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How can Maui County Council just stand by as the planning department allows Greg Brown to continue construction on his monster hotel in Napili, knowing full well that the community's rights under the Coastal Zone Management Act were violated in the same manner as the Hawaii Supreme Court just ruled happened at Kahoma Village?
To get an exemption from SMA permits and avoid community review, Brown's project was originally submitted as a single-family home. By ordinance, single-family homes on Maui can be no taller than 30 feet.
A letter planning director McLean sent Greg Brown March 12 warns: "If the structure is used for any purpose other than a single-family home, the basis for the Department's SMA exemption would be invalidated and, therefore, the SMA exemption would be rescinded."
Brown's structure has two separate wings, each with four bedrooms, full baths, and walk-in closets and two of everything; two full kitchens, two pools, two hot tubs, two "media rooms" with full baths and walk-in closets, two "dens" with full master baths and walk-in closets, two living rooms, two dining rooms, two staircases, with a central lobby and elevator for ADA compliance, and it towers almost 50 feet above original grade.
The plans show just under 7,500 square feet of living space which is just under the limit for allowed SMA exemptions, but there's an additional 2,000 square feet that are unlabeled on the plans. No professional I have shown the plans to consider this a single-family home.
If the project continues, citizens will sue and win.
Sam Small
Makawao