Aloha State News

(Wailuku, Maui) – The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) has published a final Environmental Assessment (EA) with a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for a 500,000-gallon concrete water storage tank and related improvements in Waikapu, District of Wailuku, Maui Island.

This new water storage tank will interconnect with the existing County of Maui’s Kehalani Mid-Level Water Distribution System and allow the Department of Water Supply to provide water service to DHHL’s upcoming Puʻunani Homestead Subdivision in Central Maui.

A review of the significant criteria outlined in HRS Chapter 343 and HAR Section 11-200.1-13 on the redevelopment of the property has been determined to not result in significant adverse effects on the natural or human environment.

The Hawaiian Homes Commission (HHC) evaluated the EA and issued a FONSI determination at its September 2022 HHC meeting held in Lahaina, Maui. The final EA and FONSI will appear in the Environmental Review Program’s The Environmental Notice on October 8, 2022.

The draft EA was presented to HHC and published in The Environmental Notice periodical in July 2022. The 30-day public comment period ended on August 22, 2022. The comments received were non-substantive in nature as the same agencies and organizations were previously consulted during the Final EA process for the Subdivision that was published in November 2020.

“Off-site infrastructure improvements like this water tank are necessary for developing new homestead communities,” said Deputy to the Chair Tyler Iokepa Gomes. “Completing this EA ensures the DHHL’s future central Maui homestead community will have adequate potable water service and gets us one step closer to beginning construction on this project.”

In June 2019, DHHL acquired an approximately 48-acre parcel in Waikapū that would become the future Puʻunani Homestead Subdivision based on an agreement to transfer Affordable Housing Credits to the developer. The development implements the recommendation of DHHL’s 2004 Maui Island Plan to acquire land in Central Maui for residential homesteads.

The Puʻunani Subdivision is anticipated to be comprised of a maximum of 161 Residential lots, including 137 Turn-key single-family homes and 24 Vacant lots. The Turn-key homes are currently anticipated to range from approximately 1,088 square feet to 1,674 square feet in size and feature six model types with three to four bedrooms and two or three bath options.

Infrastructure improvements will include internal roadways, curbs, gutters and sidewalks, a drainage detention basin, grading, water, sewer, drainage, utility connections, walls, fences, landscaping improvements, as well as roadway frontage improvements along Honoapiʻilani Highway. In addition, Honoapiʻilani Highway will undergo widening at the project’s entrances for the provision of turning lanes, a median refuge lane, the maintenance of an existing bike lane, and sight distance requirements.

Upon project competition, the Residential lots will be offered to Waiohuli Undivided Interest lessees in their original selection order based on a 2019 HHC decision allowing the relocation of these leases. Any remaining lots will be offered to the Maui Island Residential Waiting List.

To review the water storage tank final EA, visit dhhl.hawaii.gov/po/maui.

Original source can be found here.