBJECTIONS.

Thank you everyone for attending today's meeting. This concludes today's Disaster Recovery International Affairs and Planning Committee meeting. Thank you very much everyone. The time is now 7.32 and this meeting is adjourned.