Paia Town has a new neighbor–a big one. In December, Alexander & Baldwin quietly sold a 339-acre parcel of land that cups the entire west side of Paia to a California businessman for just $9.9 million, or a little more than $29,000 per acre. Located across the street from the Paia Youth & Cultural Center, the parcel runs along the Hana Highway from the west boundary of … [Read more...] about Alexander and Baldwin quietly sells 339 acres of Paia cane land to mainland businessman
Maui Island Plan
UPDATED: New book ‘Tourism Impacts West Maui’ provides radical alternative to ‘official’ Lahaina history
Living for hundreds of years with the self-sufficient ahupua`a land-tenure system and a communal subsistence economy, Hawaiians, particularly commoners, were unaccustomed to the concept of fee simple land ownership. This unfamiliarity, coupled with numerous legal and logistical constraints, led to foreign acquisition of large amounts of land intended for Native Hawaiians. Many … [Read more...] about UPDATED: New book ‘Tourism Impacts West Maui’ provides radical alternative to ‘official’ Lahaina history
CORRECTED: Former Maui County Planning Dept. staffer says community planning process isn’t ‘broken’
Earlier this month, Maui County Planning Department Director Will Spence and Deputy Director Michele McLean signed an op-ed in The Maui News saying the county would soon seek changes to the law governing community plans. This came a few weeks after The Maui News reported on a memo it had obtained from Mayor Alan Arakawa saying that the whole planning process was “broken.” On … [Read more...] about CORRECTED: Former Maui County Planning Dept. staffer says community planning process isn’t ‘broken’
Maui County Planning Officials say they want to change ‘the process’ of crafting community plans
When Alexander & Baldwin announced back in January that they would close their Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar (HC&S) mill in Pu`unene–the last operating sugar mill in the state of Hawaii–nervous eyes looked around the island. What would become of the land? they asked. Company officials announced that some manner of "diversified agriculture" would be their prime focus, … [Read more...] about Maui County Planning Officials say they want to change ‘the process’ of crafting community plans
Why Maui County Mayor Alan Arakawa’s decision to suspend community plans may be a bad idea
Looks like Maui County Mayor Alan Arakawa has decided to “suspend” all of the county Planning Department’s work on community plans, The Maui News reported on Oct. 16. According to the paper, “long-range planners have temporarily stopped doing preliminary work on the West Maui Community Plan update.” The reason? Both Arakawa and Maui County Council Planning Committee chairperson … [Read more...] about Why Maui County Mayor Alan Arakawa’s decision to suspend community plans may be a bad idea