Maui's Countywide Policy Plan "includes a diversified economy, sustainable environmental practices and recognition that the Hawaiian culture is 'a vital force in the lives of residents,' " according to a news release by the Maui Planning Committee.
By CHRIS HAMILTON, Staff Writer
reprinted courtesy Maui News 12/6/09
Olowalu General Store
cashier and hot dog maker Ulysses Pacil arranges snacks on the store’s
countertop Wednesday afternoon. Whether to include a major development proposed
for Olowalu in urban growth boundaries is expected to be among the bigger
debates facing the Maui County Council as it launches its review of the Maui
Island Plan this month.
WAILUKU. Now, finally, the Maui County Council will get into the nitty-gritty part of Maui's long-awaited master planning process.
After the council's Planning Committee spent three months reviewing the Countywide Policy Plan, which outlines the concepts and ideals meant to shape future growth, the 550-page Maui Island Plan, which sets physical boundaries for development, is expected to go before the council's Planning Committee for the first time Dec. 14, according to Planning Director Jeff Hunt.
The council's review of the island's master plan for growth comes after the General Plan Advisory Committee and the Maui Planning Commission spent almost four years combined discussing and forming their recommendations on both the policy and island plans.
By ordinance, the County Council will now have until Oct. 16, 2010, to adopt the Maui Island Plan, which council members received from the Maui Planning Commission in mid-October, Hunt said.
"But I don't think they will be able to pick it up in earnest until after the budget process (in April and March), when I believe the Planning Committee is going to set up some extra meetings to deal with all the issues," Hunt said. "We're moving things along. It's pretty exciting."
In November, the Maui County Council's Planning Committee, after months of deliberations heavy on PowerPoint presentations, passed along the Countywide Policy Plan to the entire council for a vote. The policy ordinance's first reading is expected to take place next month, with a final vote in February.
The Countywide Policy Plan is considered the initial phase of Maui's effort to create a "vision" for the next 20 years that "includes a diversified economy, sustainable environmental practices and recognition that the Hawaiian culture is 'a vital force in the lives of residents,' " according to a news release by the Planning Committee.
The county's general plan has not been updated since 1991. And the population is expected to expand by more than 30 percent in the next two decades. The Maui Island Plan sets aside more than 3,000 acres for new development and tens of thousands of acres for natural conservation, Maui's hard-luck agricultural industry and burgeoning renewable energy projects, such as wind farms and ocean-wave generators.
The content of the plans in their current drafts is not without its critics, which county officials said should not be surprising since the Countywide Policy Plan and Maui Island Plan contain about 600 and 900 policies, respectively.
The Planning Committee, in a news release, highlighted key goals it included in the policy plan, including: streamlining urban in-fill projects; facilitating living-wage job creation; and encouraging and promoting renewable energy, bike and walking paths and affordable homes. There is also an emphasis on protecting agricultural lands and open space.
Many Maui tourism industry officials cringed and expressed outrage at some of the Planning Department's recommendations to "cap" and "limit" the number of accommodations and visitors. Hunt and his team suggested restricting new hotel and resort development to the areas where it already exists, such as Kapalua and Wailea.
The political debate over the plans appears to mirror the ones that exist at kitchen tables and barstools across the Valley Isle: Should tourists or should kamaaina take precedence?
Business leaders have said they are looking forward to the upcoming hearings, where they expect plenty of opportunities to provide input on the plans' goals.
As for Hunt, he said recently that his department is going to add a few policies to its proposal for the Countywide Policy Plan before it goes to the full council for a vote.
Hunt said the additions will include more recognition of the visitor industry and its economic benefits. He said his Long-Range Planning Division team also wants to add a section to the plan stressing the importance of trying to foster green building industries.
While the Countywide Policy Plan is a conceptual outline of goals and values for development, the Maui Island Plan is more about the bricks and mortar.
It would set aside space for around 11,500 homes that would be in addition to developments that have already received approval but are not yet built.
It will also set urban growth boundaries that will set geographical limits on sprawl and dense, urban-style development.
Decision-making over where those growth areas will be placed has left some developers who didn't make the cut in the draft plan now being presented to the council decrying the process as unfair.
In one of the plan's biggest controversies, developer Olowalu Town has proposed to build 1,500 housing units, along with parks, schools and public safety facilities makai and mauka of the existing tiny bedroom community.
Opponents of the project have said Olowalu Town would endanger nearby reefs with construction runoff and would worsen already bad traffic in the area by placing a new urban center along Honoapiilani Highway, rather than adding homes to existing towns, such as Lahaina.
However, Olowalu Town organizers have spent a great deal of time and money over the past five years meeting with more than 1,000 residents individually to make their case that Maui needs a new "traditional" community town with a mix of high-end and affordable homes as well as commercial space, including an updated version of the landmark Olowalu General Store.
Despite the ongoing controversies and all the attention on the various issues brought up by the plan, Planning Committee Chairman Sol Kaho'ohalahala doesn't seem fazed. He said in a statement that now that they've tackled the Countywide Policy Plan, he and his committee are looking forward to the Maui Island Plan.
The council's Planning Committee may well need the extra meeting dates. In addition to hearing input from developers, community activists and the public, the members will have to sift through four separate drafts of the plan, including recommendations from the General Plan Advisory Committee and the Maui Planning Commission, and an earlier and later draft proposed by Planning Department staff.
Drafts of both the Countywide Policy Plan and the Maui Island Plan can be found on the Planning Department's Long-Range Planning Division Web site at www co.maui.hi.us/index.aspx?nid=1122
* Chris Hamilton can be reached at chamilton@mauinews.com.
reprinted courtesy Maui News 12/6/09, original link http:// mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/526466.html?nav=10
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