Maui residents have been experiencing a massive housing shortage. Some might say, “Just build more houses.”
However, it’s not that simple.
“We were already in a huge housing crisis, and then overnight, on Aug. 8, we lost a significant amount of our existing housing inventory, and we lost it in a place where we can't really build new housing," said Jason Economou, a lawyer who’s worked in Maui housing policy for the past eight years.
“That's a really big storm. That's a really big problem that Maui County is facing now," Economou said.
So what exactly is the problem with building new housing?
During a recent congressional hearing on federal wildfire response, U.S. Rep. Katie Porter of California queried Maui Mayor Richard Bissen and other officials on their plans to address the housing crisis.
“I'll start with you, mayor, what do we need to change to create a better market for affordable housing in Maui?” Porter asked.
“Yeah, I think the first answer I would offer you is infrastructure, including water. Water is probably the greatest barrier, at least for the west side. 76% of the water on the west side is privately owned. 24% is owned by the county, and that is, again, one of the barriers for us to work with," Bissen answered.
He later told HPR that the county is looking at options, but that will take time.
“We're trying to explore water now, because we just have enough water as it is on West Maui to accommodate the current amount of housing units that are there," Bissen said.
Take the Pulelehua development. It’s a housing and retail masterplan on 300 acres in West Maui that would potentially bring about 1,000 residential units. The project is on hold after Maui County Department of Water Supply said there wasn't enough water to support the development.
That’s after developers drilled their own wells, which turned out to be brackish, causing state permitting hang-ups.
Then there’s wastewater infrastructure concerns, as Bissen told congressional delegates at the hearing.
“Part of infrastructure for us is, of course, cesspools being converted so that they can be put on the county's wastewater system. So increasing wastewater capacity, you must have that before you can add more homes," Bissen said.
In Central Maui, the county’s Kahului wastewater facility is nearing capacity. A proposed, new wastewater treatment facility in Central Maui would support a Waikapu residential development with about 1500 single-family homes.
“They have met the criteria, but we got to build that new wastewater treatment plant," Bissen said.
There’s no timeframe currently set for when the new wastewater facility might be operational.
UH Economic Research Organization’s Hawaiʻi Housing Factbook also points to permitting delays as a barrier to building in Hawaiʻi. The report says builders in Maui County face the second longest wait times, with a median permit processing time of 400 days.
“There is bureaucracy, for sure, there is permitting issues, there are other things, and that's because people have trouble showing that they have wastewater and water," Bissen said.
"Some developments that have happened on Maui, they have created their own water and wastewater systems, which may be the way to go from now on, but that's really the struggle.”
