Kihei Community Association planning discussion shifts to controversial Kihei mall. “Whether we like it or not, they have legal entitlements to develop it.”

April 26, 2012

Tom Blackburn-Rodriguez , The Maui Weekly

The community maps were on the wall. Audience surveys were handed out. Environmental advocates were prepared to speak and answer questions.

Everything was set for an educational panel discussion on the South Maui element of the Maui Island Plan at the Tuesday, April 17, meeting of the Kihei Community Association (KCA). Maui County Planning Director Will Spence and Senior Planner John Summers gave brief presentations on the background of the plan, and Land Use Planner Bill Frampton provided an informative PowerPoint presentation on small town development principles and on the growth of Kihei from 1933 to the present.

It was all going according to plan–until Kihei resident Tom Kelly stood up to ask Spence why the Eclipse Development Group was being allowed to build a huge mall above Pi’ilani Highway when no one wanted it.

Kelly’s question generated sustained applause from the more than 100 attendees, and at that point, the meeting’s schedule was thrown out the window as additional questions were asked and answers demanded from panel members Spence and South Maui County Councilmember Don Couch.

 

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