Helton highlights ongoing roadblocks to rebuilding in Lahaina

from Grassroot Institute of Hawaii

More than 200 homes have been rebuilt in Lahaina after the devastating 2023 wildfires, but the recovery for commercial and multifamily structures remains bleak, according to Grassroot Institute of Hawaii policy analyst Jonathan Helton.

Speaking with H. Hawaii Media radio host Johnny Miro on Sunday, Aug. 2, Helton said work has been completed on only 13 non-residential permits, and fewer than 30 have been issued.

He told Miro it “was news to me” when Maui County officials praised Lahaina’s commercial rebuilding progress during a July 1 community meeting, so he reviewed the permits they touted and found that one approved only site work at a former gas station, while the other was for a Taco Bell rebuild fast-tracked under a 2024 law that allowed the restaurant’s 2022 plans to be resubmitted.

Helton identified regulatory uncertainty as the central obstacle to rebuilding, citing the special management area permitting process as a particularly stubborn barrier. Depending on which side of Front Street a property sits on, owners could be required to navigate several hearings that invite opposition and cause lengthy delays, he said. 

Compounding the problem, Helton said, is that many property owners cannot produce their original building plans because their properties are decades old or the records they did have were destroyed in the fires. 

Helton also said the County still has not waived permit fees for rebuilding, which Grassroot has been recommending since the early days of recovery. Doing so would be “a sign of goodwill that the County really wants people to be able to return,” he said. Plus, “when you’re talking about rebuilding a business that might cost several million dollars, those permit fees add up.”

Helton’s advice to Maui residents still on the sidelines is to not keep waiting — start submitting permit applications and engaging with the county to help surface more systemic problems that need fixing. “If a lot of permits are submitted at once and they’re all running into the same problem … then the County knows this is something they need to address,” he said.