The following testimony was submitted by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii for consideration by House Committee on Water and Land on Feb. 6, 2025.
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Feb. 6, 2025, 9 a.m.
Hawaii State Capitol
Conference Room 411 and Videoconference
To: House Committee on Water and Land
Rep. Mark Hashem, Chair
Rep. Rachel Lamosao, Vice-Chair
From: Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Ted Kefalas, Director of Strategic Campaigns
RE: HB1181 — RELATING TO COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT
Aloha Chair Hashem, Vice-Chair Lamosao and other members of the Committee,
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii supports HB1181, which would exempt any structure from needing a special management area minor or use permit if it has been damaged or destroyed by a disaster proclaimed by the governor or a county mayor.
The bill includes the caveat that for a structure to qualify for this exemption, it must be rebuilt with a similar footprint and with similar dimensions to its original state.
It also makes clear that the structure must not be on a shoreline parcel, and the disaster that damaged or destroyed it must not be a tsunami, wave, storm surge or other similar ocean-related event.
That last point aside, this measure is critical for Lahaina’s comeback.
Gov. Josh Green provided multifamily dwellings an exemption from SMA rules in an October emergency proclamation, in addition to the exemption that already exists in statute for most single-family homes.[1] But without a streamlined SMA process, Lahaina’s businesses will face an uphill battle to return to their community, since obtaining an SMA use permit from Maui County could take years.
Typically, this involves an application to the Maui Planning Department and a hearing from the Maui County Planning Commission. Over the past decade, since Jan. 1, 2015, the Maui Planning Commission has issued only 41 SMA use permits.[2] At the rate of four per year, it would take the county decades to approve all the permits needed for Lahaina’s businesses to rebuild.
If businesses cannot return to Lahaina in a timely manner, there will be fewer entrepreneurial and job opportunities for residents, and the town could lose much of its community, and certainly its historic charm and character.
We ask the Committee to advance this measure to give Lahaina’s people a better chance to rebuild and thrive.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Ted Kefalas
Director of Strategic Campaigns
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
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[1] “Eighteenth Proclamation Relating to Wildfire,” Office of the Governor, Oct. 8, 2024, p. 10.
[2] Maui’s Automated Planning and Permitting System, accessed Jan. 31, 2025. Plan type: SM1 – Special Management Area Use Permit – Maui. Status: Approved. Applied date: From 1/1/2025.
