Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
On October 2, 2026, the Disaster Recovery, International Affairs, and Planning Committee (DRIP) of the Maui County Council reconvened from its September 30 meeting to continue deliberations on Bill 108 (2026), the South Maui Community Plan update. The meeting focused on Section 3 – Growth Framework and specific "areas of change," including Maʻalaea, Central Maui Base Yard, and North Kihei-Māʻalaea. No legislative action was taken on Section 3, but the committee discussed potential amendments to other sections. Written testimony remains open; oral testimony was closed on September 30.
Aloha ween alla. The time is now one thirty-two, and we'll the recessed meeting of September 30, 2026 reconvene. It's now October 2nd. If everyone can please silence their cell phones or other noise-making devices that will help our cause. In accordance with the Sunshine Law members, if you are not in the council chambers, please identify by name who, if anyone is in the room, vehicle or workspace with you today. With us also, we have council member Kawanoe Batangan, Aloha Wina Law, half a day. I'm alone in a private workspace. Good to see my chickadees home safe and sound. But we did get to a glance of Kaleygrass and uh all Keo Kyo uh at Cahola. Uh I'm here at my private residence up here by myself. Thank you, Chair. Thank you. And also last but not least, or not last, because um, we also have our vice chair on, but um Yukile Sugi Mura, Aloha Winala and half a day. Aloha ween a law, half a day, and uh looking forward to uh productive meeting. Thank you. Thank you, and we also have committee vice chair at this time. Aloha chair, half a day, everyone. I'm in my car for right now on my way to pick up my son. Um, so if you don't mind, I'm gonna turn off my camera, but listen a lot. Thank you. Thank you. Um, member Sugi Mura, are you alone in your workspace? Yes. Okay, thank you. This meeting of the Disaster Recovery International Affairs and Planning Committee of the Maui County Council is located on the traditional Aina of the Kanaka Who never ceded their sovereignty to the United States. We recognize that her Majesty Queen Lili Okolani yielded the Hawaiian kingdom to the U.S. in the rest under threat of violence to avoid the bloodshed of her people. We further recognize that Hawaii remains an illegally occupied nation state by the U.S. as documented in a 2021 scholarly article for the National Lawyers Guild Review by Andrew Reed, a junk professor of law at the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law generations of Kanakamauli and their knowledge systems have sustainably cared for Hawaii and continue to do so. We're grateful to occupy this space and learn the ways in which we can contribute as a committee. We seek to support the varied strategies that the indigenous people of Hawaii are using to protect their land and their communities and commit to dedicating time and resources to working in solidarity. From the Department of Planning, we have with us today senior planner Karen Komkowitz from uh Department of Environmental Management, Shane Agawa, director from Department of OEB Resources, Deputy Director Kyle Robinson from Department of Water Supply, Director John Stuffelbean from Corporation Council in the chamber. We have Deputy Corp Council Michael Hopper with us today. And we have the same CPAC um resources as listed the other day, two of which who will be here at any given time. Rob Weltman, South Maui CPAC chair, Daniel Canahale, South Maui CPAC chair, vice chair, and Vernon Kalanikao, South Maui CPAC member. These individuals were designated as resource persons under Rule 18A of the rules of the council on September 30th, 2026. We also have Drip Committee staff with us this morning. Senior legislative analyst James Kruger, as well as legislative analyst Jared Pasqua and Ryan Ramirez, senior committee secretary Yvette Boutelier, legislative attorney Carla Nakata. We're on um DRIP 25 Bill 108, the only item on the agenda, South Maui Community Plan update. As a reminder, oral testimony on DRIP 25 was closed on September 30th, 2026, but written testimony will continue to be accepted. To get us in the mood for our deliberations on the South Maui Community Plan, I will read the draft South Maui vision statement. South Maui's beaches, coastal waters, and wetlands are restored and thriving with affordable housing, close to good jobs, and a variety of transportation options, including safe walking and biking paths lined with trees. The region's businesses, parks, and neighborhoods are connected, maintaining the small town lifestyle. Cultural resources are protected and celebrated, enhancing South Maui's sense of place. Okay. And in going through the crosswalk of resources that are on section three, I did um we neglected to mention that as you folks remember, Planner Comkowitz uh went over the updated community plan designations, and that West Maui Community Plan was the first community plan area to utilize those designations. So the last item on your crosswalk, Granicus Attachment Number Three, Draft South Maui Community Plan Designations by spreadsheet is this big book that um that's why we told you which Granicus number it is in case you don't want to carry around the printout um that we all received. But uh the reason that I'm pointing that out is um we neglected to mention that uh because as we move on to each subsequent community plan, it's going from the old designations to the new updated designations. So the first revision but on each TMK parcel was done by the planning department, and they did it to every single parcel in the South Maui community plan area, unless it was like like for like which I think maybe industrial maybe was a community plan designation that didn't change, but then other ones they had to see which one it tried it um fit into the most and we heard a little bit like how um they designated the Ma'alaya triangle area transit oriented corridor, and then the South Maui CPAC um wanted it to be small town center, so in our matrix 3B, I wanted to just explain that um what is listed in here is not every single change because they made the change on every single parcel. It's just the change from the planning department to the CPAC or the CPAC to the planning commission changes.