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Developers of a 1,500-home Olowalu development, which has been a decade in the making, have withdrawn their plans in a victory for those who opposed the project as inappropriate for the West Maui area.
The development suffered a major setback when the state Land Use Commission rejected the project’s final environmental impact statement in December with scores of residents speaking out in opposition to the project at the hearing on Maui.
Project developer Bill Frampton confirmed the withdrawal Monday – which was done in a letter to the commission dated April 4 – and said that the development entity, Olowalu Town LLC, is being dissolved. He noted that the effort to plan and build the project, which began in 2005, has been “extremely expensive.” He declined to disclose the cost.
The developers could have appealed the commission’s decision to the Hawaii Environmental Council, but Frampton said they will not do so. The developers have formally rescinded their final EIS and their petition for a district boundary amendment.
Landowners Olowalu Elua Associates and Olowalu Ekolu LLC “are exploring various alternatives for future uses,” he said in an email statement Monday evening.
“Making the decision to withdraw Olowalu Town was very difficult” and “very unfortunate for Maui’s families,” said Frampton, referencing the project’s 750 affordable homes.
The project had been included in urban and rural growth boundaries by the General Plan Advisory Committee, the Maui Planning Commission and the Maui County Council in 2012. The project, which would have included stores, schools and parks, was to be built on about 636 acres of agricultural land about 4 miles south of Lahaina town.
After the hard fought effort to be included in the Maui Island Plan, it was “very difficult” to withdraw, Frampton said. The developers believed that they were part of something much larger than just building a new Olowalu community.
“We believed there was an opportunity to demonstrate how we are capable of changing the way in which Maui has been developed for too long, especially as we have watched the destructive pattern of senseless urban and suburban sprawl grow outwards,” said Frampton. “We had a strong commitment to develop a vision of creating a community where Maui’s residents can afford to live and raise families.”
He said previously that plans were developed through a community-based process initiated in 2005 with a more than weeklong community planning process with residents from all over Maui. The goal was to stop the sprawl estates in Olowalu.
The project had its detractors, including those concerned about impacts to traffic, reefs offshore, cultural sites, protected Native Hawaiian cultural practices and coastal resources.
Albert Perez, executive director of Maui Tomorrow, which opposed the project, said he was not surprised that the development was withdrawn and contended that it was inappropriate for the area.
“The community really came out,” Perez said of those who spoke against the project during meetings before the Land Use Commission.
He noted that it is not often that the commission rejects a final environmental impact statement from a developer. In an 11-hour meeting in December, the commission voted 6-1 against acceptance of the report, which members said did not answer questions sufficiently about the project’s potential impact on traffic, cultural resources and archaeological sites.
Frampton said that the EIS was prepared in good faith with more detailed plans to come during the project’s boundary amendment and permitting phases. He said that the developers were capable of developing a community that would have made protecting reefs a priority and that would have planned for a safe and efficient transportation system to eliminate dangerous traffic conditions.
Frampton said that he and fellow developer and business partner, David Ward, through Olowalu Town, had entered into an option agreement with landowners Olowalu Elua Associates and Olowalu Ekolu to obtain the land use approvals for the Olowalu town project.
Olowalu Elua’s agent is developer Peter K. Martin, according to state business records. Other members listed included Olowalu Land Co. LLC, Olowalu LLC, James Carter Riley and Glenn Edward Tremble.
Ward was listed as the agent for Olowalu Ekolu with members Olowalu Elua Associates LLC and Nani Kai Holdings LLC.
When asked what would be an appropriate use for the site, Perez said a park such as the Ahupua’a ‘O Kahana State Park would be a good idea. It is a publicly owned ahupuaa, or mountain-to-ocean land division, with families living there and assisting with interpretive programs that share Hawaiian values and lifestyle, its website said.
Whatever comes next for Olowalu, Perez said that “the solution has to come from the people who are connected to the lands. So that’s the most important thing.
“Whoever does what with the land there, they would be well advised to consult with the lineal descendants.”
*Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.