The General Plan Advisory Committee receives public testimony; requests January 2009 extension. “Let’s get it right. We will have to live with it for 20 years.”The General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC), which met at the West Maui Senior Center on Saturday, Aug. 23, reluctantly decided that it cannot finish its work by October 2008 and voted to request a resolution from the Maui County Council to extend the committee’s life to January 2009. If approved by the council, this would be the second extension received by the GPAC since it first began meeting almost three years ago.
GPAC’s action, on a motion offered by Susan Moikeha, was in response to a proposed draft resolution presented by the Maui County Planning Department asking for an extension until Dec. 13. Extension requests are permitted under the law that established the General Plan process.
GPAC members questioned if the Planning Department had sufficient staff to carry out the required tasks by the December date. Mercer “Chubby” Vicens suggested an extension to the end of February 2009, due to the council’s schedule, the elections and the holidays. That date “would give the public and us the time to do it right,” he said.
Others, including Maui Economic Development Board President and CEO Jeanne Skog said, “We need to get aggressive. We need to get it done.”
Planning Director Jeff Hunt warned the group about a long extension. “We (the Tavares administration) have said that we will not approve any community plan amendments until after the General Plan is adopted. I don’t know how long we can hold on to that policy. We are getting a lot of pressure from developers coming in and there are strong economic pressures.”
“I thought this was going to be a one year process,” said GPAC member Kaipo Kekona. “Three years already. I’m getting old. The last time the GPAC was in Lahaina my daughter had just been born. Now I’m trying to schedule her baby lu‘au. Let’s not grumble over a couple of months. Let’s get it right. We will have to live with it for 20 years.”
After a discussion that revealed GPAC concerns about the need for additional public comment from areas proposed for extensive growth under the draft Maui Island Plan, Moikeha amended her motion to request an extension to Jan. 31, 2009, with the inclusion of language that requires the Planning Department to hold three additional public information workshops on the General Plan. These workshops are to be held in South Maui, Upcountry and Lahaina.
The Saturday, Aug. 23, meeting was a continuation of the GPAC meeting held at the same location on Thursday evening, Aug. 21. The Thursday meeting convened with an overflow crowd of over 75 people. Approximately 50 people signed up to testify, many speaking in support of the reestablishment of a small town at Olowalu.
In addition to Olowalu, testimony at both the Thursday and Saturday meetings centered around the absence of Ka‘anapali 2020 community plans from Urban Growth Boundaries (UGB) proposed for West Maui by the Planning Department, opposition to new development at Ma‘alaea, and concern over Maui Land & Pineapple Company’s Pulelehua development located above Honoapi‘ilani Highway and below the West Maui Airport. Other concerns were the lack of rural growth boundaries in the Draft Island Plan as required by law, water availability issues and the potential realignment of the Honoapi‘ilani Highway.
Testifying in support of Olowalu Town on Thursday and again on Saturday were many longtime Olowalu and West Maui residents, including Adeline Ka‘ahui Rodrigues, who was born in Olowalu and asked the GPAC to, “Please consider a small town at Olowalu.”
Calling Olowalu a “community where Maui’s families can afford to live,” Rodrigues noted that the plans for Olowalu were developed as a result of extensive community participation and that Olowalu is a traditional population site where thousands of Hawaiians lived before western contact. She also said that a thriving town existed before the sugar mill shut down in the 1930s.
Rodrigues called for alternatives to the Draft Maui Island Plan and the presentation of more than just one option for the GPAC to consider.
Ed Lindsey, a long time cultural and environmental advocate, urged the GPAC to support both Ka‘anapali 2020 and Olowalu. He pointed out that Ka‘anapali 2020 had been in planning for 10 years and that concerns over the economic viability of Olowalu were overblown. “Olowalu had an economic structure, it will again. Let’s keep things in perspective,” he said.
Roselle Bailey testified in support of Ka‘anapali 2020 being placed within UGB. “No Ka‘anapali 2020 is a slap in the face for not being placed on the map. Listen to the people, not just what you think,” she said.
Joe Pluta, president of the West Maui Taxpayers Association, called upon the GPAC to make Ka‘anapali 2020 No. 1 on their map for West Maui as an example of smart growth that includes jobs, schools, housing and a hospital.
Irene Bowie, executive director of Maui Tomorrow, along other testifiers raised questions over the lack of infrastructure in West Maui to support planned developments, the lack of water, the need for affordable housing, and concerns over reef health along West Maui shorelines. Bowie called for the development of compact communities with a wide range of transportation options and land for community gardens.
The next meeting of the GPAC will be held on Thursday, Sept. 4, at 5 p.m. at the Kaunoa Senior Center in Pa‘ia. Comments on the Maui Island Plan can be sent to the GPAC at generalplan2030@mauicounty.gov.