The Lahaina Town Commercial Area Open House took place Tuesday at the Lahaina Cannery Mall with a steady flow of more than 100 people viewing potential designs presented by consultants. The Maui News/Gary Kubota

A Maui County government consulting firm looking at ways to rebuild Lahaina after the 2023 wildfire has narrowed the field of discussion about redesigning Lahaina’s commercial district and eliminated turning Front Street into a mall or into a one-way thoroughfare.

“We heard loud and clear that it’s very important to keep cars on Front Street,” said Ben Parker, a senior associate with design consultant Speck Dempsey.

“So the current guideline for our design is to have a Front Street that is flexible, that works with two-way traffic.”

A steady flow of more than 100 people reviewed various plans Tuesday at the Lahaina Cannery Mall during the Lahaina Town Commercial Area Open House.

Ben Parker, a senior associate with the design consultant Speck Dempsey, said future talks about rebuilding Lahaina’s commercial core will focus on keeping cars on Front Street. The Maui News photo/Gary Kubota

Parker said the new design would be flexible enough to allow for closing the street for special occasions such as Halloween, a parade or festival, but Front Street won’t become a mall or one-lane thoroughfare.

He said Front Street has been recognized as the American Planning Association’s great Streets of America and it’s important to maintain the character of the area.

“We’re very sensitive to bringing that back, improving where we can improve, but not messing up,” he said.

Theo Morrison, executive director of the Lahaina Restoration Foundation, said she was opposed to closing Front Street.

Morrison said when she worked as executive director for the Lahaina Town Action Committee, she found that closing the streets helped the restaurants but hurt other retail businesses.

One of the focuses of the discussion Tuesday involved the widening of sidewalks in some places on Front Street.

Speck Dempsey co-founder Chris Dempsey said according to the Americans with Disabilities Act, a sidewalk should be at least three feet wide.

“We want to build six-foot sidewalks or even eight-foot sidewalks wherever we can,” he said. “We also want to look at things like bicycle parking, bicycle infrastructure, transit infrastructure, so that we’re providing as many safe ways for people to get to and around Lahaina.”

There was no shortage of suggestions about what could help keep Front Street authentic during an open house on Tuesday focusing on efforts to rebuild Lahaina’s commercial area. The Maui News photo/Gary Kubota

One of the major obstacles on the sidewalks has been utility poles, which can not only impede pedestrian traffic but also blocked traffic exits out of Lahaina when the poles fell during the 2023 wildfire.

Kathleen Chu, vice president for Bowers + Kubota, is working as a consultant for the county. Chu said efforts are being made by Hawaiian Electric and the county to replace the utility poles with underground lines where possible.

Chu added that the rebuilding efforts have to be done in ways that are culturally sensitive because digging can uncover Native Hawaiian burials.

Once the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom in the early 1800s, Lahaina has featured streets and sidewalks that are narrow in places, reflecting a design that occurred before automobiles.