DHHL unveils draft environmental assessment for Wakiu homestead master plan in Hana

The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands presented a draft environmental assessment and draft master plan on Jan. 22 for the Wakiu (Wai'kiu) homestead tract in Hana, Maui, a roughly 656-acre block of state trust land the department received after the 1995 settlement of outstanding claims. Andrew Choi, DHHL planning program manager, said the department will publish a public draft this month and open a 30-day comment period before revising the document and returning to the Hawaiian Homes Commission for final action in March or April.

The draft master plan combines housing and community uses and, according to DHHL staff, would create about 178 homestead lots configured around identified cultural and natural resource areas. Choi said the plan includes multiple homestead types — including Kuleana lots designed for quicker occupancy with minimal infrastructure — subsistence-agriculture parcels, pastoral areas mauka of the road and a proposed Kupuna housing site that could reach "up to 60" units in one configuration. The plan also reserves areas to preserve existing hala forest stands and includes community uses such as gardens, a greenway, small-scale commercial and an on-site cemetery that testifiers urged be larger than currently shown in the draft.

Why it matters: Hana has an above-average Native Hawaiian population, limited housing supply, and high home listing prices. DHHL staff framed the master plan as a beneficiary-driven, "bottom-up" process intended to increase long-term occupation of Hawaiian home lands while protecting the cultural landscape and ecological resources that local residents identified as priorities.

Cultural and community process: DHHL said the planning process began in November 2022 and involved five planning workshops and a charrette-style approach. Planners worked with local beneficiaries and the Waku Community Development Corporation, a 501(c)(3) formed by area beneficiaries in 2020, and used a cultural-layering process developed with the Edith Kanaka'ole Foundation to ground land-use goals in traditional practices. "We found a way to lay a cultural foundation," Choi said, and staff presented examples of community mapping and design exercises used in Hana public workshops.

Infrastructure constraints and mitigation: The presentation outlined site utilities and constraints. DHHL staff said an existing county well near the planned homestead area has capacity to serve lots located below roughly the 320–325-foot elevation without major upgrades. Lots at higher elevation would require a new storage tank and booster pump to provide service. Choi told commissioners the proximity of the well also limits use of on-site individual wastewater systems for the whole property because of source protection concerns; as a result the plan proposes to investigate a packaged small wastewater treatment plant to serve denser areas such as Kupuna housing. "We will not be able to have individual wastewater systems throughout the entire property," Choi said. G70 consultant Ryan Char said packaged systems can be designed to serve a range of densities, and that individual systems are still feasible on one-acre-plus lots where state Department of Health rules allow.

Environmental review and cultural resources: Staff said the draft environmental assessment (EA) is intended as a disclosure of potential impacts under the state environmental review process ("343" was cited during the presentation) and will be revised after the public comment period. DHHL recommended preparing an archaeological inventory survey plan in coordination with the State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD) before construction so survey efforts focus where development occurs and avoid preserved hala forest areas.

Public-safety and natural-hazard issues: The draft EA notes wildfire risk despite Hana's windward rainfall, and DHHL said it worked with the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization on mitigation measures. Choi also said fire-flow needs were included in the water-demand calculations and that the project team anticipates providing water for fire prevention and suppression.

Public comments at the meeting: Testifiers praised the community-driven planning process and encouraged DHHL to protect hala forest stands and to prioritize local beneficiaries for leases. Multiple speakers pressed DHHL on traffic and water availability in Hana, the inclusion of Hawaiian language and cultural programming in the plan, and the size of the planned cemetery. "One acre is not enough because of the experience with Nanakuli," testifier Mapuana Techtor said, referring to concerns about cemetery capacity in other homestead communities. Rviela Kelly Benavides asked how planners would address seasonal tourist traffic and water pressure for Hana residents. Lani Smith and other Hana beneficiaries thanked DHHL for the participatory approach and for the Edith Kanaka'ole Foundation process.

Next steps: DHHL staff said they will publish a public draft EA and open a 30-day comment window, revise the EA based on comments and agency consultation, and seek the commission's approval of the final EA and master plan in March or April. Subsequent engineering, design and construction activities by DHHL's Land Development Division will be contingent on securing funding. Choi emphasized the EA's role as a disclosure document; he told the commission the EA will list mitigation measures and the agency will coordinate with SHPD, the county and other agencies as the plan moves forward.

What DHHL did not specify at the meeting: final construction funding amounts, a procurement or construction schedule, a firm capacity/cost estimate for a packaged wastewater plant, or an adopted cemetery size and operating policy. Staff said those matters would be addressed in later design and implementation phases and in responses to the public-comment process.

The commission heard a separate public-comment block on the Wakiu draft after the presentation and recessed for other agenda items. DHHL contact information and the dates for the EA comment period were not included in the presentation slides shown at the meeting; staff told the commission the public draft and comment instructions would be published later this month.