Lucienne De Naie, a policy analyst for Maui Tomorrow and a former candidate for Maui County Council, spoke to the Rotary Club of Maui giving reasons why she favors adoption of the Maui Island Plan.  She was a member of the original 25 member General Plan Advisory Committee.

“One size does not fit all,” she told the Rotarians. “It’s important to respect the work that’s been done. This is where the rubber meets the road.”

De Naie defended the length of the document which is now over 400 pages with many maps and at least 12 land use categories. If adopted she felt the plan would be an “umbrella” coordinating Maui’s zoning and land use regulations.

“Your average general plan has over 400 pages. That is not uncommon. Specificity is needed. We need to be sure that some level of detail is included. There’s been a lot of citizen involvement up to this point.”

She also spoke in support of the various boundaries the Island Plan contains. These will limit and contain growth to certain specified areas if adopted.

“We need the directed growth boundaries. We need to be practical – we can’t supply infrastructure willy-nilly. This plan shows target areas and will help contain costs for services like water, sewer, schools and police. It also allows for new forms that may emerge in coming years.

The original legislation that set up the Maui Island Plan called for two broad land use categories: Urban and Rural.

But as the plan evolved many other categories were added. These include Country Town, Rural Service Center and Rural Residential. There are four categories of protection types: Preservation, Regional Park, Greenbelt, Greenway and Sensitive Land. In addition, there are three overlays for agricultural lands: Prime Ag, Community Ag and Grazing.

De Naie said that while Urban and Rural were the only two categories specifically mentioned in enabling legislation, the GPAC felt more categories were necessary and would beneficial.

Urban growth boundaries, the hard and fast limits set around development in each geographic region, she said are essential because “they designate the limits of all the various communities. We wanted separation, we didn’t want sprawl.”

As for the many very detailed maps, she pointed out that the council adopted the policy portion of the Island Plan in 2010. “You have the words, now you need the pictures. The maps are the pictures.”