Two stop-work orders have been issued for a 45-foot tall Napili home that for months has been under scrutiny by the community and the county over its size, height and potential use.

The Maui County Public Works Department in consultation with the Planning Department issued the orders Wednesday to Napili Beach House LLC, registered to Greg Brown, for the nearly completed eight-bedroom home at 5385 Lower Honoapiilani Road. The orders came after building and zoning inspectors examined the project site.

In a letter to Brown Wednesday, the Public Works Department Development Services Administration said there is a zoning violation with the dwelling, as it exceeds the two-story height limit allowed in the Napili Civic Improvement District where the home is located.

The dwelling also exceeds the 7,500-square-foot limitation required for a special management area permit exemption for a single-family residence in the area.

The Planning Department gave an exemption to the dwelling in 2019, when plans showed it was 7,483 square feet. However, the department later determined that the structure did exceed 7,500 square feet when taking into account areas that were thought to be ducts, pipes and vents in the plans.

The Development Services Administration ordered Brown in the letter that work be stopped no later than 4 p.m. Wednesday.

“According to our letter to Mr. Brown, the stop work order can be lifted when the Planning Department and DSA Building Inspections approve the specific actions to be taken by the owner to correct the violations,” said Public Works Director Rowena Dagdag-Andaya in an email Thursday afternoon.

Brown contends that he is building the home in accordance with the building permit that was approved by the county.

He said via email Thursday afternoon that the stop-work order “was erroneously issued as all the work was being performed in accordance with the approved plans” and that he is in communication with the county to have the orders lifted.

Brown said he was “surprised” by the orders, as it seemed that the county was receptive to his proposed concessions.

He said he wanted to get the construction employees back to work, adding “this is especially important as Christmas is so close and it affects hard working residents of Maui who now cannot work.”

The home sparked concerns over the summer while it was under construction, with residents claiming it was being built as a single-family home to skirt permitting rules and public scrutiny before being turned into a vacation rental. Attorneys for Brown had said he “would like to have the option to use the property as transient vacation rental,” though the Planning Department had said the use would not be allowed because the exemption and building permit were issued for a single-family home, not a short-term rental.

A Maui County Council committee discussed issues over the home in June and eventually went on to pass a bill that clarified building height requirements in the Napili Bay Civic Improvement District to no more than two stories or 30 feet in height. Prior to the change, there had been no specific measurements listed for building height limits in the district. It also prohibited new hotel or vacation rental use throughout the district but allowed existing ones to continue.

While the home was undergoing scrutiny, and again on Thursday, Brown said that he had worked two years with the Planning Department during the SMA and building permit review process and has made many concessions and changes to the design of the house at the request of the Planning Department.

Upon hearing the concerns regarding the height of the home months ago, Brown said he had plans drawn up to lower the height of the house to 35 feet and voluntarily stopped work for two months, but added the Planning Department “was not receptive to resolving the matter.”

He said he could not indefinitely delay construction and “was forced to continue building per the county approved plans.” He said it is not possible to reduce the home’s height now as the structure is almost completely built.

Planning Director Michele McLean said in an email Thursday afternoon that the Planning Department zoning inspectors conducted a site visit with building inspectors from Public Works to examine the square footage of floor space along with the number of stories of the home.

The structure was exempted for 7,483 square feet initially, McLean said, noting some areas in the home were “shaded out” on plans, signaling that these areas included ducts, pipes, vents, etc. They were not considered as part of the square footage when the exemption was issued.

But some of these areas are actually about 6 to 7 feet in height and are accessed by a door and contain usable floor area, McLean said.

Also, an approximately 100-square-foot elevator machine room on the roof next to the elevator shaft was not included as part of the 7,438 square feet initially.

“So these areas mean the structure exceeds the square footage that allowed it to be exempt from getting a SMA permit,” McLean said.

The same two areas in question also meet the definition of a “story” in the zoning code.

When the permits were issued, the zoning at the time had a maximum building height of two stories.

“This structure has two main stories, but these two areas each add a story, so the number of stories allowed by the zoning is exceeded,” she added.

McLean said the developer has responded and the department is reviewing their proposal to make needed corrections.

The Planning Department on Dec. 2 also sent a letter to Brown regarding the issues with square footage and the home’s number of stories.

* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.