200 Maui Prince Hotel employees &workers at Maui County Council to support expansion of Makena Resort.
Council committee urged to put Makena Resort on a fast track
200 people attend hearing; panel to take up
expansion plans on Nov. 19
By CHRIS HAMILTON Staff Writer
reprinted courtesy Maui News 11/9/08
WAILUKU - About 200 people, predominantly Maui Prince Hotel employees and construction workers, swelled into the Maui County Council chambers Friday in a show of support for an unusual plan to fast-track the long-delayed expansion of the Makena Resort.
Chairman Riki Hokama tried, often in vain, to keep the debate away from the merits of the massive project. About two dozen people made nearly three hours of impassioned pleas to move the project out of committee or consideration by the full council.
The plan supported by Council Member Michael Victorino failed, sort of.
Council members voted unanimously to keep the proposed zoning changes in the Land Use Committee, which will hold a public hearing Nov. 19 that could result in committee action and that could move the measure to the full council for a final vote.
Council Member Michelle Anderson, who holds the South Maui residency seat, successfully halted what she saw as an end-around by developer Everett Dowling, a major partner in the investment group that has taken over the resort. She was joined in her dissent by Council Member Jo Anne Johnson.
Michael Victorino said he wants to provide jobs. Now.
He requested moving Makena Resort's proposed zoning changes out of the Land Use Committee and to the full council for action. Victorino tried to get the discussion into the council agenda for its second meeting in November.
"I want to bring it up to the public," Victorino said. "That is what it's all about. We're going to take this head on like we did in the past with Honua'ula (Wailea 670 development), and we're going to do it right."
Victorino withdrew his motion when Land Use Committee Chairman Michael Molina provided the public hearing compromise.
The Makena Resort - now comprising golf courses and the Maui Prince Hotel - has been mired in the Land Use Committee for nine years, testifiers said.
Opponents protest that the project would consume more than 600 acres of open land, eradicating cultural sites and endangering native plants and animals.
"This is about moving it forward, so we can really start the discussion in a meaningful manner and let the council decide yes or no," Victorino said.
Dowling, who lives on Maui and is the principal owner of the hotel and property, has been working to add a spa, restaurants, about 1,000 "green" or energy-efficient affordable and luxury homes and condominiums surrounded by oceanfront golf holes as well as a potential renovation of the Maui Prince.
In making his case to his colleagues, Victorino wrote a letter dated Oct. 31 saying the outlook for Maui's construction industry is bleak. He presented a report by the University of Hawaii stating that Maui construction unemployment rates went up by 12 percent in the last six months, and unemployment doubled to 20 percent in the past year for International Longshore and Warehouse Union employees.
Aside from Maui Land & Pineapple's condo project in Kapalua, Victorino said Makena is the only large-scale development on the island in the pipeline.
Angie Hoffman of the grassroots organization, Save Makena, said she learned Friday morning about the request to move the project to the full council. Dowling is seeking changes within his unilateral agreement with the county for the project, she said.
"This body needs to take time to hear all the issues," said Hoffman, who noted that Dowling gave money to several council members for their re-election campaigns. "I really don't see a need to push this through . . . We need to take time to make a very informed decision, otherwise, it gives the appearance that campaign contributors have the influence."
The vast majority of those who testified spoke in favor of the project and applauded Dowling for refusing to lay off employees in these difficult economic times while continuing to move forward with other expansion plans. Resort supporters also noted that the project is smaller than what was originally proposed.
Maui Prince Hotel employee Alan Johnson said with the visitor industry slumping, tips are down and bell persons, valets and wait staff have lost as much as 40 percent of their incomes.
"We are in a crisis right now," Johnson said. "There is no work, and we have a man who is willing to step up to the plate and give us work."
Makena landowner and regional director for Travelocity.com, Sam Garcia Jr., said that Hawaii bookings are down about 25 percent and will be for the near future.
Victorino said that the studies on Makena have already been done, Dowling is well respected and this is the time for swift economic stimulus from Maui County.
Project supporters brought signs that said, "Make homes not homelessness" and "I need my job."
Maui Prince Hotel ILWU representative Lehua Clubb said the workers are hurting, bills cannot be paid and mortgages payments cannot be made.
"Here we have a developer who owns our resort and cares about our company," Clubb said.
However, Anderson said she thinks that the request for zoning for the resort is something that deserves fuller discussion than what can be done at the council level.
Over four years, the Land Use Committee met dozens of times on Makena Resort and already wrote 42 conditions to get the zoning changes put in place, Anderson said. But if the zoning change is discharged from committee to the council, that gigantic committee report will disappear, she said.
"What is the big rush now," Anderson said. "Four years we've been waiting for a unilateral agreement (from the resort owner)."
Molina said his committee is already planning on an update on the project at the Nov. 19 meeting. It would be included in the record.
Anderson said Dowling wants new concessions from the county. She accused the developer of confusing people into thinking that if this highly unusual action isn't taken now, it can't move forward.
The central part of the island is already using 800,000 more gallons of water a day than the water sources can provide safely, she said. Anderson also said that Dowling is really asking for more county water.
The county's "show me the water" ordinance requires developers to prove that they have a sustainable water source before they can build.
"We all want jobs, but you can't wave a magic wand and make water," Anderson said.
Dowling said the developers have 12 existing wells and use only nine now, some of which are brackish. If they spend $23 million, they can build a desalination plant so they would not need county water, he said.
However, the development group would prefer to get the council entitlements and search for more fresh water or use some county water, he said.
"But we have the law on the books, and we will respect the law," Dowling said. "Without the entitlements, we can't get the money to move forward."
Chris Hamilton can be reached at chamilton@mauinews.com
reprinted courtesy Maui News 11/9/08
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