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Gathering Place
Gregg Blue |
Developer, community
compromise at MalikoTwo years ago, Francesco Moretti came before the Haiku Community Association to present his plans for an eight-lot subdivision above Maliko Bay. The community had lots of questions concerning this 40-acre Special Management Area piece of property. One issue was the building heights, locations, and setbacks of homes. This land holds one of Haiku's last unobstructed view planes of West Maui. After three complete revisions to his plans based in part on community input, he finally got his approval.
Community surveys told us that open spaces and views were a priority for Haiku residents. The Paia-Haiku Community Plan makes numerous statements that call for protecting all views from Hana Highway. The HCA wrote a letter to the Maui Planning Commission asking them to limit the home heights to 20 feet and one-story. Any large two-story homes or other structures with a height of 30 feet would have seriously obstructed any views that would have been left of West Maui.
After a site visit by the Planning Commission, the commissioners came to understand the importance of the view planes and home setbacks on the mauka and makai sides of Hana Highway. Mike Foley, Maui planning director, also was on site. Looking to the undeveloped makai side of the highway, it was evident that something needed to be done to protect these panoramic views as well.
The Planning Commission followed the recommendation of the HCA and limited the home heights on the five lots that would most affect the view plane. This ruling was the first act by the Maui Planning Commission that followed the conclusions in our community plan about protecting view planes. The HCA does not "support" any subdivisions in SMA lands, but rather tries to provide a venue for communication between the community and proj-ects that affect Haiku in any way. In this case we helped work out a compromise with the Planning Commission in getting Moretti to agree to these height limits.
There are more SMA lands up for subdivision. Only time will tell how committed these developers are to the well-being of our local community. Buyers of SMA lands need to know that the community will be watching these developments closely. Our residents want lasting quality on these precious lands.
Foley told us at one of our general meetings that Haiku residents would be the ones who decided what direction local development would go. This is an example of our county government actually listening to what we had to say. We look forward to more of the same support from the MPC.
The HCA would like to acknowledge the Maui County administration and the Planning Commission for their decision on this SMA application. With a little time and effort, we can all make a difference that has lasting impacts in where we live. Instead of two-story homes with 30-foot heights, we will now have low-lying, one-story, earth-tone homes that will blend in with the landscape.
Gregg Blue is president of Ha'iku Community Association.