An attorney representing a group of residents who’ve raised concerns over a controversial South Maui project is asking the Maui Planning Commission to reject the proposal, saying the master plan of more than 1,000 housing units and mixed-use development does not comply with many laws.

“We believe the application was incomplete when filed, incomplete at the time of public hearing and is still incomplete today,” Ryan Hurley said Tuesday. “We think it’s absolutely clear that the application needs to be rejected.”

But an attorney for the project developers, Honua’ula Partners, said the applicant has spent years doing studies and working to meet requirements, and that the project has ultimately “evolved in favor of preservation.”

After months of deliberations, attorneys for both the project and concerned community groups presented their closing arguments during a contested case hearing on Tuesday.

The Honua’ula project, located south of Maui Meadows and mauka of Wailea Resort, calls for about 1,150 new housing units, including 288 workforce housing units, 515 single-family residential units and 346 multifamily residential units; 24 acres of village mixed use; 103 acres of recreation and open space; and 170 acres to be placed in conservation easement with the Hawaiian Islands Land Trust. All will be on-site.

The project’s first approval dates back to 1994, but as the years went on, opposition and concern grew, including from Maui Tomorrow, an environmental advocacy organization, and Ho’oponopono O Makena, which wants to preserve and protect cultural and historical sites and wildlife in Makena and surrounding areas.

The two groups are intervening on the project. Some of the intervenors are Native Hawaiians and descendants of the area who have traditional and customary rights, as well as neighbors of the project.

A contested case hearing began on March 22 after a mediation ordered by the Maui Planning Commission in February between Honua’ula representatives and the intervenors failed.

Now that Honua’ula, formerly known as Wailea 670, is seeking a Project District Phase II Development approval, intervenors have “grave concerns,” said Hurley.

The groups claim that cultural sites are “at risk” because they weren’t documented on the project site; that there has been a lack of transparency by the applicant; that there have not been enough opportunities for public comment on issues, such as roadways and water; and that the applicant failed to update the drainage master plan, for example, to comply with zoning codes, Hurley said.

They also claim that the site plan fails to comply with affording housing ordinances 3553 and 3554, which had required the project to include at least 450 affordable housing units on-site set forth and approved by the County Council in 2008 during District Phase I Developmental Approval.

The number of units has since dropped to 288.

Despite the challenges in this proceeding, they “hope that this could be a turning point and that the commission and even the applicant can work more thoroughly with the community as we go forward,” Hurley said.

Honua’ula Partners attorney, Cal Chipchase, said Tuesday that the proposed project has “more than satisfied” what has been asked of the applicant, Honua’ula Partners.

He said that project plans have adapted over the three decades; undergone more than 15 studies, impact analysis and surveys; heard nearly 30 hours of testimony; and received the necessary approvals from state and county departments thus far.

Hoping to keep the project moving forward, Chipchase said that the contents of the preliminary site plan are in compliance and “overwhelmingly” meet the required codes and zoning standards.

“Even after all of that, we’re still years away from the final project that breaks ground,” he said. “As this project has moved forward after all those years, all those studies, all those approvals, one feature to me stands out, that the project has evolved in favor of preservation. It is less impactful. It preserves more and in preserving more, it does more as part of those conservation and preservation efforts.”

If Project District Phase II Development is approved as requested, Chipchase said it will be a “massive community benefit” in the long run by expanding the highway from two to four lanes, addressing stormwater runoff, keeping 40 percent of the land for preservation or offering a minimum of 288 workforce housing units in Wailea, for example.

“This preliminary site plan isn’t the end of a journey as I mentioned, it’s one more step in it,” he said. “From here, we’ll go to Phase III and all the other things we need to do.”

After over five hours of the hearing, the commission still expressed the need for further clarification from both parties on how the project complies, or does not comply, with the laws relating to affordable housing.

“I don’t think we have clearly heard, without a doubt, that this project as proposed to us now does that,” said commissioner Kimberly Thayer. “We need to honor the original intent of the Phase I approval.”

The commission will receive the findings of fact and conclusions of law as well as a separate memorandum from both parties addressing the issue on Sept. 27. From there, the commission may make a final decision.

Chairperson Denise La Costa, Vice Chairperson Kellie Pali, and Commissioners Kawika Freitas, Mel Hipolito and Dale Thompson unanimously voted to take up the matter next month. Ashley Lindsey and Mark Deakos were excused.

* Dakota Grossman can be reached at dgrossman@mauinews.com.