Maui's Planning Commission must go back and decide whether a 670-acre South Maui housing project needs a new environmental review, after the Hawaiʻi Intermediate Court of Appeals ruled the commission used the wrong legal standard when it approved the project's second phase in 2022. The August 6 decision centers on Honuaʻula, the master-planned community on the southeast flank of Haleakalā formerly known as Wailea 670, where the original environmental impact statement dates back to 2012.
According to Maui Now, the appeals court found that the Planning Commission should have determined whether Honuaʻula had substantively changed in size, scope, intensity, use, location, or timing since that 2012 review, rather than simply concluding a supplemental study wasn't required because county law didn't explicitly mandate one. That distinction matters under Hawaiʻi Administrative Rules § 11-200.1-30, which holds that an accepted environmental impact statement stays valid only as long as a project doesn't substantively change — otherwise a supplemental EIS must be accepted before further approvals can stand, according to the Hawaiʻi State Department of Health.
The case traces back to November 2022, when the Planning Commission unanimously approved Honuaʻula Partners LLC's preliminary site plan after months of hearings, per the report. Community groups Hoʻoponopono o Mākena and Maui Tomorrow Foundation appealed that approval, and a Second Circuit Court judge upheld it in 2024 before the case reached the appellate panel of presiding judge Clyde Wadsworth and associate judges Kimberly Guidry and Daniel Gluck.
How the Project Has Shrunk and Shifted
Honuaʻula's footprint has changed considerably since the Maui County Council first granted Phase I conditional zoning approval in April 2008 under Ordinance 3553, which capped the project at 1,400 total residential units split between 700 market-rate homes and 700 workforce units alongside an 18-hole golf course, according to the Maui Tomorrow Foundation. In September 2024, Honuaʻula Partners formally applied to amend Ordinances 3553, 3554, and 4849 to drop the golf course requirement and adjust workforce housing terms, a filing detailed by the Maui County Planning Department.
The Maui County Council amended those ordinances in August 2025, removing the golf course requirement entirely and setting a minimum of 288 workforce housing units, according to the Maui Now report. Honuaʻula now has several hundred fewer market-rate units than originally planned, and the appeals court ruled that the disputes over housing unit counts and the golf course were moot given the 2025 ordinance changes. The project as it now stands includes a first responders' memorial park, a joint police and fire station, and a cultural center, alongside offsite improvements such as widening Piʻilani Highway.
Drainage Plan and Due Process Claims Rejected
The appellate judges sided with the Planning Commission on several other fronts. They found the commission did not improperly delegate its authority to the developer, and they rejected claims that the commission violated due process by allowing updated drainage plans shortly before a contested case hearing. The commission had found the developer's drainage plan complied with the project's conditions of approval, and expert testimony cited by Maui Now indicated the plan provided more capacity than Maui County required.
Cal Chipchase, an attorney for Honuaʻula, said the appellate decision largely affirms the Planning Commission and validates its work. He said he looks forward to the hearing before the commission and believes existing environmental and cultural studies support a finding that further environmental review isn't required. Chipchase added that the project will provide substantial community benefits for South Maui, and that the commission must now determine whether a supplemental environmental impact statement should be prepared.
Community Groups Call It a Vindication
Attorneys for the community groups framed the ruling differently. Lance Collins, who represented the groups alongside Ryan Hurley and Bianca Isaki, said the groups are gratified that the court recognized the commission got it wrong. Isaki said the ruling requires the commission to decide whether the changed project needs updated environmental review before its approval can stand.
Maile Luʻuwai, president of Hoʻoponopono o Mākena, said significant development changes should not bypass environmental review. Her group and Maui Tomorrow Foundation are evaluating whether to seek further review from the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court, according to the Maui Now report. The County of Maui said it does not comment on pending litigation.
What's at Stake on the Slopes of Haleakalā
The 670-acre site sits across four traditional ahupuaʻa — Paeahu, Palauea, Keauhou, and Honuaʻula — where archaeological surveys have documented ancient habitation sites, dryland agricultural complexes, stepping-stone trails, and burial grounds, according to the Kīpaipai Community Archaeology Program. A 2012 legal challenge from the Sierra Club and Maui Unite over the project's original environmental review resulted in a settlement requiring the developer to set aside more than 160 acres for native forest and archaeological conservation, per the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi.
The land also holds remnant wiliwili dryland forest that serves as habitat for the endangered ʻāwikiwiki vine, Blackburn's sphinx moth, and the nēnē, or Hawaiian goose, requiring a 130-to-134-acre Native Plant Preservation Area under a state-monitored Habitat Conservation Plan, according to the Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources. Infrastructure reviews filed with county planners also show the development carries major regional impacts, including traffic mitigation along Piʻilani Highway and stormwater management on Haleakalā's slopes.
If the Planning Commission determines on remand that a supplemental environmental review is warranted, Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes Chapter 343 requires the developer to draft a new environmental document subject to public notice, a comment period, and formal agency acceptance before Phase II site plan approval can proceed. That process could delay the project for years, while a finding that no supplemental review is needed would likely draw another appeal to the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court from the community groups.
The reconsideration also lands amid a broader Maui County push on housing affordability, including the Planning Commission's July 2024 decision to phase out 7,000 short-term rentals in apartment zones by 2029. That debate over balancing visitor accommodations against resident housing needs has continued to shape commission decisions on other South Maui projects, including its Grand Wailea expansion approval earlier this year.
