Maui Council doing right thing to support ‘by right’ food truck bill

by Ahryanna McGuirk, Grassroot Institute, July 3, 2025

It has been part of Maui’s Countywide Policy Plan for years that local lawmakers “support opportunities for local merchants, farmers and small businesses to sell their goods and services directly to the public.”

But in 2023, the Maui Planning Department called that ideal into question by banning local farmers from operating food trucks on their own lands in agricultural zoning districts without a special-use permit.

Now there is a bill before the Maui County Council, Bill 76 (2025), introduced by Councilmember Gabe Johnson, that would right that wrong. Intended to restore the ability of farmers to more easily sell their harvests, create jobs and support their communities, it was approved by the full Council on first reading on Monday, June 30, and needs one more favorable Council vote before going to Mayor Richard Bissen for approval.

Before the Planning Department’s rule change, Maui County residents could operate food trucks “by right” on their own properties in agricultural districts. But the department decided that mobile food trucks didn’t comply with the language of the law, which refers to agricultural product stands and food establishments of up to 1,000 square feet.

So now, farmers must obtain a special-use permit to legally operate food trucks on their own properties. Such permits cost $3,680, and may require tens of thousands of dollars more to retain consultants or legal assistance to help navigate the application procedure. They also often take several months to be processed, and being issued one is not guaranteed, so the process also involves a lot of uncertainty.

At a Council committee hearing on June 5, Syd Smith, chair of the Maui Agriculture Working Group, said, “This new unwritten policy was devastating to our producers that invested in these very expensive food trucks.”

Gale Ashby of Pe’ahi Dragon Fruit Farm in Haiku testified that his business lost 75% of its income after he was forced to close his food truck.

“We would have to sell the farm unless something changes,” he said.

And Jacob Williams, co-owner of Hana Harvest, testified that being forced to stop operating his food truck hurt local farmers and families beyond his own.

“We had up to 35 different farmers that we sourced from, six different employees,” he said. “(Yet,) overnight, I had to cut my employees. … I had to stop ordering from all the farms who had always expected a weekly order from me. … It was pretty devastating, and not just to me.”

Some Maui residents have expressed concern that allowing food trucks to operate on agricultural lands would commercialize these areas. But food trucks are already allowed; it’s just that now they have to go through a costly, burdensome and unnecessary special-use permitting process to do so.

Eve Hogan, owner of The Sacred Garden of Maliko, pointed out that the only difference between a food truck and a product stand “is the structure that the food is sold out of, not the business itself.”

She added: “Every single one of us eats — not just the tourists. The food trucks and farm stands feed locals too by supporting farming.”

If enacted, Bill 76 (2025) will restore the ability to operate food trucks on Maui and Lanai “by right,” and restore income opportunities for local farmers — just as Maui’s Countywide Policy Plan has long encouraged.