Hawaii’s Intermediate Court of Appeals ruled that the Maui Planning Commission must reconsider whether significant changes to the Honua’ula development near Wailea require an updated environmental impact statement. The project’s affordable housing and market-rate unit counts have shifted multiple times since its original 2008 approval.
- The court found the Maui Planning Commission failed to properly evaluate whether the project changed substantially since its 2012 environmental impact statement was approved.
- The commission must now determine if a supplemental EIS is required before its project approval can stand.
- Affordable housing units in the project dropped from 700 originally to 288 in 2022, then were later adjusted to 450, while market-rate units fluctuated as well.
- The court upheld other parts of the commission’s decision, ruling affordable housing and golf course disputes were moot after Maui County updated those requirements in 2025.
- The ruling delays forward progress on a large south Maui development that could affect the regional housing supply and infrastructure.
Source: Maui News
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