At a Sept. 24 luncheon in Kahului, Grassroot experts will explain how lawmakers can speed up recovery and boost housing stock

Learn about ways Maui County can support more homebuilding

from Grassroot Institute

How to help displaced Lahaina residents find new housing — and help Maui County reduce its housing shortage in general — will be the topic of an upcoming event on Maui sponsored by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii.

The featured speakers at the Sept. 24 luncheon in Kahului will be Grassroot staffers Keli‘i Akina, president and CEO; Joe Kent, executive vice president; and Ted Kefalas, director of strategic campaigns. Akina will also serve as the moderator.

The presentation will focus on policy suggestions outlined in Grassroot’s recently published report, “Six ways to speed up the recovery and rebuilding of Lahaina,” which has been shared directly with all county, state and federal officials involved in West Maui’s recovery efforts following last year’s devastating wildfires that destroyed about 3,000 homes.

In particular, the report recommends waiving permitting fees, expediting permits in special management areas, granting nonprofit organizations exemptions from certain building and zoning rules, and allowing reconstruction of nonconforming buildings.

Earlier this year, after Gov. Josh Green released the Maui Interim Housing Plan, Grassroot sent a four-page memo to government officials suggesting five additional policies that could benefit Maui’s displaced residents, including expanding Maui’s emergency permitting statute, which the Maui County Council approved in March.

Also at the Sept. 24 luncheon, Akina, Kent and Kefalas will discuss Grassroot’s upcoming report “How fixes to Maui’s water-fixture policy could ease its housing crisis,” subtitled “Residents have been getting hosed by outdated plumbing rules and fees.”

To learn more about how to more quickly help Lahaina and other Maui residents find new housing, please attend the luncheon on Tuesday, Sept. 24, at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center, 1 Cameron Way, from noon to 1 p.m. Doors will open at 11:30 a.m. Admission is $10 and includes a light lunch and parking.

To register for the event, go here. For additional information, please call Sean Mitsui at 808-864-1776 or email info@grassrootinstitute.org.

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MN: Grassroot Institute to host event on Lahaina rebuilding and Maui’s housing shortage : Maui Now