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Lahaina resident Michele Fernandez has spent the last several months living with her family in an enclosed carport in Central Maui, courtesy of church friends.

Late Friday afternoon, Fernandez learned that she, her husband and two sons, ages 18 and 22, will be able to move into a pair of modular homes at Ohana Hope Village in Kahului on Wednesday.

After months of delay, the village — a collection of 88 modular homes that Family Life Center erected near the airport — finally received a much-needed permit from the Maui Department of Public Works.

“I’m in shock,” Fernandez said.

Fernandez had trouble wrapping her head around the reality she might actually be getting a home after so many false starts with Ohana Hope Village, a donation-funded housing project designed to house survivors of the Aug. 8 wildfire that killed 101 people and left some 13,000 displaced.

“They were planning on opening it in November. Then it was February. Then it was April 4,” Fernandez said.

April 4 was her birthday and things looked fairly certain at that point, she said. The family’s bags were packed and Fernandez looked forward to celebrating by moving into her new, temporary home. But it wasn’t to be.

Family Life Center issued a press release last month saying Ohana Hope Village’s doors were open and the housing project was accepting the first families, but the organization had to retract it. Ohana Hope Village had been bogged down for months by problems with permitting and water issues and April was no different.

The project’s chief operating officer, Ashley Kelly, said in an interview this week that access to a water line controlled by the Alexander & Baldwin real estate company never came through as expected. The privately controlled line was expected to provide temporary water until the village could tap into a nearby county water main.

A crucial building permit from Maui County also was lacking. That finally came through late Friday afternoon.

By the time she issued the news release, Kelly had already received more than 800 applications representing over 2,000 people who wanted to move in.

Still, after months of frustrating delays, Kelly found two words to describe her emotions on Friday after Department of Public Works Director Jordan Molina issued a permit that allows 16 units, serviced by a water holding tank, to accept families.

“I’m elated,” she said.

David Sellers, the Maui architect who volunteered his time to design Ohana Hope Village, said he felt grateful the permit finally came through. But he never expected it to take so long.

“We just assumed after the fire that people would come together,” he said.

It wasn’t for lack of trying, according to the county.

DPW director Molina provided a statement saying the long-delayed permit was held up because Ohana Hope Village lacked infrastructure and access routes to adequately serve the project.

“This has significantly complicated the approval process, as it necessitates thorough assessments and extensive planning to ensure that the infrastructure meets the needs of the project and adheres to regulatory requirements,” Molina wrote.

The county must follow health and safety standards, he said.

“While we acknowledge the concerns surrounding the delays in permit approval, we want to assure the public that every decision made is guided by our unwavering commitment to safeguarding the well-being of all individuals who will be living in these dwelling units,” Molina said.

An Alexander & Baldwin spokeswoman said on Saturday that the company had not heard from Family Life Center since mid-March when it offered to help with a temporary water solution. The company has an 18-inch water line that runs under the land where Ohana Hope Village sits and connects with Maui Business Park.

“Our understanding is they would next pursue the necessary regulatory approvals to ensure that both the permanent and short-term water solution would be done safely,” A&B spokesperson Andrea Galvin said in a statement. “Because this effort involves access to water many people rely on for drinking and fire protection, we await confirmation of critical government, health and safety approvals.” 

Ohana Hope Village is built on 10 acres owned by King’s Cathedral. The church leases the property to Family Life Center, a nonprofit homeless service provider, for $1 a year. The village intends to provide free housing, case management and other services for up to 350 fire survivors for three to five years.

In February, after months of back and forth between Family Life Center, its pro-bono architect and engineer and A&B, it looked like a solution was at hand and that the modular units could tap into the real estate company’s water line, Kelly said.

But things didn’t go as smoothly as hoped.

Galvin said in late February that A&B was supporting Family Life Center as it worked with the county to secure a permanent water source.

But months went by without progress.

On Friday, Kimo Landgraf, Maui County deputy water director, said his department has granted Ohana Hope Village approval to horizontally drill underneath a highway to tap into an existing county water main outside Zippy’s Kahului restaurant.

Once that happens, the village will have an approved, permanent water source, he said.

A donor has stepped up to provide the estimated $500,000 to $750,000 to cover costs of drilling and pipe laying to access county water, Sellers said.

“Things don’t happen fast in Hawaii,” he said.

If Maui is to ever solve its housing crisis, Sellers added, “we have to move faster.”

For Fernandez, moving into Ohana Hope Village next week will bring her family some much-needed peace, she said.

It’ll also bring displaced West Maui families together in one spot. Even though it may be far from jobs in Kaanapali and elsewhere in West Maui, it’s a place to live and start building a future after so much loss.

“It’s all Lahaina people and we’ll all have something in common. We’ll have hope,” Fernandez said.

Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by a grant from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.