Mike Foley (former Planning Director) shared this powerful testimony with the General Plan Committee at February 2 meeting:
When we started the Update of the General Plan I told the County Council that in my 38 years of planning experience I had never before seen a General Plan without maps. A General Plan that doesn’t include maps is worthless and won’t be used.
An island wide plan is needed for Maui island because many issues, such as water supply, cross Community Plan boundaries. The Maui Island Plan will serve as a foundation for Maui’s Community Plans.
The growth boundaries are, in my opinion, the most important part of the Maui Island Plan because they will direct future development to areas with existing infrastructure such as water supply, sewage disposal, roads, fire stations, schools, and most important, JOBS.
The Planning Department staff asked Maui developers and major property owners to submit their preliminary plans for review. The County’s consultants and Planning staff evaluated many project plans. The plan for Olowalu finished last because it was far from jobs and infrastructure. The State cannot afford to build AND STAFF schools, and Maui County cannot afford to build AND STAFF new fire stations.
The Council should also consider that there are already thousands of housing units entitled that have not been built.
I realize that the Planning Committee will not be reviewing growth boundaries today, so I will offer a general statement. The growth boundary maps before you would allow too much development in West Maui and South Maui. The most appropriate location for most new development is Central Maui.
Please leave in the Country Town designations for communities such as Paia, Haiku and Makawao. We need maps showing greenbelts separating our towns and greenways to link towns with paths for bicycles.
Please respect the hard work done on the Maui Island Plan by Focus Maui Nui, the General Plan Advisory Committee, the Maui Planning Commission and the hundreds of Maui citizens that have testified concerning the Plan.
Four additional comments not in my testimony:
For developments proposed in remote areas (such as Olowalu) the solution is NOT allowing private water companies and private sewage treatment systems. We have seen that these facilities are very expensive to maintain and sometimes fail, leaving Maui County to come to the rescue.
Words that strengthen the Plan’s policies are “shall”, “will” and “must”. Words that weaken the policies are “consider”, “should”, “study” and “may”.
The Maui Island Plan should include detailed maps that direct future growth. It will unfortunately be years before the Community Plans can be updated.
Please schedule special meetings to conclude the Council’s work on the Maui Island Plan so that it can be adopted prior to the Council election.
Thank you very much for your hard work. Mike Foley
| Mary Traynor | 9:04am Feb 10 |
When we started the Update of the General Plan I told the County Council that in my 38 years of planning experience I had never before seen a General Plan without maps. A General Plan that doesn’t include maps is worthless and won’t be used.
An island wide plan is needed for Maui island because many issues, such as water supply, cross Community Plan boundaries. The Maui Island Plan will serve as a foundation for Maui’s Community Plans.
The growth boundaries are, in my opinion, the most important part of the Maui Island Plan because they will direct future development to areas with existing infrastructure such as water supply, sewage disposal, roads, fire stations, schools, and most important, JOBS.
The Planning Department staff asked Maui developers and major property owners to submit their preliminary plans for review. The County’s consultants and Planning staff evaluated many project plans. The plan for Olowalu finished last because it was far from jobs and infrastructure. The State cannot afford to build AND STAFF schools, and Maui County cannot afford to build AND STAFF new fire stations.
The Council should also consider that there are already thousands of housing units entitled that have not been built.
I realize that the Planning Committee will not be reviewing growth boundaries today, so I will offer a general statement. The growth boundary maps before you would allow too much development in West Maui and South Maui. The most appropriate location for most new development is Central Maui.
Please leave in the Country Town designations for communities such as Paia, Haiku and Makawao. We need maps showing greenbelts separating our towns and greenways to link towns with paths for bicycles.
Please respect the hard work done on the Maui Island Plan by Focus Maui Nui, the General Plan Advisory Committee, the Maui Planning Commission and the hundreds of Maui citizens that have testified concerning the Plan.
Four additional comments not in my testimony:
For developments proposed in remote areas (such as Olowalu) the solution is NOT allowing private water companies and private sewage treatment systems. We have seen that these facilities are very expensive to maintain and sometimes fail, leaving Maui County to come to the rescue.
Words that strengthen the Plan’s policies are “shall”, “will” and “must”. Words that weaken the policies are “consider”, “should”, “study” and “may”.
The Maui Island Plan should include detailed maps that direct future growth. It will unfortunately be years before the Community Plans can be updated.
Please schedule special meetings to conclude the Council’s work on the Maui Island Plan so that it can be adopted prior to the Council election.
Thank you very much for your hard work. Mike Foley
