Maui Council approves Lanai community plan amendment after heated public testimony

The Maui County Council approved on second and final reading a ratification ordinance amending the Lāna‘i Community Plan for about 268.349 acres in Lāna‘i City, clearing the way for a revised master plan for property owned by Pulama Lāna‘i and related parties.

The council’s vote followed a packed local hearing on Lāna‘i where multiple residents asked the council to preserve two longtime ranch houses and to halt changes they said would displace families and diminish access to places of cultural and personal memory. A group of speakers told the council they had deep ties to the properties and asked the body not to simply “check the box” on the amendment.

Supporters of the amendment, including council members who traveled to Lāna‘i for a local meeting, said the proposed change reduces the previously approved entitlements—removing opportunities for large-scale resort development and a golf course—and that the change reflected input from community meetings and technical review. Council members who supported the measure said Pulama Lāna‘i had agreed to scale back entitlements and that approving the plan amendment keeps the developer negotiating with the community rather than pursuing higher-density options it could still lawfully build.

Several longtime Lāna‘i residents described the ranch houses at issue as anchors of family history and culture; one testifier said the houses and their placement tied families to the land and recalled being a child who used those properties as a playground. Others emphasized the difficulty of traveling to testify in person from an island with limited transport and urged the council to weigh the community’s testimony heavily. Opponents argued the amendment was advanced after procedural errors in earlier steps and asked the council to reopen the record or reconsider.

Council discussion reflected the split testimony. Some members expressed sympathy for the local witnesses and the emotional weight of their testimony. Others emphasized the practical effect of reduced entitlements, saying the amended plan removes potential large-scale resort development and thus represented a net reduction in intensity.

The council adopted the ordinance on second and final reading. The record shows the council passed the amendment by roll call; the transcript records the final tally as the motion carrying with a majority, and the clerk announced the motion carries. Individual roll-call attributions were not fully legible in the transcript, so the article records the outcome and the publicly stated vote tally rather than assigning each vote to a specific member.

Going forward, supporters urged continued dialogue between the developer and community representatives; opponents said they want stronger protections for the houses and for any future siting decisions that could affect family homesteads and places of cultural memory.