The following testimony was submitted by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii for consideration by the Senate Committee on Ways and Means on Feb. 19, 2025.
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Feb. 19, 2025, 10:02 a.m.
Hawaii State Capitol
Conference Room 211 and Videoconference
To: Senate Committee on Ways and Means
Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz, Chair
Sen. Sharon Moriwaki, Vice Chair
From: Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Ted Kefalas, Director of Strategic Campaigns
RE: SB830 SD1 — RELATING TO COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT
Aloha Chair Dela Cruz, Vice-Chair Moriwaki and other members of the Committee,
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii supports SB830 SD1, 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] In early February, the governor also created an exemption for certain commercial structures in Lahaina,[2] but a permanent legislative fix would remove the need for navigating several iterations of an emergency order.
Typically, receiving an SMA use permit 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.[3] 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] Brian Perry, “SMA permits suspended for wildfire-impacted Lahaina properties mauka of Front Street,” Maui Now, Feb. 6, 2025.
[3] 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 1/1/2015.
