A recent assessment of the county’s Zoning Administration and Enforcement Division has found that it has a backlog of permits and enforcement actions and that its employees have “little confidence” in the department’s leadership.

Those were three of five findings that came out of the assessment of the county’s Department of Planning Zoning Administration and Enforcement Division done by Honolulu-based Spire Hawaii, an accounting and advisory services firm. The Maui County Council in April 2021 passed a resolution to authorize the county auditor to execute a contract for assessment. The completed report was transmitted to the council on May 10.

According to the assessment, the council wanted the study done due to complaints from the public, including from the design and construction community over lengthy wait times for applications, issues with staff as well as remaining longstanding issues from an assessment of the entire Planning Department that came out in 2006.

The scope of the recent assessment looks at the Zoning Administration and Enforcement Division only. The division’s duties include processing permit applications for things such as signs and banners, agricultural structure declarations, special management area minor permits, flood development, parking and subdivision agreements (agricultural use). It also is involved with variance and appeal applications, providing support for the Board of Variance and Appeals and processing sign variants through the Urban Design Review Board.

Past and present division employees and the planning director were interviewed. A voluntary customer survey was sent to more than 3,500 people or companies who had contact with the division from fiscal year 2017 to fiscal year 2021, while a volunteer survey was sent to employees. Division records, reports and other files were examined.

The five findings in the assessment were:

• The conditions in which the division is required to process applications contribute to lengthy permit review times and inconsistencies. The division does not have performance measures for reviewing applications and a backlog of permit applications exist.

• The division’s enforcement of land use and zoning regulations is hindered by a lack of training, forms and processes and a backlog likely exists.

• A survey of division employees indicates that they have little confidence in department leadership. Departmental leadership is described as heavily politicized and unconcerned with the welfare of staff.

• According to a survey of the division’s customers, positive survey responses note the knowledge and capability of the division staff. Negative responses related to the level of responsiveness, level of care and consideration for personal situations and needs, inconsistencies and varied interpretation within the application process.

• The division substantially completed its implementation of the 2006 assessment recommendations within its jurisdiction and control.

Some of the many recommendations provided for each finding include: the county potentially exploring the formation of technical review committees that include state and county agencies to discuss shortened review times when multiple agencies are involved, along with considering providing inspectors with additional tools to improve their ability to enforce, including training applicable to enforcing laws along with clearer and more understandable forms and procedures.

The assessment also noted that with proper departmental leadership the morale and performance of the division could be significantly improved as the division has many assets. It also noted that the department and ZAED use the analysis results of the customers surveyed to find out on how to improve on the permit process.

At the Maui County Council’s Planning and Sustainable Land Use Committee meeting Thursday morning, Planning Director Michele McLean and Managing Director Sandy Baz noted that the department is already working on some of the recommendations in the assessment.

Overall, McLean said that they “agree with almost all of the findings and recommendations,” and even if they do not agree with some parts, “we will certainly learn from” the assessment.

McLean said the division is “dedicated, professional, committed and diligent, working overtime when needed.” They are also conscientious on how their work affects each applicant.

“And they have the hardest jobs of anyone in our department because they have to tell people ‘no,’ every day. ‘You can’t build what you want, you can’t subdivide how you like,’ ” McLean explained. “They don’t just say no though, they say ‘no, but you can build like this instead or you can subdivide like this instead.’ ”

As for the critical evaluation of leadership, McLean said, “I was certainly dismayed to hear some of the comments about communication and support.”

She added that it wasn’t always clear to her from the assessment whether the critique of management dealt with the division management or if it involved herself and the deputy.

“Regardless I certainly take those to heart,” she added.

McLean said the timing of the assessment could have impacted the results from staff, as it was when they were preparing to transition to Maui’s Automated Planning and Permitting system, or MAPPS, a new web-based software system to support planning and permit processing. This led to an “extra amount of stress and work on ZAED,” she said.

The assessment also occurred in the wake of “the Napili home,” McLean added.

A two-story home being constructed on Lower Honoapiilani Road has sparked controversy over the past year for its size, which includes eight bedrooms, two pools and a deck. Community members said the developer was skirting rules and disguising the home as a vacation rental and questioned why its development did not go before a public panel for review. The complaints led to two stop-work orders in December, but the order was lifted in February as the home was now in compliance, the Planning Department said. The County Council continues to mull the matter and residents are still pushing back against the development.

In March, McLean said she, too, is upset over the home, but that now it is in compliance with county law.

On Thursday, McLean said there was a person in the division who told her that they did not agree with how she handled the matter.

“I don’t think anyone agrees with how I handled that,” she said. “But ZAED, at least the people who spoke to me felt that I should have backed up staff 100 percent and generally that’s my M.O. In this case I found flaws in what staff did.”

“And actually, much, much, much later, staff told me that they made errors, but at the time the audit was conducted, they still felt that I did not back them up in that case. And because they are a close-knit group, I think that really cast a cloud through ZAED,” McLean said. “They saw my action in that case as political, which it was not.”

Baz said the assessment “is a good opportunity for us to improve in certain areas,” and pointed out that the county is making changes such as installing the new MAPPS software system in April that will assist with transparency and accountability.

Baz said staffing is an issue for the entire county and that it’s a challenge to compete with the wages of the private sector, which can also lead to retention issues.

The committee deferred the matter Thursday, with Chairwoman Tamara Paltin saying they will revisit it later as the Planning Department continues with its planned changes and improvements.

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