Maui law is giving
builders headaches

WAILUKU, Hawaii » A Maui County law intended to deter developers from building up land to give homeowners better views is causing problems for large developments that need to do significant grading.

Under the law regulating building heights and grading, if a developer builds a small hill on a piece of land, the height of that hill is counted against the maximum height of any building on the plot.

County planners had treated the law as "flexible" for about a decade, but then in December, on the advice of county attorneys, said they would have to start enforcing the law as it was written.

County officials now say they want to change the law, and Mayor Alan Arakawa warns that could take a while.

In the meantime, developments that already have permits and are already proceeding with construction will be granted exceptions to continue on schedule, Arakawa said.

Under the law, if a developer adds five feet of fill to a property, it's counted against the maximum height that can be built. But that doesn't take into account the significant amount of grading some large developments need to do, said county Planning Director Mike Foley.

"This is a case where the ordinance was changed years ago to solve a specific problem, without realizing new problems would be created," he said.

For example, at Maui Lani's new Sandhills development, the developers needed to reduce the height of hills and fill in valleys to satisfy county drainage requirements, Foley said.

Some parts of the property were left with more than 20 feet of fill, which means that under the county law, the homes built on those spots would have to be less than 10 feet high.

"This would have caused enormous problems," said David Jorgensen, attorney for New Sand Hills LLC, the developer of Sandhills Estates at Maui Lani.

Work was already underway at the project when county planners said on Dec. 9 that they would change their interpretation of the grading law. The developer has been allowed to proceed with an exception.

Developers agree the regulation should be changed.

"I think their interpretation of the ordinance is correct," said builder Doyle Betsill. "If we've got a law, we ought to enforce it. But I think it's a bad regulation."