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Online petition targets A&B land

Coalition eyes former plantation acreage for affordable housing, small-scale farming

The Hukilike No Maui: Together for Maui Coalition has posted an online petition and organized a Maui rally next week aimed at persuading Alexander & Baldwin to open its former sugar cane lands for more affordable housing, small-scale farming and conservation.

The company has met with members of the coalition, shares its values and has “demonstrated leadership on these issues throughout our long history on Maui, and we continue to do so today,” A&B spokesman Darren Pai said Thursday.

The petition can be found at togetherformaui.org. As part of a “15% for the Future” campaign, the petitioners ask A&B to make at least 15 percent of its Central Maui land, or about 5,000 acres, available “for Maui to plan its own future.”

Coalition members will deliver the petition to A&B during its annual shareholders meeting Tuesday. The group has scheduled a rally at noon that day outside A&B’s office at 11 S. Puunene Ave. in Kahului.

In an emailed statement Thursday, Pai said: “Alexander & Baldwin respects the right of any individual or organization to express their opinions and is always willing to listen. We welcome the opportunity to hear more about the Hukilike Coalition’s plans.”

In an announcement, the coalition wants A&B to donate or allow the sale of its lands in Puunene and Haliimaile “to local entities to establish small-scale agriculture to serve the community’s needs and affordable housing for Maui residents.”

And, the coalition is asking A&B to create permanent conservation easements or to donate particular areas that have cultural and environmental significance and make arrangements for those lands to be cared for by local cultural practitioners.

“All of Maui’s people could benefit if we adopt a sustainable approach to the use of the Central Maui lands,” said Pukalani resident Lehua Simon, a member of the coalition. “We have a unique opportunity right now to address the needs of Maui’s residents. If we make those changes today, Maui’s future will be so much brighter for ourselves and our future generations.”

A&B closed its 36,000-acre Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. plantation at the end of 2016. Since then, the company has been pursuing diversified agriculture, including cattle grazing, energy crops and farming. In March, A&B executives reported that the company had redeployed 4,500 acres of former sugar lands, but progress was seen as slow, difficult and unlikely to turn a profit.

Pai said A&B has made “significant progress” with diversified agriculture on Maui and remained in active negotiations for another 15,000 acres of agricultural leases.

“To meet the needs of the smaller farmers, we are finalizing discussions with the County of Maui to provide more than 800 acres for an expansion of the Kula Agricultural Park,” he said.

The coalition’s announcement says that the end of sugar on Maui “poses challenges” but also “tremendous opportunity to address many of the long-standing problems facing the people of Maui.”

“The island’s population continues to grow as tourism reaches new levels, all the while Maui residents are priced out of their homes, the majority of the food is imported, and unique environments and culturally sensitive lands are destroyed or access is denied,” the announcement says. “Maui could have a very different future, one that meets the needs of its people while continuing to offer its beauty and cultural legacy for the world to enjoy.”

Pai said A&B has provided housing for working families on Maui since 1950, most recently with the Kamalani project in north Kihei and in partnership with Catholic Charities on the proposed 164-unit, Kahului Lani affordable senior housing project.

A&B has committed to conserving thousands of acres on Maui, he said. The company conveyed permanent conservation easements for about 3,700 acres in East Maui to The Nature Conservancy and for the 700-acre Kealia Pond Refuge to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

A&B is a founding member of the East Maui Watershed Partnership, Hawaii’s first public-private partnership to preserve an important watershed on Maui, he said. The group served as a model for nine other watershed partnerships statewide, Pai said.

Groups supporting the Hukilike coalition’s petition include: Faith Action for Community Equity Maui, Sierra Club Maui Group, Malamalama Maui Project, the Kihei Community Association, Shaka Movement, Surfrider-Maui, Maui Tomorrow, Maui Causes, Go Green Culture Foundation, Hawai’i Alliance for Progressive Action, Hoaloha Farm and Greenleaf Farms.

Politicians listed online as supporting the petition included Maui County Council Member Elle Cochran, candidate for mayor; Tasha Kama, candidate for the County Council Kahului residency seat; Mary Wagner, candidate for the Central Maui 8th House District seat; Terez Amato, candidate for the West-South Maui 6th Senate District seat; and Trinette Furtado, candidate for the County Council Makawao-Haiku-Paia seat.

The coalition noted that it does not endorse political candidates, but candidates supporting the petition were listed.

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