Jonathan Helton: Will Bissen deliver on Office of Recovery reforms in new term?
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Now that Mayor Richard Bissen has secured a new term after what was a tight race between him and County Council Vice Chair Yuki Lei Sugimura, an important question is whether his administration will finally follow through on recommendations to aid Lahaina's rebuilding made by the Maui Office of Recovery.
Rebuilding efforts have been a mixed bag in the more than three years since much of the historic town tragically burned to the ground. But at least the Office of Recovery, which was created to coordinate the county's efforts to see Lahaina rebuilt, has been proactive in using the mayor's emergency authority to waive land-use rules slowing down parts of the permitting process.
In December 2025, for example, the office waived parking requirements for construction in Lahaina's two county-designated historic zoning districts.
The directive authorizing the waiver stated that the county's existing parking rules "create(d) an impossible situation" in which property owners would have been forced to rebuild their businesses in smaller buildings to provide required parking in an area known for its small-town walkability.
Lifting those parking rules through emergency order was certainly a step in the right direction. But the directive recommended that the county Planning Department draft legislation officially repealing parking mandates in the county's historic districts, stating that the order would remain in effect until "permanent amendments to the Maui County Code have been adopted."
Almost a year later, the Planning Department has yet to send any draft legislation to the County Council or the three planning commissions for review.
A similar situation played out earlier this year, in June, when the Office of Recovery used the mayor's emergency authority to allow public facilities -- such as water and wastewater infrastructure -- in the county's agricultural zone.
This directive helped move along an application from the Maui Department of Water Supply to build a new booster pump station for transporting drinking water to the Ka Lai Ola temporary housing project. The county Planning Department initially blocked the permit from going forward because the proposed station would be built on agricultural land.
Under current code, public uses and utility facilities such as this are not allowed as of right in the agricultural zone. Instead, an applicant must obtain a special use permit, which the Office of Recovery pointed out can take "12 to 24 months or longer."
Again, the office recommended that the Planning Department draft legislation to codify the directive into law. And again, the department has yet to act.
Because the office's directives rest on emergency authority, all it takes is a stroke of the pen to revoke them and leave applicants in limbo once again. Thus, incorporating these directives into the county code is essential to provide current and future construction projects with much-needed certainty.
Even though about one-third of the roughly 1,900 homes that were damaged or destroyed in the blaze have been rebuilt, construction in Lahaina's town core continues to lag while many commercial and community buildings remain trapped in the permitting process.
Perhaps as an admission of its slow rebuilding progress, the county no longer lists commercial permit information on its recovery dashboard.
Codifying the Office of Recovery's two directives into law would not address all of the remaining barriers to Lahaina's recovery, but it would demonstrate the administration's commitment to making it easier for property owners to rebuild their homes and businesses.
Jonathan Helton is a senior policy analyst at the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii.