Short-term rental ban, Lahaina Aquatic center update given at weekly disaster recovery meeting
The Lahaina Disaster Recovery meeting took place Wednesday night at the Lahaina Civic Center, lasting nearly two hours with just over a hundred in attendance in person, with several hundred viewing at times on the County of Maui’s Facebook page.
Maui Mayor Richard Bissen started the meeting off by commenting on his recent proposed bill that was sent to the Maui Planning Commission, aiming to ban short-term rentals in the apartment districts of the island.
“I wanted to talk to you guys about something we announced recently regarding short-term rentals,” Bissen said after explaining that he was on the Westside of Maui to start the day in the pineapple fields of Hali’imaile. “This is a question of a lot of interest from a lot of people. I just wanted to explain some of the steps that we were looking at from the county administration. Because there is going to be two more groups that are going to evaluate this.”
The bill to ban short-term rentals in the “Apartment district” will go before the Maui Planning Commission for comment and recommendations before it goes to the County Council for further deliberation and a possible vote.
“They’re going to make decisions,” Bissen said, referring to the two bodies. “They’re going to be open for testimony from each of you, any of you, anyone else watching.”
Bissen said the county is not trying to close every short-term rental on the island. He said that belief is being “put out there as if that were the request”. Bissen reiterated that the targeted units are from a very specific group of units in the apartment zone that have been grandfathered in.
“There’s about 2,200 units on this side of the island, the west side,” Bissen said of the urgent need for housing in Lahaina and the whole of the island. “And there are maybe 5,000 or so throughout the county.”
Bissen said there will be some passionate discussion forthcoming on the subject considering the number of interested parties and encouraged the public to participate in the upcoming meetings and public comment that will take place in the planning commission and county council.
The U.S. Army Corps or Engineers was represented by Col. Eric Swenson at the meeting, who gave an update on his team and their work in Lahaina town. Swenson stated that 963 properties have been cleared of debris, with 379 properties complete.
“I mean, if that doesn’t get you excited, I don’t know what will,” Swenson said of the progress. “Because when we get to 100% complete, or as close as we can and you start getting those building permits issued, I mean that’s the next step in this journey to having your Lahaina town back.”
Pat McCall, the Maui County department of parks and recreation director, gave an update on the Maui Aquatic Center following Col. Swenson’s briefing on recovery efforts.
McCall started with the “good news” which was that the filters in the center may not need to be replaced. McCall said the center was evaluated preliminarily in December 2023, and more evaluations are needed after the pool is drained of the water currently within, awaiting tests for contamination.
McCall estimated repairs on the center will cost $3 million and more information on repair schedules will be available in the coming months.
The meeting agenda lasted just about half an hour, and the question and answer portion of the meeting lasted for an hour and a half.
Next week’s Disaster Recovery Meeting will be held in the basement of the Lahaina Civic Center on May 15.