Maui County Zoning Changes & DecisionsDelivered Same-Day
in the Maui Market
Of the 28 land-use decisions this board made over the last 24 months, 69% were approved. We read every Maui County hearing and pull the outcome, the vote split, and the conditions, so you see how this board actually rules.
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What gets approved in Maui County
In Maui County, 69% of land-use board decisions were approved over the last 24 months. Commercial / office / retail clear 75%, Single-family homes 50%. ZoneWire analyzed 28 land-use board decisions in Maui County over the last 24 months. Here are the most active project types and how often each one clears.
| Project type | Decisions | Approval rate |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial / office / retail | 8 | 75% |
| Single-family homes | 8 | 50% |
| Multifamily / attached housing | 5 | 80% |
How Maui County rules on land use
Sell the live fight, not a rate. Maui's binding land-use record (project change-of-zoning, variances, SMA, the three island Planning Commissions, and full-Council ordinance votes) is not in our coverage yet, so we should not claim an approval or conditions number here. What we DO have on record is the most contested Maui land-use bill of 2026: the H3/H4 hotel-district rewrite (Bill 88-2026), where all three island Planning Commissions recommended denial and the Council committee advanced it anyway over that opposition. For a developer or TVR owner, that is the buy signal: Maui's Council will move a land-use ordinance even when its own commissions say no, so the leverage point is the Council, not the Planning Commission. Position Maui as a market we are actively building the record on, anchored to a named, ongoing TVR/hotel-district fight.
- Who decides
- Maui Planning Commission recommends, Maui County Council (adopts change of zoning by ordinance; land-use bills are routed through the Housing and Land Use Committee, which recommends to the full Council) decides
Proof
Bill 88-2026, establishing H3 and H4 hotel zoning districts (Housing and Land Use Committee)
May 26, 2026
All three island Planning Commissions (Maui, Molokai, Lanai) recommended DENIAL of Bill 88-2026, the bill creating new H3 and H4 hotel zoning districts that mirror the A1/A2 apartment standards while permitting transient vacation rental use. The Housing and Land Use Committee moved the bill toward passage on first reading anyway, adopting Planning Department language limiting H3/H4 eligibility to existing TVR properties. A council member is on record stating the commissions' unanimous denial 'doesn't appear to matter here today.' Binding adoption is still a full Council ordinance vote.
Full breakdown
We are still gathering data in this market, and we will give you the honest version rather than a padded one.
Maui decides a change of zoning by County Council ordinance: an island Planning Commission (Maui, Molokai, or Lanai) holds the hearing and sends a recommendation, the Council's Housing and Land Use Committee works the bill, and the full Council adopts it with the Mayor's signature.
The meetings we have on record so far are Council committee sessions, heavily weighted toward Budget and Finance, so the project-level entitlement history (variances, SMA permits, special and conditional use permits, individual rezonings) is something we are still adding, and we will not quote you an approval rate off a denominator that is mostly fiscal votes.
What the record already shows is where the real friction sits. The clearest land-use story is Bill 88-2026, the H3 and H4 hotel-district rewrite that lets transient vacation rental properties carry hotel zoning on apartment-style standards.
All three island Planning Commissions recommended denial of that bill, and on May 26, 2026 the Housing and Land Use Committee moved it toward passage anyway, with a member on record that the commissions' unanimous denial does not appear to matter.
That is the takeaway a developer or TVR owner should price in: on a contested Maui land-use ordinance, the Council will advance the bill over its own commissions, so the body that actually decides your outcome is the Council, not the Planning Commission.
On the one clean project-level entitlement we have, a family subdivision at 201 Hea Hea Place in Wailuku, the committee approved it but attached a condition requiring substantial compliance with the representations the applicant made to council in obtaining approval, which is the texture we expect to see more of as we deepen this market.
Bottom line: approval odds for a routine Maui entitlement are not something we can responsibly quantify yet, but the live, named hotel-district fight is real, it is at the Council, and we are building the rest of the record now.
