Attorney Scott Settle joins producer/host Coralie Chun Matayoshi to discuss what has been accomplished so far, including progress in expediting building permits, whether property owners can rebuild nonconforming structures that don’t meet modern building standards, workforce housing, and Hawaii Housing Finance & Development Corporation’s ideas to help developers build low-income housing for Lahaina residents.
Scott Settle is managing principal of the Settle Meyer law firm. He has over 30 years of experience in real estate, business and finance law including the development and operation of various commercial and residential projects here and on the mainland. He also serves as Chair of the Affordable Housing and Economic Development Foundation which promotes access to affordable housing for lower income families.
Q. It’s the 2-year anniversary of the tragic Lahaina wildfire which killed 102 people, destroyed over 5,400 households, and sent 12,000 survivors into emergency housing. A UHERO survey in February found that about 90% of Lahaina burn-area residents remain displaced with almost half of them still residing in temporary housing. Two years ago, we talked about the timeframe for rebuilding Lahaina, and you said that it would be long. What has been accomplished so far?
Rebuilding is still expected to be uneven and slow, but we are seeing progress. The burn area has all been cleared. Until late May, debris was being stored at a temporary site. Now, debris is being moved to a permanent disposal site near the Central Maui Landfill. This is expected to take around five months. Utilities are also getting up and running: HECO has restored power to all West Maui customers who can receive it using overhead lines, Residents ready to begin rebuilding on their parcels can submit requests for temporary service. Sewer service was also fully restored in April, with additional lines in place constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Some rebuilding is taking place, mostly on the residential side: about two dozen homes have been fully rebuilt so far and there are many which have started construction. Many survivors are still displaced, and many people are still in temporary housing, but of the people in temporary housing, the majority now have been in the same spot for more than 6 months, which indicates that people are not being forced to relocate over and over again as much, which is an important step towards finding long-term stability.
Q. What about progress made in expediting building permits?
Permits took a long time even before the fires, and the large number of permits necessary to rebuild homes in Lahaina would totally overwhelm the existing queue without an expedited process. Since we last spoke, the County has taken a few steps to shorten timelines with some success. Back in February 2024, Maui County Council passed Bill 21, which attempted to create an expedited permitting path for rebuilding disaster-affected homes. The County opened a dedicated Recovery Permitting Center in April 2024 and hired additional private contractors to process permits. As already discussed, there is still a long backlog, and approvals are still taking over a month, but timelines have shrunk significantly since the immediate aftermath of the fires, at least for residential properties. Based on data provided by the County’s private permit processing contractor 4Leaf, 419 Lahaina building permit applications that have been approved so far, and 328 building permit applications are still being processed. Commercial rebuilding and multi-family housing buildings are taking a bit longer. Only 30 non-residential building permits have been issued, and none have finished construction. At the moment, commercial areas, particularly Front Street, are still largely untouched, with ongoing challenges in navigating concerns about preserving historical character.
Q. Can property owners rebuild homes that were historic and don’t meet modern building standards?
There are still some ongoing debates about this, but progress has been made in deciding how to balance property owners’ rights to rebuild what was already there with the need to avoid serious safety or disaster preparedness issues. In March of this year, the County passed Ordinance 5780, which updated the Maui County Code to allow for the reconstruction of nonconforming structures – those legally constructed before the 2023 wildfires, but no longer compliant with some current development standards (like setbacks and building height requirements). This waiver has some important limitations. For example, the applicant has to prove the nonconforming structure that existed before the fire, matches the proposed reconstruction. The new building still has to comply with building code requirements, applicable coastal zone regulations, and floodplain or fire safety standards, and cannot be recreated in a way that increases nonconformity. There’s also a deadline: eligible property owners generally only have until April 1, 2029, to obtain a building permit, complete the reconstruction, and secure final inspection approval for their nonconforming structures. Overall, there are still some issues to be worked out there. It’s not always possible to recreate old buildings to modern code. Especially for very old buildings, it can be very difficult to prove what was there before. For people waiting on insurance payments or legal settlements that could take years, it may also be hard to meet that deadline. At least for now, though, it’s a step towards figuring out how to navigate this problem.
Q. In order to expedite permitting, a group of architects had proposed creating preapproved home building plans. Did that idea come to fruition?
As far as I know, the County has not preapproved any building plans. However, there are a few architects who have prepared plans and offered them at no cost to Lahaina residents. This could certainly help defray some of the initial rebuilding costs, even if it doesn’t substantially speed up permitting with the County.
Q. SB 378 proposed to have a state agency acquire and convert commercial buildings to partial residential use. Although the bill died, is this idea still being pursued?
SB 378 described a plan to create a working group within HHFDC that would look for existing mixed-use developments in Maui County that could be acquired by HHFDC to repurpose for affordable housing. Even though that proposal died, the idea of repurposing mixed-use buildings for housing is still being pursued in more localized ways. For example, in August 2024, Maui County Council approved a proposal to convert the Queen Kaahumanu Center in Kahului from a shopping center into a mixed-use development that would include more housing and community spaces.
Q. Workforce housing is still a big concern, as nearly one-third of Maui DOE staff was displaced by the wildfire and over 20% of Lahaina educators are considering leaving Hawaii due to housing costs. What is being done?
For educators specifically, last month the State and Maui County broke ground on a 47-unit educator workforce housing project located between Princess Nahiʻenaʻena Elementary and Lahaina High School as part of the broader effort to support educator retention and recruitment in this area. Other efforts to support the local workforce include federal and state-funded temporary housing near Lahaina. All 167 homes at the FEMA Kilohana temporary housing site are now complete, providing temporary housing for displaced individuals and families. The state-funded 450-unit Ka La’i Ola Village temporary housing project began accepting families in August 2024, with full occupancy anticipated by the end of this summer. Residents at Ka La’i Ola Village will be able to remain eligible for temporary housing for up to five years, giving families the option to remain close to their community, reestablish stability, and reenter or remain in the workforce without being forced to relocate off-island or further from their jobs.
Q. What are some of the Hawaii Housing Finance & Development Corp’s (HHFDC) ideas for helping developers build low-income housing in Lahaina?
Front Street Apartments are in the predevelopment phase and plan to redevelop the original 142-unit complex into 192 units. In a board meeting last fall, HHFDC Director Dean Minakami shared that the county had approved sufficient water and sewer capacity for the project, which will allow the developer to move forward with design and permitting. HHFDC is also in the process of acquiring three additional properties at 60 Kenui Street, 1050 Front Street, and 1067 Wainee Street to support increased housing density for the Front Street Apartments. The parcel at 60 Kenui Street borders the existing development and is being proposed for lease to the County of Maui at a reduced rate to support an adult daycare nonprofit. The parcels at 1050 Front Street and 1067 Wainee Street currently encroach into the project area, and their acquisition would enable the developer to add more housing units.
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Disclaimer: this material is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The law varies by jurisdiction and is constantly changing. For legal advice, you should consult a lawyer that can apply the appropriate law to the facts in your case.