Survivors of the Aug. 8, 2023, Lahaina wildfire expressed both clear and often conflicting opinions on how to rebuild the historic fishing village, with many participants in community engagement sessions on long-term recovery calling for better communications and other technological upgrades to respond to future emergencies, climate change and sea-level rise.
Much of the community input focused on the need to increase affordable housing on an island that already needed more housing long before the fires destroyed nearly 3,000 structures, most of them homes, and killed 102 people.
The comments follow an extensive outreach through online surveys in multiple languages, in-person interviews and community forums, including translators, that Maui County officials conducted from September 2023 through July and have been summarized in the county’s initial report of Maui’s long-term recovery planning process.
The report does not call for specific details on what lies ahead for West Maui and merely summarizes the community feedback that county officials received.
In the aftermath of the fires, Gov. Josh Green and Maui Mayor Richard Bissen repeatedly have said that Lahaina will be rebuilt only in the way that residents want.
So the report released Friday offers an initial blueprint for what Lahaina could look like in the future.
Community input, according to the report, “will help inform and guide Local, State and Federal decision makers supporting the recovery effort. This first phase of community engagement has provided Lahaina residents and stakeholders with an outlet to express their values, vision and priorities for recovery. These efforts have also achieved the goal of capturing diverse perspectives and identifying gaps and opportunities to engage Lahaina stakeholders further in the design and development of particular recovery focus areas.”
County officials emphasized that the report will be updated following more community feedback in the years ahead.
Some clear, common themes emerged, including “Prioritize local voices in the rebuilding of Lahaina,” “Let the people of Lahaina lead” and “Lahaina should feel like a home for locals while welcoming visitors.”
“Overall,” according to the summary, “most residents want to restore their neighborhoods to the way they were not only in design but within the same spirit of Aloha and community cohesion they enjoyed for generations before.”
At the same, they also want Lahaina rebuilt to modern construction standards while also preparing for climate change and sea-level rise.
There were lots of ideas to address Maui’s housing shortage, especially after housing costs have shot up following the fires.
Some people want to ban short-term vacation rentals in neighborhoods and in Lahaina town, increase taxes on landlords who own second homes on Maui, exempt renters from paying general excise taxes and provide overall tax relief for Lahaina residents.
There were also repeated calls to create more affordable housing in general, but specifically for senior citizens.
“Residents provided many suggestions such as encouraging fee simple affordable housing incentives and affordable housing grants to help housing remain affordable in perpetuity,” according to the report. “Other suggestions included developing a program to help finance affordable housing for teachers, emergency workers and other essential services personnel. Developing duplexes, triplexes and different types of housing structures for renters at affordable and controlled rents was a critical need highlighted by residents who wanted to continue living in Maui, but were concerned over the increasing costs of rentals. Increasing access to more affordable single and multi- family housing options in different design styles; building inland and using more fire-resistant construction materials, were high priorities for communities overall.”
The consensus of opinions call for Lahaina to be rebuilt with an emphasis on its historical background and Native Hawaiian culture as the original seat of the kingdom of Hawaii.
The issue of parking, in particular, led to many disagreements, such as whether to ban parking along Front Street, close it to traffic altogether or require homeowners to accommodate more parking on their properties, which some argued could reduce livable square footage.
Some want to widen specific streets and make Front Street and others one-way only.
“Residents commented how Lahaina streets used to be overcrowded during peak season with an overflow of rental cars and tour buses going to and from the harbor, making it dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists,” according to the report.
“Communities emphasized that moving parking outside of Lahaina town and offering shuttle services, will benefit both locals and visitors and improve overall public street safety. Other locals suggested incorporating a West Maui transit center within the same location to provide affordable and alternative transportation options for residents and the local workforce. It would also give young people and kupuna greater independence and help reduce the island’s carbon footprint. This change would also create more open spaces in town, free up parking spaces for residents and substantially reduce congestion in the core area of Lahaina.”
Many people urged burying utility lines underground after the fires were sparked by an overloaded utility pole that snapped in high winds, igniting overgrown foliage on the mauka end of Lahaina near Lahainaluna High School.
The topic of “under grounding” utility lines represented “the most frequently mentioned desire,” according to the report.
More evacuation routes are needed on Maui, people said, especially around the three schools at the top of Lahainaluna Road where the fires started, then raced makai all the way to Front Street.
In the panic and with escape routes blocked, there was no way to flee Lahaina from Front Street.
So dozens of people abandoned their vehicles and jumped into the ocean as ashes rained down on them for hours as boats exploded around them.
There were calls to rename Front Street to a Hawaiian name and create a “dos and don’ts” “rules guide” for Lahaina town.
“There was an overall agreement that Lahaina should not exclude tourism entirely, but rather improve the way tourists respectfully interact with people and the environment,” according to the report. “Providing more cultural education, ensuring beach access, reducing short-term rentals, and supporting more mom-and-pop types of businesses, were other recovery initiatives suggested by locals.”
But property owners along coastal areas had different perspectives on what they should do as Lahaina rebuilds.
“Some owners were willing to absorb the risks posed by climate change and were ready to rebuild their homes with better mitigation measures and insurance,” according to the report. “Other property owners did not want to rebuild and were willing to consider participating in government buy-out programs and discussing their relocation options but lacked information.”
Following poor communication and information as the fires broke out, residents repeatedly pleaded for more advanced communications technology and plans to address water shortages “to help eliminate or decrease the potential of systemic failures in future disasters,” according to the report.
“Cell service outages during the August 8 wildfires worsened the emergency and hampered evacuation efforts. This includes both improved and more resilient cell phone service and establishment of backup emergency communications systems such as Starlink and microwave radio.”
Many residents want so-called “green” technologies to better prepare Lahaina for future emergencies, diversify Maui’s tourist economy and provide new job opportunities for young people.
“Stakeholders emphasized the importance of diversifying the economy and lessening the dependence on tourism without sacrificing local jobs,” according to the report.
In a statement announcing the release of the report, Bissen said:
“In the wake of our town’s devastating loss, this recovery plan represents not just a path forward, but a collective vision for our future. It’s crucial that every Lahaina voice is heard in this process – your input will be the cornerstone of our restoration. Together, we will rebuild not just our homes, but our community — and this plan will help ensure that our healing is guided by the needs of our residents.”
