"It had nothing to do with the merits of the project, not that we didn't have some concerns," said commission member Ward Mardfin. "We just ran out of time."
The Maui Medical Plaza project would cost an estimated $35 million to construct the building's outer "shell," lanais and parking garage, said development partner and real estate broker Robert McDaniel III. The Kanaha Professional Plaza, as it's also being called, is planned as a six-story, 132,685-square-foot building with a six-story, 365-space parking structure at its rear. The project site is at 151 Hana Highway, between Kamehameha and Wakea avenues.
It will be up to the doctors, pharmacists, therapists and other medical professionals, at least 25 of whom are committed to the project, to decorate and fill their offices with equipment, McDaniel said.
Despite the economic downturn, he said, interest in the project is brisk, and the planned state-of-the-art medical center includes businesses such as a pharmacy, labs and areas for clinical trials, fitness/physical therapy, diagnostic imaging and a billing center.
The nine-member commission unanimously voted to defer discussion until its next meeting in the second week of August.
The site would be located near Kahului Harbor, and the project has the appropriate community plan and county zoning designations and state land classification, said Deputy Corporation Counsel James Giroux.
However, several commission members expressed concerns about the project because of its location next to the Kanaha Pond Wildlife Sanctuary, a federally recognized endangered bird preserve.
But McDaniel said project developers plan to protect the preserve area by constructing two lined retention ponds with filters for the property, which has a drainage canal between it and the sanctuary.
One issue has been the property's location on a wetland.
"It's a wetland, but it's not really a wetland since there's no standing water," Mardfin said.
Over the decades, the nearly 1-acre property has been covered with dredged sand from Kahului Harbor, McDaniel said, as well as with fill from other properties.
But Kanaha has been known to flood, noted commission member Jack Freitas.
According to McDaniel and a letter in the draft environmental assessment, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has agreed to endorse a deal made between Maui Coastal Land Trust and Kanaha Professional Plaza LLC, which is made up of McDaniel and his partners, Dr. James Hansen and property owner Ben Brown.
In order to compensate for the lost wetland, the company agreed to rehabilitate 5 acres in the land trust's Waihee refuge, McDaniel said. That means taking measures such as restoring groundwater flow currently blocked and removing invasive species.
"This agreement is already in place and in perpetuity," McDaniel said. "We will maintain it forever."
Maui Planning Commission Chairman Jonathan Starr said the project developers initially looked into adding to Kanaha's wetlands, but the Federal Aviation Administration objected to the idea. That could mean more birds, which can be a hazard to planes at nearby Kahului Airport. And the proposed building is right in the path of a runway, Starr said.
The planning commission has the authority to accept the draft environmental assessment with a "finding of no significant impact" and approve the major special management area permit sought by Kanaha Professional Plaza LLC. The commission could also demand a more exhaustive and expensive environmental impact statement.
The medical complex would supplant the aging Maui Clinic Medical Center on Puunene Avenue, McDaniel said. Alexander & Baldwin Properties owns the property and has made improvements lately, he said. But the previous leaseholder let it fall into disrepair, which sparked the idea for the new building, he said.
Members of the development group have been working on their plan for five years, and they have been before the county Urban Design Review Board twice for revisions, McDaniel said. Its design calls for a grass-covered roof, red-brimmed overhangs on each floor and numerous plants and hedges as well as rock and water features on the grounds.
McDaniel said it is the last piece of undeveloped property in the Kahului industrial area. The building, which will use energy-efficient technology, is expected to house about 225 employees, he said. And it will provide work for construction employees for a year or more. If all goes to plan, the developers hope to break ground by next summer, he said.
Still, Freitas said he isn't ready quite yet to sign off on the medical plaza.
For instance, he said, he has concerns about all the runoff from the roof and asphalt and neighbors' lots as well - and the dirty water's proximity to such a delicate wildlife preserve. Also, the project would will add more traffic onto already congested Hana Highway, Freitas said.
Freitas suggested that perhaps he and other commissioners could take a site visit to understand the project better. McDaniel supported that idea.
For more information about the project, go online to www.MauiMedicalPlaza.com.
* Chris Hamilton can be reached at chamilton@mauinews.com.