A man sits next to an overturned shopping cart along Kaahumanu Avenue in Kahului in May. A pilot project that would allow homeless people to stay in their cars in county parking lots moved closer to reality after the Maui County Council unanimously passed the bill on first reading Friday. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

Maui County is one step closer to embarking on a pilot project that will establish a “safe zone” or “sleeping space for the houseless” in county parking lots for people who live in their vehicles.

On Friday, the Maui County Council voted unanimously on first reading to approve a bill that would create the pilot project. Currently state law prohibits using any vehicle for human habitation between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. while parked on any roadway, street, highway or other public property.

But state law has left it open to each of the counties to enact ordinances regulating the use of vehicles for human habitation, according to a committee report from the council’s Affordable Housing Committee, which had discussed the bill and recommended it for passage.

Many people, including those who are employed, have families on island and have children attending school, are forced to sleep in their cars due to a lack of affordable housing and low-entry shelter options, the report said.

They face many challenges including citations, fines and other enforcement actions; being victims of crime; and a lack of basic necessities, such as water and restrooms.

While the Affordable Housing Committee discussed various aspects of a pilot project, such as hours, prohibited activity and security measures, specific details would be discussed once the project is ready to be introduced, the committee report said.

The bill was amended by the committee to ensure that parking lots remain open to the general public during regularly scheduled hours; that at least one gate remains unlocked for emergency purposes and that the council reviews the pilot project within 12 months after the project commences.

The measure will now await second and final reading by the full council.

The pilot project has received an allocation of up to $200,000 in the county’s current fiscal year budget under the Department of Housing and Human Concerns, Homeless Programs.

In other matters, council members approved a resolution for the council’s Planning and Sustainable Land Use Committee to conduct a formal investigation into the county’s Planning and Public Works departments over the approvals for a large home in Napili, which has residents and community members upset over its size and its approval process.

The home owned by developer Greg Brown consists of eight bedrooms and two stories. The county issued stop-work orders over violations on the project last year but later lifted the orders. The Planning Department has said that the structure has since come under compliance with county law.

The council also passed two bills on second and final reading to help ease the burden of property taxes on residents and severely disabled veterans.

One bill would increase the homeowner exemption from $200,000 to $300,000, pointing out that escalating housing market inflation has substantially increased property value assessment, which has caused “undue burden for Maui County residents.”

The homeowner exemption is a tax relief program that currently reduces taxable assessed value by $200,000.

Council members also voted to approve an amended bill that would lessen property taxes for the homes of unmarried surviving partners of veterans who died while on duty as well as severely disabled veterans.

The bill would allow veterans with a 70 percent or higher disability rating by the U.S. Veterans Administration to qualify for an annual real property tax bill of $150.

Currently the standard to get a reduced bill requires 100 percent disability.

The measures are set to take effect Jan. 1.

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