Post-fire housing solutions on Maui not easy or clear

Sep. 11—Lahaina fire recovery efforts hit their one-month mark Friday, and are now at what Gov. Josh Green calls a pivot point to provide longer-term housing for several thousand displaced people until they can rebuild or replace what they lost.

Lahaina fire recovery efforts hit their one-month mark Friday, and are now at what Gov. Josh Green calls a pivot point to provide longer-term housing for several thousand displaced people until they can rebuild or replace what they lost.

What this means for Maui's housing market is still fairly uncertain. But it could involve converting short-term vacation rentals into local workforce housing, and building lower-cost modular homes as well as tiny-home villages known as kauhale. The shift also could accelerate development of long-planned subdivisions and perhaps new residential projects—all outside Lahaina or on undeveloped outskirts of the West Maui town that was nearly obliterated Aug. 8.

Green said Thursday during a state-led Maui wildfire recovery webinar focused on housing that 7, 000 people displaced by the fire need longer-term housing.

"It's going to be all hands on deck to do that, " he said.

About 6, 000 of the 7, 000 are in noncongregate shelters, mainly hotel rooms on Maui, according to the American Red Cross.

"Hotel rooms are wonderful and they are a safe place, but having a kitchen and a full house and more space to cook your own meals is so important, " Erin McCann, state relations director for the Red Cross disaster division, said on the webinar.

The pivot to longer-term, yet still interim, housing for people displaced by the fire could include the Federal Emergency Management Agency leasing multi-unit properties, such as timeshare complexes, and making them available to people from Lahaina, over the next 18 to 24 months.

Bob Fenton, a regional administrator for the agency, also said FEMA could get involved in building new homes as well.

Green said the state is looking at housing it can build or help build, perhaps 18 months from now or sooner in 2024. He emphasized that all such work is part of transitional assistance for fire victims.

"That's kind of transitional, like a bridge to the future, " he said. "It is not about rebuilding Lahaina."

Green has said that removing hazardous material from burned properties is estimated to take three to four months, and is to be followed by debris removal expected to take the better part of a year. That means property owners in Lahaina won't be able to begin rebuilding for over a year, and it could take considerably longer for some.

Ramping up No details have been publicly shared about how many homes might be added on Maui, or where, as part of this longer-term transitional housing effort.

Nani Medeiros, the state's chief housing officer, who announced resignation plans Thursday, told the Maui County Council Housing and Land Use Committee on Aug. 30 that since the fire, state officials have been identifying private and government land on Maui outside Lahaina that could be used for new housing.

Medeiros told the committee that three or four government-owned parcels in West Maui, and two or three private parcels not in West Maui, are being looked at.

This scoping work, Medeiros told the committee, involved meetings in recent weeks with county officials, community stakeholders, developers and construction industry members to determine "where we can do what."

Medeiros said infrastructure is the biggest challenge to developing homes on the identified sites, which she did not describe further. She could not be reached for more information, and the Maui County Department of Housing and Human Concerns did not respond to a request for information about new housing development prospects.

Another avenue being explored is to accelerate long-planned subdivision development on the island.

But again, challenges are significant in part because many people oppose shortcuts to regulatory reviews for protecting the environment, historic property and cultural resources.

Medeiros told the Council committee that about 11, 000 planned homes at 10 projects are in the development pipeline on Maui and that accelerating some could result in new homes being delivered as early as January.

Of the 10 projects, two are under construction in Central Maui. One of these is the long-running Maui Lani project, which already has more than 1, 400 homes and is master-planned for about 3, 700 homes. The other is Wailuku Apartments with about 300 units.

The other eight projects are in a planning or design phase, and might have impediments to relatively quick development due to financing and regulatory issues.

Three of these eight projects—Pulelehua, Honokowai Homestead Community and Villages of Leali 'i—are in West Maui.

Pulelehua was originally proposed by Maui Land & Pineapple Co. in 2004 as a 900-home expansion of Kapalua Resort with half the homes priced for residents with low to moderate incomes.

Maui Land, however, got mired in financial trouble and sold the 304-acre project site in 2016 to another developer, who later obtained state and county approvals to reduce the number of affordable homes and expand the project to as many as 1, 200 residences.

Honokowai Homestead is a state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands project slated for about 900 homes for beneficiaries.

Leali 'i is a massive state project that dates back to at least 1990 with an envisioned roughly 3, 000 to 4, 000 homes on 1, 128 acres above developed portions of Lahaina. According to the list referenced by Medeiros, about 300 homes are in a planning or design phase.

Pushback Accelerating such projects is part of a statewide strategy created in July by Green before the fire disaster under a proclamation declaring a housing emergency in Hawaii.

Under the proclamation, Green established a 36-member "working group " that can determine whether developers who apply may use a variety of ad hoc alternate regulatory procedures aimed at providing quicker approvals on things involving land use, zoning, environmental reviews and historic protection.

No new housing construction projects have been considered yet by the Build Beyond Barriers Working Group, but two lawsuits have been filed to stop the group while many residents, including some who survived the Lahaina fire, oppose the initiative.

"This is crap, " Leonard Nakoa, a plaintiff from Maui in one of the lawsuits, told the Council committee. "This is full of crap."

The departure of Medeiros, who guided the working group and had the authority to grant permission for state or county housing projects to proceed under the special rules, raises questions about the future of Green's initiative. The group's next meeting is scheduled for Sept. 26.

Meanwhile, another effort to provide interim longer-term housing for fire survivors urges owners of short-term vacation rental units to rent their property to people who lost homes in Lahaina.

According to a June University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization report, there are 9, 990 active short-term vacation rentals in Maui County, representing 14 % of the county's housing stock.

Green acknowledged on the Thursday webinar that vacation rental unit owners would be giving up much higher rental income if they rent long-term to residents, but he asked for such help given the great need.

Medeiros made a similar plea during the Council committee meeting. "One of the single most meaningful things people can do—(people ) who own a second, third or fourth home—give that to the community right now so someone can live there for the next year or two, " she said. "It does not create a new burden on infrastructure. It makes sense and helps your community."

Affordability concerns Half of all homes previously in Lahaina were occupied by renters who paid an estimated $1, 700 a month in rent, according to an analysis by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism using U.S. Census Bureau data.

UHERO said in its June housing report that rental housing available on Craigs ­list statewide was highest on Maui, where the median monthly asking rent was $2, 500, meaning half the listings were for more and half for less. The statewide median, UHERO said, was about $2, 000.

FEMA is paying rent for many households displaced by the fire, at an average of $3, 500 a month, according to Fenton, who said the amount varies by the size of homes lost. Such assistance is typically limited to 18 months. Longer-term, it could be a challenge for many fire survivors to find affordable housing.

According to the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp., almost 550 affordable units were lost in the fire.

HHFDC, a state agency, is helping with transitional housing needs for fire survivors by hosting an online listing for homeowners willing to rent homes to people who were displaced from Lahaina.

This Hawaii Fire Relief Housing program has resulted in about 180 fire victims finding rental housing, though some of it is short-term. Under the program, tenants pay landlords directly, though many are using insurance proceeds or aid to pay rent that can be at market price.

One way to provide lower-cost housing for longer-term interim use is going to be developing clusters of tiny homes, or kauhale, according to Green. There also are plans to import modular homes that could be used for the same purpose.

Despite the effort to find more traditional longer-term housing, Green said Friday that hotels are expected to be used as part of the longer-term recovery effort. He said the state plans to lease three to five hotels for long-term use as part of a "housing safety net " even though he also said that hotels can't be a long-term solution for housing in West Maui.