Committee to advance Kehlani roadway dedication to full council after discussion of standards, maintenance and sewer fees

The Maui County Council Water and Infrastructure Committee on Monday discussed Resolution 25‑86, asking the full council to accept dedication of roadway lots within the Kehlani master‑planned community in Wailuku and deferred the matter to the council’s Friday agenda.

Kehlani developer representative Jeffrey Uioka told the committee the subdivision’s roads were built to county standards at the time and that the developer and homeowners have maintained them while the dedication process remained unfinished. “We were hoping that this is a relatively innocuous one, and we could move it along quickly,” Uioka said during a slide presentation describing the project and its public facilities.

The dedication request covers multiple subdivisions within the Kehlani Wailuku Kahului Project District 3, including Kehlani Makai and Kehlani Mauka, and encompasses roughly three miles of roadway and intersections built as part of the 1990s‑era master plan; the presentation said the entire master plan covers about 549 acres and was approved for up to 2,400 residential units.

Why it matters: accepting the roadways would move them from private or HOA responsibility into the county’s inventory, creating ongoing maintenance responsibility and exposing the county to the legal liabilities that come with public ownership. Public‑works Director Jordan Molina said the department transmitted its comments and “is in support of the dedication despite some of the conditions that have fell out of standard over the years.” He said public works and RCFC have worked for several years to address deficiencies and that the department considered the outstanding items noncritical to advancing the dedication to council.

Homeowners and developer representatives told the committee the roads and associated facilities are already used by the public and the county. Scott Matsura, identified as president of the Kehlani Community Association, said the HOA has spent roughly $1.3 million a year on common‑area maintenance and that homeowners have long awaited the county acceptance. “The community association is in full support of Resolution 25‑86 and humbly ask that the committee move this measure along,” Matsura said.

Committee members pressed staff on what county ownership would mean in practice. Director Molina said the county would not assume landscaping maintenance after acceptance; instead, the county has a landscape maintenance agreement with the HOA clarifying maintenance responsibilities. “To clarify, we will not be taking over the landscaping,” Molina said, adding the county has access to arborist support to guide tree maintenance when needed.

Members also asked about sidewalks, curb ramps and striping. Uioka and public works staff said much of the infrastructure was built to the standards in effect when Kehlani was developed; some curb ramps, crosswalk markings and sidewalks do not meet current complete‑streets standards but have been maintained by the HOA. Uioka said some roads have a sidewalk on one side and that mature street trees and existing sidewalks are part of the request to be accepted "as is." The developer noted the HOA has restriped collector roads and installed ADA detectable mats and flashing beacons in recent years.

Committee members asked how Kehlani will move into the county’s repair‑and‑upgrade queue. Molina said acceptance places the roads in the county inventory and they will be scheduled for upgrades through the regular capital improvement program (CIP) process; at the time of the meeting, Kehlani was not budgeted for a CIP upgrade and was not in the current queue. When asked whether accepting substandard roads absent a CIP schedule was standard practice, Molina said the council has the authority to accept roadways and the county would then manage them through its typical prioritization.

Committee discussion also covered sewer infrastructure. Uioka said residents pay about $80 per month in sewer fees and estimated the community contributes about $2.1 million per year in sewer fees, even while internal sewer lines remained privately owned; the developer said the internal lines were camera‑inspected and found to be in acceptable condition and that the county’s Department of Environmental Management had been consulted.

Public testimony was limited to two speakers; Matsura spoke in support, and another resident asked procedural questions about county trash service and container rules in the subdivision. After two rounds of three‑minute questions, Chair Tom Cook proposed deferring the item to the full council; there were no objections.

Next steps: Resolution 25‑86 and its accompanying amendment to clarify tax map keys and non‑substantive edits were posted on the council agenda for May 16 and the committee deferred further action to the full council on Friday.