Highlighted News Stories for August 2023.

New Prefab Homes are Arriving on Maui.

Temporary emergency prefabricated homes are arriving on Maui, in a response to the recent wildfires, providing shelter to displaced survivors. A Maui nonprofit is bringing in 60 fold-up homes from a Hungarian company to house wildfire victims, addressing the housing crisis on the island. “When this happened, we knew we had to engage quickly,” said Ashley Kelly, COO of Family Life Center. “We just know those families are coming out of major trauma and deserve to have their own living quarters.” Each 8×20-foot structure, designed and built by Continest, assembles in minutes with a forklift. Hawaii Off Grid architects are adding kitchens, bathrooms, and lanais to each home. They will be placed on a 10-acre lot in Kahului with solar panels, batteries, and an electricity generator. This housing isn’t permanent; the foldable structures can be reused. It marks a shift towards prefab and modular housing in Maui’s post-wildfire recovery efforts, with support from the Pacific Resource Partnership.

Maui County Waives Property Taxes for Buildings Destroyed by Wildfires.

Maui residents whose buildings were “completely destroyed” by the wildfires that swept through Lahaina, Upcountry, and Kihei last week won’t have to pay property taxes for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, the county said Thursday. Commercial and residential buildings that were not vacant land before the disaster are eligible. Owners who have already paid property taxes and meet the waiver criteria should expect a refund by Oct. 31. The Maui Department of Finance is assembling a list of eligible properties.

Note: Parts of this post were written using ChatGPT, with stories gathered from the Honolulu Civil Beat.