URGING THE COUNTY OF MAUI TO ADOPT ORDINANCES THAT ESTABLISH WILDLAND-URBAN INTERFACE SAFETY STANDARDS FOR PLANTATION TOWNS AND OTHER HIGH-RISK COMMUNITIES, TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE COUNTY OF KAUAI'S ORDINANCE NO. PM-2025-425, RELATING TO THE PLANTATION CAMP DISTRICT WILDFIRE AND WILDLAND URBAN INTERFACE, AND OTHER STATE AND NATIONAL WILDLAND-URBAN INTERFACE BEST PRACTICES.

SR176

THE SENATE

S.R. NO.

176

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026

STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

Urging the County of Maui to adopt ordinances that
establish wildland-urban interface safety standards for plantation towns and
other high-risk communities, taking into ACCOUNT THE County of Kauai's OrDINANCE
NO. PM-2025-425, relating to the plantation camp district wildfire and wildland
urban interface, and other state and national wildland-urban interface best
practices
.

����
WHEREAS, national
research has shown that the wildland‑urban interface has expanded
substantially over time, increasing the number of homes and communities exposed
to wildfires, ember intrusion, and structure-to-structure fire spread; and

����
WHEREAS, states
across the country have increasingly responded to that expansion by adopting
and amending codes and ordinances to integrate home hardening, defensible
space, vegetation management, and wildfire risk mapping into local land use and
permitting decisions; and

����
WHEREAS, for
example, California applies ignition-resistant construction standards in
designated fire hazard severity zones and wildland-urban interface areas,
Colorado has required jurisdictions in wildland-urban interface areas to adopt
codes meeting or exceeding statewide minimum wildfire resiliency standards,
Utah jurisdictions have adopted wildland-urban interface codes governing home
hardening and vegetation management, and Arizona law expressly authorizes
municipalities to adopt current wildland-urban interface codes; and

����
WHEREAS, in
response to increasing wildfire risks, the County of Kauai adopted Ordinance
No. PM-2025-425 on September 8, 2025, to advance wildfire mitigation in
West Kauai's Plantation Camp District; and

����
WHEREAS, the County
of Kauai ordinance requires new and substantially remodeled buildings within the
Plantation Camp District wildland-urban interface area to incorporate wildfire
risk reduction measures, including home hardening standards intended to reduce
ember intrusion, a noncombustible zone immediately surrounding structures,
defensible space around structures, and vegetation maintenance extending farther
from structures; and

����
WHEREAS, the County
of Kauai ordinance is significant because it formally integrates wildfire
safety into zoning, permitting, and community design in a historic plantation
town setting, thereby offering a state-specific model for balancing cultural
preservation with modern fire safety; and

����
WHEREAS, the
County of Maui likewise contains historic country towns and plantation-era
communities where the built environment, road pattern, lot configuration,
vegetation, topography, and exposure to wind-driven fire can create dangerous plantation
town wildland-urban interface conditions; and

����
WHEREAS, the
County of Maui officially recognizes these towns within its Country Town
Business District framework, and these communities provide useful examples of
plantation town and historic town conditions in which wildfire risk reduction
measures should be tailored to protect life, property, and community character;
and

����
WHEREAS, like
Lahaina, many historic plantation towns, such as Paia and Makawao, retain elements
of the plantation past while continuing to function as living town centers,
making these communities especially relevant examples when considering wildfire
safety standards for the County of Maui's plantation town wildland‑urban
interface areas; and

����
WHEREAS, the 2023
Maui wildfires demonstrated with tragic clarity that the County of Maui faces
not only a wildland fire threat, but also the threat of wildfire-driven urban
conflagration, as fire moved from surrounding wildland fuels into Lahaina's
neighborhoods and rapidly transformed into a destructive urban firestorm; and

����
WHEREAS, the 2023
Maui wildfires resulted in catastrophic loss of life, homes, businesses, and
irreplaceable cultural and historic resources, and awakened the State and the
County of Maui to the urgent need to modernize ordinances, codes, and land use
practices to reflect the reality that wildfire and urban firestorm development
can occur together in Hawaii communities; and

����
WHEREAS, the
County of Maui's continued wildfire planning efforts would be strengthened by the
adoption and enforcement of county ordinances that expressly address plantation
town wildland-urban interface conditions through locally tailored standards for
ember-resistant construction, noncombustible zones near structures, defensible
space, vegetation management, access and water supply considerations, and
integration of wildfire risk into planning, permitting, and redevelopment
decisions; now, therefore,

����
BE IT
RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii,
Regular Session of 2026, that the County of Maui is urged to adopt ordinances that
establish wildland-urban interface safety standards for plantation towns and
other high‑risk communities, taking into account the County of Kauai's Ordinance
No. PM-2025-425, relating to the Plantation Camp District Wildfire and Wildland
Urban Interface, and other state and national wildland-urban interface best
practices; and

����
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that in developing the requested ordinances, the County of Maui is
urged to consider standards and procedures relating to ember-resistant and
ignition‑resistant construction, noncombustible areas immediately
adjacent to structures, defensible space and vegetation management
requirements, wildfire risk mapping and applicability thresholds, and the
integration of wildfire mitigation into zoning, permitting, redevelopment, and
community design review for historic and country town areas; and

����
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that the County of Maui is encouraged to evaluate plantation town
wildland-urban interface conditions in its communities, and apply the lessons
of the 2023 Maui wildfires to other communities in the County facing similar
wildfire and urban firestorm risks; and

����
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the
Governor, Mayor of the County of Maui, Chair of the Maui County Council, Fire
Chief of the Department of Fire and Public Safety of the County of Maui,
Administrator of the Emergency Management Agency of the County of Maui, and
Director of the Department of Planning of the County of Maui.

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:
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County
of Maui; County of Kauai; Ordinances; Wildfire Hazards; Wildland-Urban
Interface