Maui Reporter

County of Maui Department of Planning issued the following announcement on Nov. 10.

The County of Maui Department of Planning announced today that it has been awarded $500,000 from the State Office of Planning to develop a transit-oriented development (TOD) corridor master plan for West Maui.

The West Maui TOD Corridor Plan focuses on a 3.6-mile stretch of Honoapiilani Highway that connects Lāhaina to Kāʻanapali, starting at the Lāhaina Recreation Center Complex and ending at the Kāʻanapali Resort area at Whaler’s Village.

The TOD plan will implement many of the proposed multimodal and transportation policies, projects and programs in the West Maui Community Plan update and Hele Mai Maui 2040 Long Range Transportation Plan. Planning features include: locating a West Maui transit hub that provides access to affordable housing, jobs and services; improving pedestrian safety to, from and within Lāhaina; exploring the potential use of State and County facilities to serve West Maui residents; locating potential sites for affordable/workforce rental housing to provide multimodal access to jobs and critical services; and completing the necessary alignments needed for the West Maui Greenway.

“This is a great opportunity for the County of Maui to develop critical transportation options for residents who live and work in West Maui,” Mayor Michael Victorino said. “With the population on the west side growing at one of the fastest rates in Maui County and the State, it is even more important that we address the community’s growing need for affordable housing, infrastructure, and transit-oriented development in West Maui, as well as reducing our dependence on fossil fuels.”

The County’s proposed project was selected from a pool of TOD proposals submitted from State and County agencies statewide, with funding requests ranging from $100,000 to $500,000. According to the State Office of Planning, the requests received totaled more than twice the amount of the $1.5 million appropriated by the State Legislature for fiscal year 2021.

Funds were awarded to projects determined to advance State TOD objectives, including:

• Expansion of long-term or permanent affordable housing stock
• Mixed-use, dense, walkable, and equitable development with revenue potential to State agencies
• Co-location of agency services and facilities, including consideration of/inclusion of social infrastructure (e.g., school capacity) and one-stop shopping for public services
• Efficient use of State land, resources, and investments in facility development
• Increased resilience, sustainability, and energy efficiency of public facilities and reduction in energy and fossil fuel use in the transportation sector 

“It is such an honor to be a recipient of the State Office of Planning’s transit-oriented development funds,” said Long Range Planning Program Administrator Pam Eaton. “Our team is excited at the opportunity to collaborate with the State in improving community life, mobility and opportunities for residents and visitors in West Maui.”

To view the plans mentioned above, visit https://westmaui.wearemaui.org for the West Maui Community Plan, and https://mauimpo.org/hele-mai-maui-2040 for the Hele Mai Maui 2040 Plan. For general planning information, visit www.mauicounty.gov/planning.

Original source can be found here.