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Native Hawaiian Warren Freeland wants to see his family’s historic Pioneer Inn rebuilt as it was before the 2023 wildfire that destroyed a large portion of Lahaina, and he hopes government officials will find a way of accelerating the permitting process in the face of rising construction costs.

“We hope what existed before the fire can be rebuilt as it was before,” said Freeland, whose building was listed as a historic structure in the Lahaina National Landmark Historic District. “The big risk on the horizon is the county’s ability to process the permits.”

Along the mile-long stretch of Front Street, owners of coastal properties are facing the prospect of going through a Maui County coastal zone permit process that sometimes takes years. Gov. Josh Green issued a proclamation exempting a large portion of residential and multifamily residences in Lahaina from building permits if the same structures are rebuilt as before.

However, issued Dec. 7, Green’s proclamation only applies to single-family and multifamily structures generally mauka of Front Street, while leaving the county in charge of determining rules for special management areas along the coast, including more than 70 businesses and scores of residences in Lahaina.

In the case of structures in the Lahaina Historic District, the proclamation applies to structures with less than 3,500 square feet.

In a recent five-year period, the county with a voluntary Maui Planning Commission processed five special management permits a year.

Green’s office said it did not know the number of parcels exempted as a result of the proclamation. But the proclamation generally applies to properties mauka of Front Street and outside of “shoreline parcels,” although there may be exceptions made by Maui County.

Lahaina resident Lynn Barr said the county is requiring some seaside landowners to reduce the footprint of their former houses and rebuild farther away from the ocean based on predictions of sea level rise on Maui.

“Sea level has been rising for hundreds of years and will continue to do so,” Barr said. “It’s a question of how much and what do you do about it.”

Barr said the footprint of her homes is being reduced by two-thirds despite her property standing well above the shoreline protected by a 10-foot retaining wall. She said other neighbors face a similar predicament.

“I spoke with three victims recently who are widowed and alone,” Barr said. “They speak of their fear they won’t live to see their homes rebuilt, their plans for their remaining years shattered. … No one understands how much Lahaina victims are suffering.”

Maui County Deputy Planning Director Ana Lillis confirmed the Pioneer Inn falls within the county’s map of shoreline parcels.

“It is likely a SMA major permit will be required, amongst other approvals if the Pioneer … chooses to rebuild within the shoreline and substantially the same hotel building,” Lillis said.

Lillis explained that depending on the scope of the proposed project, several types of developments will not be required to have an SMA major permit seaside of Front Street.

“Unfortunately, each property has unique conditions and many different developments may qualify for an SMA minor or SMA exemption,” Lillis said.

For Freehand, the Pioneer Inn has been a part of his family’s history for more than a century and is one of the oldest visitor accommodations on Maui.

A number of celebrities have stayed at the Pioneer Inn, including Mark Twain, Jack London, Peter Lawford, Jackie Kennedy, Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy while he was acting in the film “The Devil at 4 O’Clock.”

The stakes are high for Lahaina’s recovery. State chief economist Eugene Tian estimates the state is losing $2.7 million in revenues a day, or close to a billion dollars a year, without Lahaina.

Its absence as a visitor destination has had an adverse effect on other islands as well. Close to a third of Maui’s visitors also stay on one or more different islands during their trip, and the decision not to visit Maui has had a rippling effect elsewhere, Tian said.

Maui experienced a 10.1% decrease in visitor numbers for the first 10 months of 2023, and several other islands had decreases as well, including Molokai (down 4.1%), Lanai (down 14.7%), Kauai (down 4%) and Hawaii Island (down 3.2%).

Oahu was saved from a decrease by an increase in Japanese visitors, Tian said.

West Maui leaders point out businesses led the way in growing Lahaina’s economy and were at the forefront of creating events in the past that have attracted tens of thousands of visitors.

They point out that the idea for these events eventually spread to other islands, including Friday Night Is Art Night, A Taste of Lahaina and the Festival of Canoes.

Lahaina has also been on the cutting edge of marine art and a wellspring for artists, such as Robert Lyn Nelson’s above-and-below oceanscapes and Vladimir Kush’s metaphorical realism. Lahaina has also been the choice of many celebrities and entrepreneurs to establish a business in Hawaii, including the Hard Rock Cafe, Planet Hollywood, Cheeseburger In Paradise, and Fleetwood’s On Front St.

Business organizations and individuals, including the Lahaina Rotary Club, have donated more than $100,000 a year in scholarships to Lahainaluna High School students.

“We’ve got to realize Front Street and these businesses were the major economic driver for Maui,” said Joseph Pluta, president of the West Maui Improvement Foundation. “We’ve just got to build back safer.”