Pulelehua precedes county suspension

West Maui housing development is not subject to administration edict

By CHRIS HAMILTON, Staff Writer
WAILUKU — The planned 310-acre Pulelehua housing development in West Maui will not be subject to Mayor Charmaine Tavares’ recent edict to reject proposed amendments to existing community plans until the Maui General Plan is completed in the next several years.

Planning Department Director Jeff Hunt told the County Council Land Use Committee on Wednesday that the past administration and Maui Planning Commission have already supported Maui Land & Pineapple Co.’s 900-dwelling development. The project and its applications have been in the works since 2006, so it precedes Tavares and Hunt’s decision in January on future community plan amendments.

Under questioning by Council Member Jo Anne Johnson, who holds the West Maui residency seat, Hunt said his department is not in the position to go back in time and reverse all the decisions of past planning departments.

For the first time in half a year, the council’s Land Use Committee took up zoning and other land-use changes required to move forward with the long-discussed Pulelehua housing development. However, committee Chairman Mike Molina said with the county budgeting process coming up, it may be several months before Pulelehua comes before the panel again.

Molina said the matter was put on the committee’s agenda to allow planning staff to update panel members on the project, which would be located adjacent to the Kapalua-West Maui Airport. Half of the homes and apartments would qualify as affordable by federal standards.

The project is also going to include 100,000 square feet of commercial space as well as churches, libraries, an elementary school and about 100 acres of park and open space.

Three Pulelehua bills are before the Land Use Committee. They would amend the community plan from agricultural park and open space to West Maui Project District 5, change zoning from agricultural and interim districts to Project District 5 and approve the project’s Phase I plans.

In 2005, the state Land Use Commission accepted Pulelehua’s environmental impact statement and changed the state land-use district from agricultural to urban. The developers also held a half-dozen public meetings on the project last year.

Hunt has said county planners want to hit the pause button on new development. The county General Plan will establish planning policies and accompany a Maui Island Plan, which would establish urban-boundary districts. Finally, each of the nine geographical regions on Maui, Molokai and Lanai will establish community plans to designate land use on a block-by-block level.

Community activist Tamara Paltin testified that she was confused as to why Pulelehua was on the agenda since the mayor and the planning director said they would not support any community plan amendments.

But potential Pulelehua homeowner Keith Hertz said the development would exemplify a sense of small town with planned sidewalks, parks and schools.

Also on Wednesday, the Land Use Committee unanimously approved a use variance in perpetuity for Pacific Biodiesel, which is located on an interim-zoning district at the Central Maui Landfill.

Pacific Biodiesel operates on land owned by the county and has been in business at the landfill for 12 years. But the business needs the variance to comply with state Department of Health guidelines, said county Department of Environmental Management Director Cheryl Okuma.

The existing permit expired about a month ago, and councilors were told by administration officials that the land would probably need to be rezoned to an agricultural district so Pacific Biodiesel will not have to return for variances in the future.

Okuma said her department has been in discussions with the Planning Department to make a long-term fix.

Pacific Biodiesel is a subcontractor for the county to collect used restaurant grease and cooking oil and convert it to lower-emission fuel used to run cars, pickups and even heavy vehicles. The waste would otherwise go into the county landfill.

Kelly King, communications and marketing director for Pacific Biodiesel, said the biodiesel fuel costs about $3.60 a gallon but gets twice the mileage as conventional gasoline.

• Chris Hamilton can be reached at chamilton@mauinews.com.