The state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands wants to build the Village 1-B Subdivision, which will consist of 250 single-family homes and multifamily units located on 51 acres above the Lahaina Civic Center, which is north of the existing Villages of Leiali’i Village 1-A Subdivision.

The new housing units will be made available to DHHL Native Hawaiian beneficiaries currently on the wait list for a residential lease on Maui, according to the draft environmental assessment released late last month in the state Office of Planning and Sustainable Development’s “The Environmental Notice.”

The waitlist as of June 30, 2021 stands at approximately 3,891 Maui beneficiaries, according to the draft assessment.

The proposed project will be developed in two parts. Increment 1 will consist of 86 single-family units while increment 2 will consist of single-family lots, multifamily units or a combination of both.

A conceptual site plan illustrates the 250 single-family homes and multifamily units to be included in the $75 million proposed Village 1-B Subdivision in the Villages of Leiali‘i project in Lahaina.

The final unit count and product mix for increment 2 has not been determined; however, it will not exceed 164 units, or the entire project’s 250 total units.

Each of the single-family lots will be about 7,500 square feet, with a minimum lot area of 5,000 square feet. The single-family lots will feature six different model types that will provide three or four bedrooms and two to three bathrooms, and will range in living area between 1,088 square feet to 1,674 square feet.

The multifamily units will be housed in one- or two-story buildings and will have two or four bedrooms and one to two bathrooms.

Parking for single-family homes will be provided in attached garages, while parking for any multifamily units to be developed will be in paved parking areas.

The Villages of Leiali’i was originally proposed by the state Housing and Finance Development Corporation in 1990 as a master-planned community of 3,800 to 4,800 homes on about 1,120 acres of land, according to DHHL documents. Village 1-A included 104 house/lot packages and was fully occupied by December 2007.

Both Village 1-A and Village 1-B were acquired by DHHL from the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation in the early 2000s. The report notes that HHFDC still owns the lands mauka of Village 1-A and Village 1-B, which has been slated for a separate master-planned community, also referred to as the Villages of Leiali’i.

In order to develop the proposed 1-B subdivision, off-site improvements to Honoapiilani Highway and Leiali’i Parkway are required. This involves restriping and relocation of traffic signals at the Honoapiilani Highway and Leiali’i Parkway intersection, widening of Leiali’i Parkway from two lanes to four lanes and any other improvements needed to eventually license Leiali’i Parkway to the county.

Currently, Leiali’i Parkway is a collector road that provides access to the Lahaina Civic Center, Lahaina Fire and Police Station and the U.S. Post Office. The roadway between Kaahi Street and the dead end on the mauka side is paved for four lanes already with a median divided, but only two lanes south of the median are currently in use, with the other two northernmost lanes blocked.

Related off-site improvements include the development of two new retention basins and grading and development of interceptor ditches to collect and drain water. Outlet drainage pipes in an existing off-site retention basin will be adjusted, and the retention basin will be enlarged.

Water is often in question for new developments located in a hot, dry area like Lahaina. The property will be serviced from the existing Department of Water Supply’s Lahaina water system and Wahikuli Reservoir that is supplied by groundwater wells and treated surface water. The average daily demand for increment 1 would be 51,600 gallons per day.

Increment 2 will be above 130 feet elevation and will be serviced by a new off-site, 500,000-gallon water storage reservoir located at an approximate elevation of 370 feet, which is being developed as part of a separate regional water system improvements project in Lahaina, according to the report.

The anticipated water demands for this section range from 85,500 to 137,800 gpd depending on the quantity of units decided by developers.

New on-site distribution water lines, as well as gravity sewer collection lines, will be constructed within the roadways of the project.

The Village 1-B Subdivision project will use state lands and funds, and is anticipated to be ready by 2030. Total construction cost is estimated at $75 million, including $16 million for off-site improvements, $29 million for increment 1 and $30 million for increment 2.

Written comments on the project are due by Jan. 23 by emailing [email protected] and copying consultant firm Munekiyo Hiraga at [email protected].

To view the full project documents in “The Environmental Notice,” visit files.hawaii.gov/dbedt/erp/The_Environmental_Notice/2022-12-23-TEN.pdf.

* Dakota Grossman can be reached at [email protected].

SOURCE LINK: https://www.mauinews.com/news/local-news/2023/01/next-phase-of-the-villages-of-leialii-housing-project-calls-for-250-units/