Building in Kihei’s Wetlands again?

UPDATE Councilman Don Couch advised the KCA last evening (4/17/12) that it would be next to impossible to build anything at this corner due to required permitting issues. Earlier this month, Mayor Arakawa advised the KCA that the County had no interest in purchasing it to prevent commercial building.

UPDATE: While Kihei only experienced some showers in the afternoon/evening of Tuesday (3/6/12) with little effect, this notorious cornerat Kaonoulu shows flooding on Wednesday morning, unlike any other  location observed in No Kihei, including the section of SKR in area of the monkey pod trees. Why would anyone responsible build here?

A concerned community member alerted the KCA to proposed residential development at what may be the single most flood prone intersection along the shoreline at Kaonoulu. When asked about flooding in Kihei, Mayor Arakawa recently stated that this is what can happen when you build extensively in a wetland, and mentioned about buying back some shoreline properties for demolition, to allow the land to return to its natural state.

This parcel, opposite the Maui Lu resort, on the SE corner of the intersection at So. Kihei Road, is still marked as a native plant restoration area and sits directly makai of a gulch which channels rainfall through the ahupua’a to the kai.