The town of Lahaina is nearing 18 months since fires devastated the community and surrounding areas on the Hawaiian island of Maui. Now, new reporting from the libertarian news outlet Reason finds that, although more than 2,000 residential properties suffered damage, only three homes have been rebuilt.
Data from the Maui County Real Property Assessment Division shows the county issued an additional 228 permits for new construction. Additionally, 112 homes are currently under construction.
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It’s a slow recovery for Maui, where wildfires in August 2023 killed more than 100 people. And for a community like Lahaina that relied on tourism and its Hawaiian culture, the slow rebuild posed numerous challenges.
According to Reason’s reporting, regulations meant to protect the town’s culture and environment are frustrating people hoping to rebuild. Many of the issues come from the intersection between the more recently built tourist culture and the town’s centuries-old native Hawaiian history.
With much of Lahaina’s center sitting close to the ocean, rebuilding efforts must follow laws meant to protect the coastline. Locals worry that a quick rebuild of tourist infrastructure, including restaurants and hotels, may make the town look more like other places in America and less like a historic former capital of the Hawaiian kingdom.
“Our codes and laws were not designed for this moment,” Maui County Planning Director Kate Blystone told the Hawai’i Journalism Initiative earlier this month. “They were designed for thoughtful contemplation of development, and this current situation requires us to think more quickly and move more quickly.”
But the community has to navigate a fine line. Researchers from the pro-free market Grassroot Institute of Hawaii told Reason they worry that the longer a rebuild takes, the less likely it is that people and businesses will return to Lahaina.
