Last week, the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for developer Jesse Spencer’s Ohana Kai Village affordable housing project in Maalaea was released. Spencer says it’ll provide homes for low income residents while maintaining respect for open space; critics say it’s just more sprawl and that it could snarl traffic on the already congested Honoapiilani Highway.
Here are some key details from the EIS:
• The project would contain 1,100 units, with 60 percent designated as affordable housing for families earning between 81 and 140 percent of median income.
• The proposed site is 257 acres zoned for ag, located northwest of Maalaea Harbor. Approximately 197 acres would be used for the residential units, with the remainder of the land containing a wastewater treatment plant, as well as parks, open space and collector roads.
• Spencer is seeking “exemptions from certain regulatory and statutory requirements relating to land use, construction, subdivision, public services, and infrastructure and administrative procedures,” under a state law designed to encourage the development of affordable housing.
• The project’s cost is estimated at $400 million. Spencer claims construction could begin within six months of state approval and would last about eight years.
• Public comments are being accepted through February 6. Send them to the Department of Housing and Human Concerns c/o Deputy Director Jo-Ann Ridao, 2200 Main St., One Main Plaza Building, St. 546, Wailuku, HI, 96793; and Munekiyo & Hiraga Inc. c/o project manager Mark Alexander Roy, 305 High St., St. 104, Wailuku, HI 96793. The EIS is available at oeqc.doh.hawaii.gov. Jacob Shafer, MauiTime
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