Maui County’s obsolete zoning code is making life difficult for our community. Known also as Title 19, it was first enacted in 1960.

Maui Planning Department has adapted in response to setbacks in its Title 19 rewrite, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2023 wildfires, and understaffing issues. Instead of completely overhauling the code, the goal is to create a revised version of Title 19.

The crux of the rewrite project is to modernize the code and eliminate redundancies.

Simplifying Title 19 will expedite the building permit application process. Building an affordable housing project in Maui takes 10 years, on average. Most of this time isn’t spent constructing homes, however. Instead, developers are often caught in an onerous timeline of judicial processes and political pressure. While we need to eliminate the high barrier to entry required to participate in the affordable housing industry, the goal isn’t to give developers more power. The goal is to let local residents build homes for their neighbors.

Title 19 is a microcosm of the internal stasis facing Maui County. The main issue is a culture of ‘whataboutism.’ When someone brings a salient issue to light, it gets bombarded with trivial concerns and stagnates in the legislative pipeline.

Maui County Council needs to expedite the overhaul of Title 19 to increase the affordable housing supply. It’s not enough to incrementally enact minor changes to the zoning code.

Our actions in the coming years will be seminal in ensuring housing viability for future generations.

Let’s hold ourselves accountable. Let’s finish the work started in 2017.

Anna Nguyen

Lahaina