The following testimony was submitted by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii for consideration by the Maui County Council Committee on Oct. 21, 2025.
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Oct. 21, 2025, 1:30 p.m.
Kalana O Maui Building
To: Maui County Council
Tom Cook, Chair
Yuki Lei Sugimura, Vice-Chair
From: Jonathan Helton, Policy Analyst
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
RE: Bill 110 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 16.25.201, MAUI COUNTY CODE, RELATING TO IMPROVEMENTS TO PUBLIC STREETS
Aloha Chair Cook, Vice-Chair Sugimura and other members of the Committee,
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii supports Bill 110 (2024), which would exempt Lahaina and Kula property owners whose homes or businesses were damaged or destroyed by the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfires from normal street-improvement requirements.
Typically, Maui property owners must pay for improvements to public streets that are adjacent to their properties whenever they remodel their existing buildings or build new commercial or multifamily structures and the value of the work done to the structure exceeds 50% of its value.
Such improvements can include repaving roads, adding sidewalks or placing utilities underground, although which improvements are required is subject to the discretion of the Maui Department of Public Works.[1]
Because many of the owners in Lahaina and Kula are faced with the need to completely rebuild, waiving this requirement would help such residents afford to rebuild their homes or businesses.
The Maui Department of Management and the Office of Recovery did issue a directive on Sept. 29, 2025, that instituted standards for what improvements would be required in Lahaina’s town core.[2]
These standards essentially required easements for new sidewalks in certain areas but did not require massive road widening. The directive also stated the County would work with property owners to design placement of underground utilities.
This directive gave clarity to commercial owners who had been told to either make room for a 60-foot right-of-way for public streets or wait for the results of a county infrastructure study that would be released sometime in 2026.
But approving Bill 110 (2024) now would give even greater certainty to owners of business and multifamily properties who are seeking to rebuild.
The proposed CD1 amendment would narrow the scope of the bill to waive the improvement requirements for properties along only Front Street between Shaw and Baker streets that lie within either of the two Maui historic zoning districts and were damaged or destroyed in the wildfire.
The current draft of the bill would give relief to more property owners seeking to rebuild, including the many owners whose properties are not on Front Street. These owners suffered just as much as Front Street businesses and homeowners, and they should not be excluded from this waiver.
Grassroot encourages the Council to approve this bill, and consider other regulatory relief that would help Lahaina’s people rebuild and return to the town they love.
Grassroot’s policy brief “Four more ways to speed up Lahaina’s wildfire recovery” lists some of these regulations that ought to be waived.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Jonathan Helton
Policy Analyst
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
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[1] Maui County Code, 16.25.201 – Applicability and Scope., accessed July 15, 2024.
[2] Josiah Nishita and John Smith, “Recovery Coordination Directive No. 2,” Maui Department of Management and Office of Recovery, Sept. 29, 2025.
