Summary of Maui Tomorrow’s Comments on the Draft Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Hotel Wailuku

Proposed Hotel Wailuku

Since the proposed Hotel Wailuku project will have many significant impacts on the environment, an Environmental Assessment is not appropriate, and an Environmental Impact Statement is required instead.

Following are some of the document’s failures to disclose significant impacts:

  • The document fails to disclose all historic properties that may be affected. 
  • The proposed off-site sewer line will involve digging in the culturally sensitive Puʻuone sand dunes, where many iwi kūpuna have been found before. Any disturbance is significant, and this cannot be avoided, even with archaeological monitoring. 
  • Overtourism and cumulative impacts of the Hotel Wailuku and other planned hotels need to be examined. 
  • The proposed hotel will create adverse traffic impacts. 
    • Hotel guests crossing Maluhia Drive on foot from the guest parking lot would create a dangerous conflict with traffic that is headed north on Maluhia to access the residences and businesses on that road. 
    • Exiting hotel guests may turn right on Maluhia instead of left and proceed north through the very narrow residential/business street to Central Avenue.
    • The Environmental Assessment needs to discuss the potential for congestion on surrounding roads if many guests arrive together, and/or during times of heavy school traffic.
    • The guest parking lot on Main Street will dominate the streetscape, in violation of the Wailuku Redevelopment Area Design Guidelines. 
    • The proposed widening of Maluhia Drive would also violate the Wailuku Redevelopment Area Design Guidelines, which discourage street widening. 
  • The proposed hotel will block views of ‘Īao Valley and the Pacific Ocean, which are specifically protected by state and county laws. 
  • The proposed 6-story hotel violates the Wailuku Redevelopment Area Design Guidelines, which state, “To maintain the historic character of the Commercial Mixed-Use District, it is appropriate to preserve a mixture of one- and two-story buildings.” 
  • The 156-room hotel would exceed the number of rooms allowed by 680 percent! 
  • The Wailuku Redevelopment Area Design Guidelines specifically highlight the incompatibility of the existing tall structures among Wailuku’s historical and small town core, and recommend that additional contemporary high-rise buildings be avoided. 
  • The proposed Hotel Wailuku project conflicts with the mission of the Wailuku Redevelopment Plan, which states: “The architectural character of Wailuku Town reflects Maui’s historic plantation heritage and the evolution of Wailuku into Maui’s primary urban area,” and “Wailuku Town should nurture and build upon its own unique cultural and archaeological sites rather than follow a path of false impressionism.” 
  • The project will drastically increase the number of people and cars that will be in Wailuku at the same time. Combined with the outdoor pool, this will create substantial noise impacts, especially for local residents who live just a few feet away from the hotel site. 
  • The discussion of alternatives needs to consider truly affordable housing with mixed retail use on the ground floor, which would be much more in keeping with the character of Wailuku town.