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The much-delayed Lanai Community Plan update passed the first of two readings Friday before the full Maui County Council.
The revised plan came before council members with a contested sentence in the plan’s land-use section removed. That sentence read: “Unless specifically prohibited, the uses permitted by zoning and the standards applicable to the typical zoning district apply to the corresponding community plan designations.”
Those opposing the inclusion of the sentence said it put zoning ahead of the community plan in determining land use.
Planning Committee Chairman Don Couch also submitted and council members approved a revised appendix in the land-use section by adding state land use districts that apply to four of the Lanai Community Plan land use designations.
Council Member Riki Hokama, who holds the council’s Lanai residency seat, said that he had “reservations” but could support the revised Lanai plan, even though he maintained that the current 1998 version of the island’s plan remains “very solid and still pertinent and viable.”
He praised the current plan as being “very concise, not overly worded and very clear.”
Moving forward with other community plans, Hokama said that he hopes the review process is changed.
“We need to do it better,” he said.
Hokama suggested eliminating the Department of Planning’s input on the community plans and allowing communities to have their say in their plan without the interference of professional planners.
Couch said Planning Committee members already have started looking at ways to improve the community planning process, but that the current system is “inherently a very long process.” The Lanai and Molokai plans are more difficult because the County Code requires an “island” as well as a “community” plan, which complicates the process, he said.
When finished, the plan is aimed at guiding Lanai’s development and policies for 20 years. The Lanai plan is the first of nine community plans to be updated. The process of revising the island’s plan began in 2010 when the Planning Department held the first of a series of community meetings to gather community input. The Lanai Community Plan Advisory Committee and the Lanai Planning Commission reviewed the plan separately, and a draft plan was submitted to the council in late 2014.
The council’s deadline to take final action on the Lanai plan is June 15.
In other council action Friday, council members approved by resolution the fast-track Alexander & Baldwin Waiale affordable housing project.
Its plans call for construction of 70 affordable, single-family homes on 10.36 acres on Waiale Road in Wailuku, north of the Waikapu Gardens subdivision. Home prices depend on median family incomes and are expected to range from $338,000 to $465,000, project developers have said.
Council members also gave initial approval to a bill to authorize the mayor to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency to settle alleged violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act stemming from a large-capacity cesspool at the Maui Raceway Park, now known as the Maui Motor Sports Park.
And, councilors passed on the first of two readings a pair of bills that would change the county’s voter initiative process.
In one, someone wanting to withdraw his or her signature from a supplemental petition would be able to do so within three days. Currently, the charter provides no guidance for those who want to withdraw their signatures from a supplemental petition.
The second change would give the Office of the County Clerk 20 days instead of 10 days to review a supplemental initiative petition. In 2014, the clerk’s office had only 10 days to review a supplemental petition with more than 9,000 signatures, according to a committee report.
* Brian Perry can be reached at bperry@mauinews.com.