Rebuilding of Lahaina’s historic Front Street clears major hurdle for property owners
LAHAINA (HawaiiNewsNow) - More than a hundred businesses and five hundred homes destroyed by the 2023 Maui wildfires are one step closer to rebuilding.
Wednesday night, the county announced Gov. Josh Green has agreed to waive Special Management Area (SMA) permits.
The state has required SMA permits along shorelines for 50 years; getting one approved can take up to six months.
Those permits are now no longer needed for the more than 600 property owners waiting to rebuild Mauka of Front Street.
The county’s deputy managing director said it’s a move to keep residents in the area.
“A major part of keeping our people and community together but that also means that we need economic recovery to occur too to help provide income and steady source of employment for our residents,” said Erin Wade.
The waiver comes too late for the owners of Front Street Italian restaurant, ‘Sale Pepe.’
They made the decision to relocate to Emerald Plaza and hope to reopen in March.
“We were hearing projections of five-to-10 years for Lahaina to be rebuilt and that was pretty daunting,” said Qiana Di Bari. “We did not have the revenue to sit and wait. We want people to see that this is possible, the more of us that take the leap.”
However, taking the leap will still take work as officials keep other requirements in place.
“This doesn’t just give a free pass to everyone. The historic preservation rules are still in place. The flood rules in place. All the building permit stuff all still necessary,” said John Smith with Maui County’s Office of Recovery.
Buildings Makai of Front Street will still need SMA permits.
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