The following testimony was submitted by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii for consideration by the Maui County Council Disaster Recovery, International Affairs and Planning Committee on March 19, 2025.
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March 19, 2025, 1:30 p.m.
Council Chamber, Kalana O Maui Building
To: Maui County Council Disaster Recovery, International Affairs and Planning Committee
Tamara Paltin, Chair
Nohelani U‘u-Hodgins, Vice-Chair
From: Jonathan Helton, Policy Researcher
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
RE: Bill 103 (2024) — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 19.08, MAUI COUNTY CODE, RELATING TO DENSITY WITHIN RESIDENTIAL DISTRICTS
Aloha Chair Paltin, Vice-Chair U‘u-Hodgins and other members of the Committee,
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii supports Bill 103 (2024), which would allow more homes per lot in residential zoning districts on the islands of Maui and Lanai.
This bill would be especially helpful to Maui residents whose homes were destroyed by the disastrous wildfires of August 2023. Maui County has had a severe housing shortage for many years,[1] but the wildfires that decimated Lahaina and parts of Upcountry Maui made the situation even worse.
Specifically, Bill 103 (2024) would allow one primary dwelling per 2,500 square feet of lot area on the islands of Maui and Lanai, which would result in the changes described in Table 1 below.[2]
A CD1 amendment from Chair Paltin would make several changes to this bill. It would exempt multifamily dwellings of up to three units in residential districts from landscaping rules for parking areas.
The CD1 would also allow one primary dwelling per 5,000 square feet of lot area, instead of one per 2,500 square feet. Practically, this would have the result of legalizing a second primary dwelling in all residential lots that are 10,000 square feet, and additional primary dwellings for lots 15,000 square feet or larger.
The Grassroot Institute pointed out in its recent report “How to facilitate more homebuilding in Hawaii” that allowing more homes on the same lot is a powerful approach that many states and cities across the county have used to increase housing supply.
Such places include Minneapolis, Minnesota; Houston, Texas; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Columbus, Ohio; as well as the entire states of California and Montana.[3] Auckland, New Zealand, is a good international example.[4]
All “upzoned” their residential areas to allow greater housing density on lands already zoned for housing — and the research indicates these changes have worked.[5]
Legalizing more homes per lot appears to be in line with the 2012 Maui Island Plan, which states in “Chapter 7: Land Use,” that the County should “ensure higher-density compact urban communities, infill, and redevelopment of underutilized urban lots within Urban Growth Boundaries.”[6]
The chapter also notes that during events prior to the finalized plan, “Maui residents expressed a preference for focusing future growth in existing towns and increasing population densities in appropriate locations as the best way to accommodate growth.”[7]
Thank you for the opportunity to offer our comments.
Jonathan Helton
Policy Researcher
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
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[1] Janis Magin Meierdiercks, “Maui Is Hawai‘i’s Least Affordable County for Homeownership,” Hawaii Business Magazine, April 4, 2023.
[2] Kate Blystone, “Subject: A Bill For An Ordinance Amending Sections 19.08.020 And 19.08.040, Maui County Code, Relating To Density Within Residential Districts,” letter to the Maui, Molokai and Lanai planning commissions, Feb. 21, 2024, p. 3.
[3] Laurel Wamsley, “The hottest trend in U.S. cities? Changing zoning rules to allow more housing,” NPR, Feb. 17, 2024.
[4] Ryan Greenaway-McGrevy, “Can Zoning Reform Reduce Housing Costs? Evidence from Rents in Auckland,” University of Auckland Business School, Economic Policy Centre Working Paper No. 016, June 2023.
[5] Christina Plerhoples Stacy, Christopher Davis, Yonah Freemark, et al., “Land-Use Reforms and Housing Costs,” Urban Institute, March 29, 2023; and Vicki Been, Ingrid Gould Ellen and Katherine M. O’Regan, “Supply Skepticism Revisited,” New York University Law and Economics Research Paper No. 24-12, Nov. 10, 2023.
[6] “Maui Island Plan,” Maui County Planning Department, Dec. 28, 2012, pp. 7-24.
[7] Ibid, p. 7-21.
