The final report has a “finding of no significant impact,” meaning the area’s development has been determined to not result in significant adverse effects on the natural or human environment for the project to be located mauka of Honoapiilani Highway, south of the West Maui Airport and north of Kaanapali Coffee Farms, according to project documents.

DHHL will now begin the engineering design phase, which will include boundary surveys, subdivision application and preparation of infrastructure construction plans, according to a news release. The process is expected to be completed in early 2025 with construction to follow, subject to legislative funding.

The final environmental assesssment estimates total infrastructure construction costs at approximately $50 million to $59 million, for which federal or state funds may be used. Infrastructure construction is anticipated to be completed around 2027, with vacant lots “available shortly thereafter.”

“Completing this assessment is a critical step in developing DHHL’s West Maui landholding for beneficiaries who have been waiting a long time,” said Hawaiian Homes Commission Chair William Aila Jr. “When fully developed, Honokowai will be the largest homestead community on the island of Maui potentially serving over a thousand native Hawaiian beneficiaries and their families.”

The proposed master plan development seeks to create up to 356 single-family residential homesteads, 573 new multifamily residential units and 252 subsistence agricultural homestead lots on approximately 454 acres.

Other planned complementary land uses include up to 14 acres for supplemental homestead agriculture, 71 acres for community use and 146 acres held for conservation, according to the news release.

Approximately 16 acres are proposed for light industrial activities to provide a buffer between the existing county sewer treatment facility and the new homestead community. A portion of the project is also adjacent to the Pulelehua project, a mixed-use development of 800 multifamily units in West Maui.

To learn more about the Honokowai Homestead Community Master Plan and view the final environmental assessment, visit dhhl.hawaii.gov/po/maui.

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