Updated housing proclamation now excludes fire-impacted areas of Lahaina | News, Sports, Jobs

The Maui News

Gov. Josh Green has updated his emergency proclamation that aims to expedite housing but has drawn criticism from some residents and community groups who worry it will allow developers to bypass environmental and cultural protection safeguards.

Changes under the new emergency proclamation, signed by Green on Friday, include:

• Excluding the area affected by the Lahaina wildfires and clarifying that the emergency proclamation does not apply to the region of Lahaina. The rebuilding of Lahaina will begin only when residents area ready and on their timeline, the Governor’s Office said in a news release Friday.

• Reinstating the state Sunshine Law for meetings of the Build Beyond Barriers Working Group, which is tasked with reviewing projects that could potentially be expedited under the emergency proclamation. Meetings will be conducted in accordance with Sunshine Law and be held virtually, with testifiers to speak only on agenda items with a strict two-minute time limit to summarize their written or verbal testimony.

• Restoring state laws related to historic preservation and environmental impact statements.

• Rescinding the exemption for projects larger than 15 acres and less than 100 acres from going before the state Land Use Commission for zoning and other approvals. The Governor’s Office said that careful analysis found that less than a handful of private real estate projects would benefit from this section of the emergency proclamation.

“It was always about affordable housing. We listened to the public and we clarified that the EP is about affordable housing and for helping families affected by the housing crisis,” Green said in a news release Friday. “This new EP focuses on what we all agree will push forward new affordable housing projects.”

The original emergency proclamation, signed by Green in July, spurred some public pushback — last month, two West Maui residents and others filed a petition in court challenging the legality of the emergency housing proclamation, raising concerns about historic preservation laws and worries that the proclamation would take away local control from County Councils when it comes to fast-track affordable housing projects.

Another group, Na ‘Ohana O Lele, also filed a lawsuit over the emergency proclamation, saying that it suspended laws intended to ensure public participation in decisions on new construction, safeguard iwi kupuna, protect the environment and uphold land use goals. On Friday, Ku’ikeokalani Kamakea-‘Ohelo, a party to the lawsuit and a member of the Land Use Commission, said, “I am glad to see that Governor Green has come to his senses.”

“The fact that he thought his Administration could do this in the first place is really concerning, so we are definitely going to have to keep watch on the Green Administration going forward,” Kamakea-‘Ohelo said in a news release from law firm Earthjustice.

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