See Real Meeting Intelligence
Here's what ZoneWire found in the latest Maui County meeting
Budget, Finance, and Economic Development Committee (2025-2027) - 2026-06-24
This Maui County Budget, Finance, and Economic Development Committee meeting addressed two financial/regulatory items with no zoning or development entitlements.
See full analysisKey Decisions
- CD1 amendment to Resolution 26-100 (Johnson Controls energy performance contract financing)
- Resolution 26-100 authorizing tax-exempt lease purchase agreement for Johnson Controls Energy Performance Contract Phase 3
- CD1 amendment to Bill 73-2026 (Maui County Grants Program rules)
Housing and Land Use Committee (2025-2027) - 2026-06-17
Budget, Finance, and Economic Development Committee (2025-2027) - 2026-06-16
Water and Infrastructure Committee (2025-2027) - 2026-06-15
Plus every other session we monitor
Every Maui County insight is sourced from official public meeting records and analyzed within hours, updated daily.
Maui County Council, Planning Commission, and Board of Variances and Appeals handle SMA permits, community plan amendments, and conditional use decisions. SMA (Special Management Area) permits govern virtually all coastal development and represent a major portion of Planning Commission agendas. Community plan amendments change land use designations across distinct planning districts - Lahaina, Kihei, Wailuku-Kahului, and Upcountry Maui each have their own plans. Post-wildfire rebuilding in the Lahaina area has added housing and zoning items to recent agendas. Agricultural district protections, shoreline setback requirements, and water availability constraints affect entitlement feasibility across the island.
Recent Zoning Insights in Maui County
Budget, Finance, and Economic Development Committee (2025-2027) - 2026-06-24
June 24, 2026
Housing and Land Use Committee (2025-2027) - 2026-06-17
June 17, 2026
Housing and Land Use Committee (2025-2027) - 2026-06-03
June 3, 2026
Recent meetings with zoning keywords detected by ZoneWire. Subscribe to get all alerts in real time.
Explore Maui County by Keyword
Monthly Zoning Activity
Maui County had 6 public meetings in June 2026 with 169 zoning insights detected, down 58% from May.
| Month | Meetings | Zoning Insights | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2026 | 6 | 169 | |
| May 2026 | 4 | 403 | Roundup |
| Apr 2026 | 18 | 196 | Roundup |
| Mar 2026 | 7 | 144 | Roundup |
| Feb 2026 | 2 | 15 | Roundup |
| Jan 2026 | 3 | 88 | Roundup |
Source: ZoneWire analysis of Maui County public meeting transcripts. Updated daily.
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How ZoneWire Works in Maui County
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ZoneWire has analyzed 41 Maui County council meetings, flagging 1015 rezoning, variance, and development items.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Maui County Council, the Maui Planning Commission, and the Board of Variances and Appeals are monitored by ZoneWire for SMA (Special Management Area) permits, community plan amendments, change in zoning applications, conditional permits, and shoreline setback approvals across Maui County.
Maui County has approximately 7 zoning-related meetings per month across the County Council, the Maui Planning Commission, and the Board of Variances and Appeals. The Planning Commission meets twice per month, while the County Council meets biweekly.
An SMA (Special Management Area) permit in Maui County is required for development within the coastal zone, which covers a significant portion of the island. SMA permits are reviewed by the Maui Planning Commission and are a critical signal for tourism, residential, and commercial development near shoreline areas.
The highest volume of zoning activity in Maui County occurs in the West Maui resort corridor around Kaanapali and Lahaina for tourism development and rebuilding, the South Maui Kihei-Wailea area for residential and resort expansion, and the Central Maui Kahului area for mixed-use and affordable housing projects in the agricultural district.
Key zoning terms for Maui County include SMA (Special Management Area) permit, community plan amendment, change in zoning, conditional permit, shoreline setback, agricultural district, project district, and bed and breakfast permit. ZoneWire tracks all of these automatically across every Maui County governing body.
Yes. ZoneWire Free sends New Meeting Alerts for Maui County at no cost, with the agenda for each meeting. ZoneWire Pro adds full transcripts, zoning and development analysis, and keyword alerts for $129 per market per month.
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