With a new majority on the Maui County Council, members failed to override two vetoes by former Mayor Michael Victorino, who prior to the end of his term opposed a bill relating to deed restrictions and the resale of workforce housing and another measure to establish a cultural overlay map for the county.

On both bills, the vote to override the vetoes failed at the council’s meeting on Friday, with four in favor of the override and five against. Council Members Keani Rawlins-Fernandez, Tamara Paltin, Shane Sinenci and Gabe Johnson voted in the minority each time.

Voting in the majority were Council Members Tasha Kama, Alice Lee, Yuki Lei Sugimura and newly elected Council Members Tom Cook and Nohelani U’u-Hodgins.

The balance of power has changed on the council since the last term, when the council members described as “the progressives” held a majority of five with Rawlins-Fernandez, Paltin, Sinenci, Johnson and Kelly King, who left after the last term to unsuccessfully run for Maui County mayor. The five members had usually voted to override Victorino’s vetoes.

Proponents said one of the vetoed bills, Bill 103, would keep workforce housing owner-occupied in perpetuity. The bill would establish a 30-year period during which profits from the sale of the subsidized workforce units would be subject to the managed appreciation.

Supporters said the bill would limit the likelihood of workforce housing units becoming speculative investments, ensure residents are able to buy affordable homes and increase the affordable housing numbers.

But in his veto message on Dec. 30, Victorino said he opposed Bill 103 because with the requirement that the unit must be owner-occupied in perpetuity, he felt potential buyers “will likely have a difficult time financing the purchase” of the workforce housing unit, since the requirement still applies in situations of foreclosure.

He also had questions over enforcement and what fines or penalties would be imposed if there is a violation.

Victorino added that the bill “hampers our workforce from building wealth and optimizing the benefits of home ownership, without providing for a graduated increase in the resale price.”

Those who backed Victorino’s veto said the bill’s intent was good, but wanted more time to make changes and also have the new council members, Cook and U’u-Hodgins, also shape the bill.

U’u-Hodgins echoed Cook, saying she, too, would like a chance to “finesse” the bill.

She appreciated the intent of the measure, and agreed with a fellow council member who spoke about how many Maui County residents, are considered “ALICE,” or Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, referring to families who have jobs but don’t make enough to afford the cost of living.

“If we are hit by any sort of medical expense or need to re-roof our house or send our kids to college, we wouldn’t be able to use our home equity as much as we would like to in order to afford that expense,” she said. “I totally agree with the intent of the bill ensuring that affordable stays affordable longer. What makes us concerned though for most of our residents our entire life savings is in our homes and in our properties.”

“So for us to restrict them to use that, in case something happens, does make me concerned,” she said.

Paltin, the bill’s author said the council could pass the bill Friday and also go back and make changes that members may see fit.

“We can do both,” she said.

In a news release prior to the meeting, Paltin also addressed issues over residents building equity, saying that “with the proposed amendments, owners of workforce housing units would still be able to grow equity in their homes while ‘paying it forward’ should they choose to sell before the end of thirty years.”

During the council vote, Paltin said the veto was “not based on legalities,” pointing out that corporation counsel signed off on the bill, but the opposition “is based on opinion.”

She also pointed out that the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and Na Hale O Maui, a community land trust providing affordable homes in perpetuity to low-and moderate-income households — all have various restrictions but there is financing for those homes and people eager to buy them.

And unlike Na Hale O Maui, after 30 years, “it opens up and anybody can buy it that plans to live and work here.”

Around 22 people testified on the veto, with an overwhelming majority asking the council to override Victorino’s veto.

In Victorino’s second veto, he opposed Bill 154 to establish a cultural overlay map and cultural sensitivity designations, which proponents say would signal to developers and builders where issues may arise and catch problems early on in development rather than later, which leads to many legal challenges. Testifiers and council members supporting the bill said iwi kupuna would be much more protected with the bill.

Sinenci, who proposed the measure, said in a news release prior to the meeting that “the current system does not serve anyone, and burials are regularly disturbed, even after undergoing a lengthy state review process.”

Victorino said in his veto message that he applauds the intent of the bill but is worried about unintended consequences. The issues Victorino raised included giving too much discretion and authority to the principal archaeologist regarding the map along with concerns over “the impacts of the mapping.”

There were around 30 people who testified on the cultural overlay veto with an overwhelming majority asking the council to block the veto.

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