A developer’s plan to construct up to 975 mostly luxury homes for part-time residents in South Maui is raising concerns among advocates for affordable housing, water, cultural preservation, wildfire evacuation routes and traffic reduction, among other issues.

The proposal comes at a time when Maui is struggling to house hundreds of fire survivors on an island that had a severe housing crisis before the Aug. 8 inferno.

Ledcor Maui, the developer, put a 2,113-page draft environmental impact statement out for public review with comments due Thursday. The study describes a $1.39 billion project spanning eight parcels, seven in the Wailea Resort community and one just north of Kilohana Drive and the Wailea Fire Station in Kihei.

The single- and multi-family homes would be built over 15 to 20 years. Most would be market-priced and intended for seasonal residents, with a portion set aside as workforce housing. The average home price on Maui hovers between $1.4 million and $1.5 million, according to real estate companies that track the housing market.

Under county law, one workforce housing unit must be built for every four market-rate units, although developers can bypass constructing them by purchasing offsite affordable housing credits or paying fees to Maui County’s Affordable Housing Fund.

During a May 14 Maui Planning Commission meeting, Ledcor Maui’s David Goode said the company expects to create 225 workforce housing units, with at least 75 of those units built on-site. Another 75 would be built off-site and Ledcor would pay the county an in-lieu fee for the remaining 75.

Each workforce unit is expected to cost roughly $240,000 to build so Ledcor would expect to pay the county between $17 million and $18 million.

“It’s a lot of money,” said Goode, former director of the Maui Department of Public Works.

Homes for Part-Timers

No one from Ledcor Maui made themselves available for an interview. Charlene Kauhane, who handles public relations for the firm, referred to the draft environmental impact statement in response to questions.

Ledcor anticipates that about 90% of its market-rate units would be used by people who live part-time on Maui and 10% would serve full-time residents.

That ratio didn’t sit well with people like South Maui resident and military veteran Rick Chapura, who testified during the May 14 meeting.

“How do they suggest in any way, shape or form that they are alleviating pent-up housing demand” as the DEIS states, Chapura said.

The project is “just adding more high-priced housing that is not for the people on Maui. It’s for other people,” he said.

Albert Perez, executive director of Maui Tomorrow, said the DEIS contradicts itself by saying it’s going to help relieve housing pressures on Maui by building homes for people who primarily live off-island.

“We have a surplus of luxury housing on Maui,” Perez said in an interview. “They’re going to be taking up infrastructure that we should be prioritizing for truly affordable housing.”

Local people are getting priced out of Maui, he said. “It’s essentially gentrification.”

Taxes, Jobs and Water

The project could spawn economic benefits at a time when Maui is struggling with a drop-off in tourism post-fire and contending with numerous lawsuits connected to the tragedy that claimed 101 lives, developers say.

It would generate a substantial boost in property taxes collected by the county and result in new resident spending, according to the DEIS. The massive construction project would also create jobs.

Shane Awai, who represents District Council 50 of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, supports the Ledcor project.  

“I have seen people move away because they don’t have jobs in our trades,” Awai said during public testimony. “This is an opportunity to have jobs and to keep our people here.”

There’s no way to stay on Maui without good-paying jobs, he said, adding that he moved from Molokai to Maui three decades ago for work and has put three children through college on his union painter salary.

Jobs aside, one of the main concerns some people have expressed about the project is how the addition of nearly 1,000 households could affect Maui’s limited water supply.

Water for the Ledcor homes would come from the Central Maui system, operated by the county Department of Water Supply and sourced from the Iao and Waihee aquifers located under the West Maui mountains.

“No significant negative impacts to groundwater resources are expected” from the development, the DEIS said.

Members of the public who have testified orally or in writing have questioned that conclusion.

‘Show Me the Water’

The draft study notes that of all the aquifers on the island, Haiku’s has the greatest unused amount of water that could support demand on the Central Maui system and could relieve some of the reliance on the Iao and Waihee aquifers if need be.

The prospect of Haiku having to supply underground water to owners of expensive homes in Wailea did not go over well with some residents who live there.

Testifying at a scoping meeting on Feb. 23, North Shore resident Lafayette Young said rainfall has dropped substantially, from 80 inches a year to 60 inches, during the many years he’s lived in the area. With climate change, rising temperatures and drought, the aquifer’s ability to recharge will likely lessen, Young said.

“Show me the water. Where’s the water going to come from for this project? That would be our primary concern,” Young, a director with the Haiku Community Association, said during the meeting.

Phil Lowenthal, vice president of the association, said people frequently say that Haiku has plenty of water because it’s often rainy or cloud-covered. But that’s mistaken, in his view.

“They gave up on having a water meter list. You can’t even get on the list anymore for water in Haiku,” Lowenthal said. “It’s a real issue.”

‘What World Are We Living In?’

Daniel Kanahele is concerned about how the development could impact cultural resources in the area and said more archeological review is needed. During the May 14 hearing before the Planning Commission, he suggested the developer create a robust archeological inventory to reduce the chance of the project being challenged in court, “which has happened over and over and over again.”

“You waste a lot of money in legal fees,” Kanahele said.

He also suggested that Ledcor create a preservation area to connect culturally significant areas to one another if the land gets developed.

Charlene Schulenberg, president of the Kihei Community Association, said at the commission meeting that South Maui lacks adequate infrastructure to handle the influx of nearly 1,000 homes, not to mention other nearby housing developments that are in the pipeline.

“It’s barely adequate right now. We don’t have a way to evacuate. It’s like, what world are we living in? We’re living in post-fires,” Schulenberg said.

She was referring to Piilani Highway and South Kihei Road, the two main arteries in and out of South Maui. Piilani Highway is often traffic-congested. And flood-prone, two-lane South Kihei Road can be impassable during rainstorms or bogged down by traffic.

Mike Moran of Kihei noted that South Kihei Road will be underwater later this century, according to sea-level rise projections.

“Let’s not have one more situation like we had the tragedy in Lahaina. We saw what happened there. No way out. That’s what will happen here,” Moran said.

After the first 350 homes are built, the draft study says Ledcor will contribute to highway improvements as agreed to with the state Department of Transportation, including widening Piilani Highway to provide another northbound lane for about 1,650 feet and widening the Mapu Place approach to create more lanes.

The project area is mostly covered by non-native grasses, shrubland and kiawe trees.

The endangered Hawaiian hoary bat frequents the area and was found on two parcels. To avoid disturbing its habitat, woody plants greater than 15 feet tall will not be disturbed, trimmed or removed during the bat birthing and pup-rearing season, according to the DEIS.

Endangered seabirds are also thought to fly over the project site. To minimize impacts on them, the developer plans to shield and face all outdoor lighting downward in compliance with Maui County’s outdoor lighting law.

After the public comment period closes Thursday, Ledcor’s consultants will incorporate the feedback, and then update and finalize the document. The final environmental impact statement will go to the Planning Commission for a vote.

Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by a grant from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.

Civil Beat’s coverage of environmental issues on Maui is supported by grants from the Center for Disaster Philanthropy and the Hawaii Wildfires Recovery Fund, the Knight Foundation and the Doris Duke Foundation.