Conflicting reviews on how to restore Lahaina

Survivors of the August 8, 2023 Lahaina wildfire expressed both clear and often conflicting views on how to rebuild the historic fishing village, with many participants in public engagement sessions on long-term recovery calling for better communications and other technological improvements for responding to them. future emergencies, climate change and sea level rise.

Much of the community’s input focused on the need to increase affordable housing on an island that was already in need of more housing long before fires destroyed nearly 3,000 structures, most of them homes, and killed 102 people.

The comments followed extensive outreach through online surveys in multiple languages, in-person interviews and public forums, including interpreters, that Maui County officials conducted from September 2023 through July and were summarized in the county’s initial report on Maui’s long-term recovery planning. process.

The report does not provide specific details about what lies ahead for West Maui, but merely summarizes community feedback received by county officials.

Since the fires, Gov. Josh Green and Maui Mayor Richard Bissen have repeatedly said Lahaina will only be rebuilt the way residents want.

So the report released Friday offers an initial plan for what Lahaina could look like in the future.

Community input, according to the report, “will help inform and guide local, state and federal decision makers supporting recovery efforts. This first round of community engagement provided an opportunity for Lahaina residents and stakeholders to express their values, vision and restoration priorities. These efforts also achieved the goal of embracing diverse perspectives and identifying gaps and opportunities to further engage Lahaina stakeholders in the design and development of specific restoration priority areas.”

County officials emphasized that the report will be updated in the coming years based on community feedback.

Some clear, overarching themes emerged, including “Prioritize local voices in rebuilding Lahaina,” “Let Lahaina residents lead,” and “Lahaina should feel like a home for locals while welcoming visitors.”

“Overall,” according to the summary, “the majority of residents want their neighborhoods restored to the way they were, not only in design, but with the same spirit of Aloha and community cohesion they have enjoyed for generations.”

At the same time, they also want Lahaina to be rebuilt to modern building standards while preparing for climate change and rising sea levels.

There have been many ideas to address Maui’s housing shortage, especially since housing costs skyrocketed following the fires.

Some people want to ban short-term vacation rentals in neighborhoods and the city of Lahaina, increase taxes on landlords who own second homes on Maui, exempt renters from paying general excise taxes and provide general tax breaks for Lahaina residents.

There have also been repeated calls for more affordable housing in general, but specifically for older people.

“Residents submitted many proposals, such as promoting simple affordable housing incentives and affordable housing grants, to help housing remain affordable in perpetuity,” the report said. “Other proposals included developing a program to fund affordable housing for teachers, emergency services workers and other essential workers. The construction of duplexes, triplexes and various types of housing structures for affordable and rent-controlled tenants was a pressing need identified by residents who wanted to continue living on Maui but were concerned about rising rental costs. Increasing access to more affordable single- and multi-family housing options in a variety of design styles; building inland and using more fire-resistant building materials were high priorities for communities overall.”

A consensus of opinion calls for the restoration of Lahaina with an emphasis on its historical origins and Native Hawaiian culture as the original seat of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

The issue of parking in particular has led to many controversies, such as whether to ban parking on Front Street, close it to traffic altogether, or require homeowners to put more parking spaces on their properties, which some say could reduce living space .

Some want to widen certain streets and make Front Street, while others want to make it one-way.

“Residents noted that during peak season, Lahaina streets were crowded with rental cars and tour buses going to and from the harbor, making Lahaina streets dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists,” the report states.

“Communities emphasized that moving parking outside of the City of Lahaina and providing shuttle services will benefit both local residents and visitors, as well as improve overall street safety. Other local residents have proposed creating a West Maui Transit Center at the same location to provide affordable and alternative transportation options for residents and the local workforce. It would also give young people and kupuna greater independence and help reduce the island’s carbon emissions. This change will also create more open space in the city, free up parking spaces for residents and significantly reduce congestion in downtown Lahaina.”

Many people have called for utilities to be buried underground after fires were sparked by an overloaded utility pole that snapped in high winds, igniting overgrown foliage at the Mauka end of Lahaina near Lahainaluna High School.

According to the report, the topic of “grounding” utility lines represented the “most frequently cited desire.”

More escape routes are needed on Maui, the people said, especially around the three schools at the top of Lahainaluna Road where the fires started and then raced down the makai all the way to Front Street.

Panicked and with escape routes blocked, there was no way to escape Lahaina from Front Street.

So dozens of people abandoned their cars and jumped into the ocean as ash rained down on them for hours and boats exploded around them.

There have been calls to rename Front Street to its Hawaiian name and create a “rules manual” for the city of Lahaina of do’s and don’ts.

“There was general agreement that Lahaina should not eliminate tourism entirely, but rather improve the way tourists respectfully interact with people and the environment,” the report said. “Providing more cultural education, providing access to beaches, reducing short-term rentals and supporting more family-owned businesses are other recovery initiatives proposed by local residents.”

But coastal property owners had different views on what they should do as Lahaina rebuilds.

“Some owners were willing to accept the risks associated with climate change and were willing to rebuild their homes with better mitigation measures and insurance,” the report said. “Other property owners were reluctant to rebuild and were willing to consider participating in government buyout programs and discussing relocation options, but they lacked information.”

With communications and information deteriorating during the fires, residents have repeatedly called for more advanced communications technology and plans to address water shortages “to help eliminate or reduce the likelihood of system failures in future disasters,” according to the report.

“Cell phone outages during the August 8 wildfires exacerbated the emergency and hampered evacuation efforts. This includes both improved and more resilient cellular service and the creation of redundant emergency communications systems such as Starlink and microwave radio.”

Many residents want so-called green technology to better prepare Lahaina for future emergencies, diversify Maui’s tourism economy and provide new job opportunities for youth.

“Stakeholders emphasized the importance of diversifying the economy and reducing dependence on tourism without compromising local jobs,” the report said.

In a statement announcing the report’s publication, Bissen said:

“Following the devastating loss of our city, this recovery plan represents not just a path forward, but a collective vision for our future. It is critical that every Lahaina voice is heard in this process—your contributions will be the cornerstone of our recovery. Together, we will rebuild not only our homes, but our communities—and this plan will help ensure that our healing is driven by the needs of our residents.”