State Land Use Commission members reversed themselves Thursday, unanimously approving a state land-use reclassification from agricultural to urban for the 68-lot Kahoma affordable housing project.
The commission members’ action came after they agreed last month to reconsider their Dec. 5 vote. In that vote, developer West Maui Land Co. received four votes in favor of its petition – two short of the six required for a state land reclassification.
Factors that led to the reconsideration included new information. First, that the Maui County Council had approved the Maui Island Plan on Dec. 21. The plan calls for an affordable housing development on the project site, calling it an “in-fill planned growth area” that is “surrounded by previously developed lands.” Secondly, on Nov. 25, the county adopted best management practices for storm water quality that would be applied to drainage plans for the Kahoma project.
