A proposal to change the urban growth boundary and community plans to develop 1,609 affordable rental units along with other mixed uses in Central Maui passed on first reading by the Maui County Council.

But a County Council committee held back a bill that would change the zoning for the proposed 163-acre Ho’onani Village Mixed Use Development, pending a review by the state Land Use Commission, including an environmental impact statement.

While worries arose about the source of water for the project and its location along flight paths at the Kahului Airport, some County Council members said their overriding concern was providing affordable housing before voting 6-1 on Friday in favor of the measures.

“Housing is needed more now than ever,” said Council member Tamara Paltin, chair of the Disaster Recovery, International Affairs and Planning Committee. “There’s families living at the beach, and it’s not ideal to have them live under an airport flight pattern, but I think it’s more humane that they live indoors in a building.”

The committee supported the proposed project but held back another zoning bill. Paltin said she may vote against the zoning in the future depending on what emerges from the environmental review, but she wanted to give the developer a chance to move forward with Ho’onani Village in light of the desperate need for housing.

The County Council passed on first reading Bill 163, proposing to amend the Maui Island Plan’s Directed Growth Map, and Bill 164 amending the Wailuku-Kahului Community Plan.

Paltin said approving the measures before the County Council on Friday doesn’t guarantee any housing will be built, but if the developer can satisfy water, noise, and other issues, the project will be in a position to move faster.

The County Council plans to hold a public hearing on Bill 164 before second and final reading.

The committee held back Bill 165 proposing a change in zoning, pending a review by the state Land Use Commission.

The proposed site near the sugar mill in Puunene was once used for cultivating sugarcane. Under the Ho’onani Village proposal, the site would be changed from agriculture to business/multifamily.

The draft environmental impact statement was published under the state’s Environmental Review Program’s The Environmental Notice on March 23.

During Friday’s meeting, Maui Tomorrow Executive Director Albert Perez asked the County Council members to reject the project as presented.

“Housing is not going to be affordable if it’s not safe and if it’s not healthy,” Perez said.

“Future residents would face chronic aircraft noise day and night, industrial impacts, traffic hazards.”

He said residents would also face a water supply drawn from an old agricultural well that has questionable quantity and quality.

“This is not just an affordable housing project. It’s a major new urban development in an airport and industrial corridor, and the Council should look at it this way,” Perez said.

Council member Tom Cook said that as a builder, he’s seen improvements in thermal acoustic construction and is confident there are going to be other options to lessen worries.

Cook said passage of the bills creates the impression that there’s more supply of housing potentially available, helping to mitigate housing prices.

“Just the perception of availability can impact price,” he said.

Representing Ho’onani Village, Attorney Jeffrey Ueoka explained that the passage of Bills 163 and 164 would include the proposed project in the urban growth boundary and community plan.

“Nothing gets built at this point,” he said. “This is just so things are moving forward, that what we can get done now, we get done now, so it’s not all piled up.”

The draft environmental impact statement for Ho’onani Village Mixed-Use Development is available at files.hawaii.gov/dbedt/erp/The_Environmental_Notice/2026-03-23-TEN.pdf