Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
The Housing and Land Use Committee of the Maui County Council met on October 21, 2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:44 a.m. to consider two zoning-related bills: Bill 141 (2026) for the Maui Research & Technology Park and Bills 24 (2024) and 25 (2024) for the Lanai Project District 2 (Kōʻele). Both bills were recommended for passage on first reading with amendments. Key outcomes included votes, amendments to conditions, and extensive discussion on density reductions, infrastructure, and community concerns.
Activity in the future. Next, please. Acreage adjustments are also being made to increase residential area and reduce commercial area to match the map change as these go hand in hand. The adjustments also avoid minor minor decimal differences created by defining numbers to the thousandth decimal point. Instead, up to an at least language would be used. The overall boundary of the Maori Research and Technology Park District remains the same at about 390 acres. Next, please. The amendments also include allowing minor medical centers as a permitted use in the civic district, shown in blue on this map. Currently, larger overnight facilities are major medical centers are permitted in the civic district. The amendment would allow smaller medical facilities without overnight care, like doctor's offices and urgent care facilities. Next development standards regulate how lots and buildings are built, like lot sizes, building heights, building sizes, and setbacks. The proposed amendments incorporate more practical development standards to accommodate real-world site conditions. The amendments would remove the parking access and primary frontage requirements, adjust density and floor area ratio requirements, adjust front setback requirements, and increase maximum lot and unit sizes allowed for residential lots. As mentioned previously, a variance was secured from the board of variances and appeals, which allows most of those standards already. The code amendment codifies the variants approved. Next, please. No new zoning districts are being added, and no new permitted use categories are created. Next today, we are kindly asking the committee for its support of bill number 141. The amendments support housing needs and give flexibility in how that housing is provided. The amendments also codify the approved variants and address issues experienced with implementing the code since it was adopted. We appreciate the Maui Planning Commission's recommendation for approval and the incorporated caps to single family large lots. Thank you for your time this morning. Thank you very much for that presentation. Planning, do you folks have anything you would like to add? Good morning, Chair Ooh Hodgins and members of the committee. Um we don't have much to add. That was a very thorough presentation by Miss Mukai. Um I might be repetitive here, but just a few key points. Um, like was stated in the presentation. Some of these development standards uh were already approved via variants, and so this is just codifying some of them, which we appreciate because the department would rather see these standards be in our county code versus via variants. Um, this did go to the Maui Planning Commission. Um, there was four uh pieces of testimony that were all in support of this project. Um, and the commission was very supportive of this, and so therefore we we are also supportive of this. Thank you, Chair. Thank you very much. Um, before we go on to our discussion, do we have any other people signed up to testify on this item? Chair, there's currently no one signed up to testify. Great members saying there are no individuals wishing to testify without objection. I would now close oral testimony for this item. Thank you very much. We're gonna be implementing a three-minute question discussion. Um, so we're gonna begin with Vice Chair Batangan if you have any questions and then I'll I'll go down the line. Thank you. Thank you, Chair. Not too many questions. Uh I