Time, uncertainty caused developer to bow out of project | News, Sports, Jobs

Time and uncertainty were ultimately the factors behind Mike Farina’s decision to bow out of a 6-acre commercial and housing project, just hours after the Maui Planning Commission gave early-stage approvals to the South Maui Gardens nursery owner.

Farina spoke on the record Wednesday after initially declining to comment on his reasons Tuesday evening.

“We felt it was better to just keep growing our nursery than having to go through another few years of zoning changes before we can even get started,” Farina said. “We’ve already invested four years, and we feel that if we have to invest another year or two, the costs are just getting horrendous.”

Farina had planned to redesign the South Maui Gardens nursery plot in Kihei as soon as he purchased it in 2013. His vision included six single-story commercial buildings, nine single-family homes with a pool and spa, and space for the nursery. Farina had hoped to attract small local businesses and create a space where people could “sit under the nursery trees and enjoy their lunch in the afternoon and get off the hot asphalt.”

He also explained that he wanted to scale back the size of the Kihei nursery while continuing to operate a 160,000-square-foot growing facility Upcountry. South Maui Gardens employs 22 people and services more than 100 accounts on island, including hotels and shopping malls.

The planning commission supported the project Tuesday, voting 7-0 in favor of changing zoning in two of the parcels from residential to commercial and 5-2 in favor of a conditional permit. The project would have advanced to the council before returning to the commission for a special management area permit.

Given the long road ahead, Farina decided it wasn’t a chance he wanted to take.

“These days it’s very difficult to make financial decisions when it takes several years to get answers,” said Farina, who’s already invested more than $300,000 in the project.

He also wasn’t sure he’d get the commission’s support the next time around. On Tuesday, some commissioners said they wanted to see more housing in the project. They also wondered why Farina had placed parking stalls meant for the businesses in the residential lot.

Farina said if he moved the stalls, he wouldn’t be able to operate the nursery. In the end, “having to make a decision between additional parking or the nursery” was another factor in pulling out of the project.

“I don’t think that they were asking him to choose,” commission Chairwoman Sandra Duvauchelle said Wednesday. “I think that we would always like to see each parcel be designed to be able to handle its own parking. . . . I think it was just a suggestion.”

Duvauchelle said she “thought it was actually a really nice project” and was surprised that Farina had backed out after getting the votes from the commission. As for the lengthy and costly process that every project must go through, Duvauchelle acknowledged “there’s always room for improvement.”

“Again, I think sometimes it deters projects that maybe shouldn’t get built, and it also ferrets out a lot of the questions on the ones that are being built,” she said. “I think it’s a balancing act.”

Farina said he still believes in his project and thinks it’s needed in Kihei.

“At this point, we’re deciding our options,” he said.

* Colleen Uechi can be reached at cuechi@mauinews.com.

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