Maui County Housing Committee Meeting on Bill 14 (Feb 11, 2026)
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Maui County Housing Committee Meeting
February 11, 2026
The Housing, Land Use, and (HLU) Committee of the Maui County Council met on February 11, 2026, at 9:03 AM to discuss and vote on Bill 14 (2026), which clarifies the priority order for the sale of residential workforce housing units. The bill reorders the sale priority to residents first, then the county, and then non-residents, and reinserts omitted documentation requirements. Director of Housing Remy Mitchell testified that the department supports the bill. The committee voted unanimously (6 ayes, 3 excused) to recommend passage on first reading.
Public Comments & Testimony
- One testifier, Luna Omolu No Helani, spoke in Hawaiian, thanking the Council Services office for improved agendas and referencing the residential workforce housing code. He reserved the remainder of his time for the Hawaiian people. No other oral testimony was offered; written testimony continued to be accepted.
Discussion Items
- Bill 14 (2026) – Residential Workforce Housing Priority Order
- Chair opened discussion; Director Mitchell confirmed the Department of Housing is fine with the bill language.
- Councilmember Cook asked how the county tracks the 90-day periods when units shift between AMI categories and the county’s purchase opportunity. Mitchell described ongoing communication between the department and developers.
- Councilmember Rollins Fernandez questioned whether the department should be required to submit a final report to the council on all workforce housing unit sales for public record and long-term tracking. She expressed concern about data accessibility and deed restriction expirations. Mitchell stated he would not oppose more disclosure but noted the burden of existing reporting requirements. He mentioned the department’s efforts to build a housing tracking website and database, but acknowledged it is currently discretionary. Mitchell agreed to work with Rollins Fernandez on a future bill requiring such tracking.
- No further questions were raised.
Key Outcomes
- Motion and Vote: Councilmember Cook moved to recommend passage on first reading of Bill 14 (2026), incorporating any non-substantive revisions. Councilmember Paulton seconded. The motion passed with 6 ayes (Councilmembers present) and 3 excused (Councilmembers Patangan, Johnson, and Sugi Mura – note: the transcript listed Bakangan and Johnson, but was corrected; exact excused members were not fully repeated). The meeting adjourned at 9:25 AM.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning, everyone. Well, the land use housing land use uh committee meeting of January fifth, twenty twenty-six. Please come to order. It is nine oh three AM. Members in accordance with the Sunshine Law, please identify by name who, if anyone is in the room vehicle, workspace with you today. Committee Vice Chair Carl Noi Batanga is excused. So we'll say good morning to Councilmember Tom Cook. There's nobody in the key office currently for testimony, but we have staff there, and uh look forward to the meeting. Um, Member Gabe Johnson is excused as well, so we'll say good morning uh to Council Chair Alice Lee. Uh workspace alone, looking forward to your meeting. Thank you. I'll get my video on in just a second. Perfect. I'm at my private residence alone here. There are currently no testifiers at the Molokai District Office. Mahala chair. Thank you. OCO to Member Senensi. Here at my home office. I'm here by myself, and there are no testifiers in Ana Chair. Thank you very much. And Councilmember Sugi Mura is excused. From administration today, we have Director of Housing, Remy Mitchell. We have Deputy Corporation Councils, Mimi De Jarden and U Ilani Goods. We also have with us our HOU committee staff. And good morning, everyone. We have before us today just one item on our agenda, Bill 14, 2026. Last year, the council passed Bill 40 CD1 2025, which is now designated as ordinance 5875 to make various changes to the county's residential workforce housing policy. One change gave the county the second priority to purchase units after the wait list has been exhausted for all residents. Before the bill passed first reading, Councilmember Kama introduced these amendments to further clarify the order of the priorities. Residents first and the county then non-residents. The council did not approve those amendments. We've introduced Bill 14 and scheduled it today so we can further discuss and consider clarifying the priority order. Bill 14 also reinsert requirements for documents verifying the sale of workforce housing units, which were inadvertently omitted from ordinance 5875 and to accept uh the county from the requirements. Again, we have with us um director of housing who said he has no opening comments unless you've changed your mind. No minds have been changed. Do we have any testifiers? Chair, there's currently no one. Okay, as he's walking down, I'll read what I need to say. Testifiers wanting to provide testimony, should sign up in the lobby. Join in the uh meeting online meeting via Teams link or call into the phone number noted on today's agenda. Written testimony is encouraged and can be submitted via the e-comment link at Maui County.us Black Slack Sedangas as well. For individuals wishing to testify via Teams, please raise your hand by raising by clicking on the raise your hand button. If calling in, please follow the prompts via phone. Start five to raise and lawyer your hand, start six to mute and unmute staff will add names to the testifier list in the order to testify sign up or raise their hands. For those on team, staff will lawyer your hand once your name is added. The staff will then call your name, you're logged in under or the last four digits of your phone number when it is your turn to testify. At that time, staff will also enable your microphone and video. Please ensure your name appears in Microsoft Teams as a name you prefer to be referred as or as anonymous if you wish to testify anonymously. If you are in person, please notify staff that you would like to testify anonymously.
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