1 year ago

Maui officials aim to accelerate processing of permits to help Lahaina rebuild

HONOLULU — Local officials in Hawaii next month plan to open an office that will speed up Maui County’s notoriously slow processing of building permits to help the town of Lahaina to recover from last year’s deadly wildfire. Keanu Lau Hee, the county’s deputy managing director, told a community meeting in Lahaina that a County Expedited Permitting Center will open in April. The new permitting center will help private developers building five separate projects with a combined total of more than 500 housing units. Lau Hee said the county also wants to help property owners rebuild after workers finish cleaning toxic debris and utility infrastructure is in place.

Building County Maui Hawaii Permit Lahaina Lau Hee building rebuild hee maui processing aim permit county permits lahaina accelerate officials help units housing hawaii temporary

History of this topic

3 months, 1 week ago

A Maui program kept Lahaina families together by paying households to take in fire survivors

Associated Press

WAILUKU, Hawaii — The Lahaina home Tamara Akiona shared with 10 people was never quiet, and she loved it that way. “We just don’t have that anymore.” The home was one of the 1,898 residential structures that burned in the August 2023 Maui fires, which killed at least 102 people and displaced 12,000. “Nobody’s left behind.” Estimates say up to …

7 months, 2 weeks ago

‘Never give up hope’: Maui residents reflect on a year in the wildfires’ aftermath

Raw Story

This story was originally published by Honolulu Civil Beat. At Hanakao’o Park in West Maui, chants of “Lahaina strong!” echoed across the water as hundreds of those residents paddled out on surfboards just offshore from the beach park. “It’s been a rollercoaster,” said Lahaina resident Shaleena Barrios, who attended the Hanakao’o park gathering with her husband, Mike, and their two …

7 months, 4 weeks ago

A year after Maui wildfire, chronic housing shortage and pricey vacation rentals complicate recovery

Associated Press

LAHAINA, Hawaii — Josephine Fraser worried her young family’s next home would be a tent. Josephine Fraser holds her son Zyon Dias, 18 months, as she watches Ireh Dias, 3, front, run around outside their small home at the Maui Lani housing development on July 10, 2024, in Kahului, Hawaii. The construction progress at Ka La’i Ola, a housing development …

7 months, 4 weeks ago

A year after Maui wildfire, chronic housing shortage and pricey vacation rentals complicate recovery

The Independent

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. "It really broke me.” Like Fraser, thousands on Maui …

9 months, 1 week ago

The Lahaina fire worsened Maui’s housing shortage. Now officials eye limiting tourist Airbnb rentals

Associated Press

HONOLULU — Alicia Humiston bought her condo in Lahaina after she visited Maui and fell for its rainforests, lava fields and the whales that gather offshore. Instead, he wants them rented long-term to Maui locals to address a chronic housing shortage that reached a new crisis point after last August’s deadly wildfire burned the homes of 12,000 residents. An analysis …

10 months, 4 weeks ago

Maui looks to cut back on Airbnbs, vacation rentals as early as next summer

LA Times

Signs asking people to respect locals and that “Lahaina is not for sale” are seen on the side of the Lahaina Bypass on Maui in December 2023. Crothers, who is now five months pregnant, said she’s hopeful the new law will enable families like hers to plan for a future on Maui — and across the Hawaiian Islands, which face …

1 year ago

Maui officials aim to accelerate processing of permits to help Lahaina rebuild

The Independent

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Local officials in Hawaii next …

1 year, 2 months ago

Agencies release plans for moving hotel-dwelling Maui fire survivors into long-term housing

The Independent

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The Federal Emergency Management Agency …

1 year, 2 months ago

Agencies release plans for moving hotel-dwelling Maui fire survivors into long-term housing

Associated Press

HONOLULU — The Federal Emergency Management Agency said Friday it plans to move thousands of hotel-dwelling survivors of wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui into long-term housing over the next month. The agency expects households living under long-term leases directly funded by FEMA to rise to 1,500 over the next month from 100 currently, TJ Dargan, federal coordinating officer …

1 year, 2 months ago

Over 6,000 Hawaiians remain homeless five months after Maui wildfires

The Independent

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy More than 6,000 people are still without permanent long-term shelter almost five months on from …

1 year, 3 months ago

Hawaii governor wants 3,000 vacation rentals converted to housing for Maui wildfire survivors

Associated Press

HONOLULU — Hawaii Gov. Josh Green on Friday said he wants 3,000 condos and homes that are normally rented to Maui tourists converted to long-term housing for displaced wildfire survivors who are now living in hotels. Green said he’s prepared to use the “hammer” of post-fire emergency orders to make sure owners of short-term vacation rentals extend them to long-term …

1 year, 3 months ago

Hawaii governor wants 3,000 vacation rentals converted to housing for Maui wildfire survivors

LA Times

Josh Green speaks Friday in Honolulu. He wants 3,000 condos and homes normally rented to Maui tourists converted to long-term housing for displaced wildfire survivors. Josh Green on Friday said he wants 3,000 condos and homes that are normally rented to Maui tourists converted to long-term housing for displaced wildfire survivors who are living in hotels. Green said he’s prepared …

1 year, 4 months ago

Maui wildfire survivors camp on the beach to push mayor to convert vacation rentals into housing

Associated Press

LAHAINA, Hawaii — A group of Lahaina wildfire survivors is vowing to camp on a popular resort beach until the mayor uses his emergency powers to shut down unpermitted vacation rentals and make the properties available for residents in desperate need of housing. They planted fishing poles in the sand and are calling their action “Fishing for Housing.” Lance Collins, …

1 year, 7 months ago

Why Maui’s rebuilding effort will be so expensive

CNN

New York CNN — Beyond the devastating human toll from the recent wildfires on Maui, there will be a financial cost far above what a disaster like this would have caused on the mainland. Factors from the state’s own limited construction resources and the expense of shipping goods to higher salaries and a less mobile workforce will make the rebuilding …

1 year, 7 months ago

Lahaina residents worry a rebuilt Maui town could slip into the hands of affluent outsiders

Associated Press

LAHAINA, Hawaii — Richy Palalay so closely identifies with his Maui hometown that he had a tattoo artist permanently ink “Lahaina Grown” on his forearms when he was 16. “I’m more concerned of big land developers coming in and seeing this charred land as an opportunity to rebuild,” Palalay said Saturday at a shelter for evacuees. “So a lot of …

1 year, 7 months ago

Returning Lahaina residents struggle with housing issues after deadliest US wildfire in over a century

CNN

Editor’s Note: Find Monday’s Maui wildfires story here and live coverage here. “Airbnb is going to offer us hundreds of typically short-term rentals in a longer term capacity, so we can put people into a place for months.” At the checkpoint on the two-lane road around the northern shoreline to Lahaina, Maui police officers working 12-hour shifts were checking IDs …

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1 week ago