Committee backs ordinance to adopt flood-prone areas not on FEMA maps

The Maui County Water and Infrastructure Committee voted unanimously to recommend first reading of Bill 28 (2025), an ordinance change that would create a process to add flood-prone areas that are not currently delineated on Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) to the county's regulated special flood hazard areas.

The ordinance, as described by Jordan Molina, director of the Department of Public Works, would require Public Works to present new engineered flood mappings (for example, FEMA or state-produced studies) to the council for action and to establish a local procedure for adopting those mapped areas into the county code.

Why it matters: The item was prompted by post-wildfire flood-mapping work in the Lahaina burn zone. Director Jordan Molina told the committee that FEMA provided technical support to model post-fire sediment and runoff risks in the Lahaina area and that the draft maps are expected to be ready for public comment in May. The ordinance does not itself adopt any new maps; it establishes the procedural framework so the county can take up mapped additions when the technical products are available.

Director Jordan Molina said, "we're here today with the proposed ordinance to amend, our flood program, code to establish a process to look at adopting flood prone areas, as the chair mentioned, outside the existing FIRM maps." Molina described two parts of the proposal: a requirement that the director bring new mapping to council and the council's subsequent decision whether to adopt those areas into county regulation.

Committee members asked how inclusion in the county's flood program would affect property owners. Council Member Johnson asked, "Does it lower their flood insurance? Is it increases? Is it harder to get?" Molina replied that being part of the flood program typically "ensures access to flood insurance" but acknowledged it can add cost and regulatory requirements to some properties. He emphasized that the current vote was to adopt the process, not to adopt a map, saying, "We're not adopting the map today, so nobody's gonna be in a new flood zone after today. We're just creating that process."

Members pressed for public outreach and notification. Molina said staff will conduct public outreach once maps are finalized and will work on individual notifications to property owners. Several members asked whether the mapping effort would be countywide; Molina said the Lahaina work came through FEMA after the fires while the State Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) is modeling stream areas countywide. He also estimated that the FEMA modeling and mapping can cost from several hundred thousand dollars to more than a million dollars per study.

The committee substituted the draft with a proposed CD1 (technical/clarifying edits) and approved two technical, friendly amendments requested during discussion: one to reference the County code's definitions section and a clarification to the FIRM definition language. The substitute motion and the final recommendation for first reading passed by recorded voice votes (9-0 at committee).

Implementation details and limits: Molina said the ordinance is intended to implement the county's National Flood Insurance Program obligations and is not automatically triggering buyouts or county construction projects. He noted hazard-mitigation funding pathways exist for repetitive-loss properties (buyouts), but the ordinance itself governs how new development and substantial repairs in mapped areas will be permitted. Staff estimated the draft Lahaina mapping could subject roughly 1,000 parcels to flood-permit requirements, but that number would be refined before any map adoption. Flood-permit application fees are in the county schedule and were cited as $440 in the current rates and fees; design and construction costs (engineers, surveys, elevation or pile foundations) can be substantially higher.

Committee members asked about staffing capacity; Molina said the flood program team is growing and the department expects to rely on consultant support to handle a larger permitting workload should the mapping be adopted. He said many rebuilds in Lahaina are expected to occur, which is part of the urgency to establish the adoption process.

The committee recorded that the ordinance would not automatically place property owners into new zones on the day it passed; any map adoption would come later, after notice and council action. The item now moves to the full council for consideration.

Sources and attribution: Quotations and attributions come from committee chair Tom Cook and Director Jordan Molina and council members as noted in the meeting transcript of March 17, 2025.