Last week, Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen announced a phased approach to reopening West Maui.
This comes nearly three weeks after Hawaii Gov. Josh Green made the announcement that West Maui will reopen to visitors on Oct. 8.
“Our priorities have focused on the well-being of our people, and that will continue to be critically important,” Bissen said in a news release. “Six weeks ago, we focused on searching for unaccounted loved ones and supporting the safety and health of survivors. As we take careful steps forward in an unprecedented disaster, addressing our West Maui visitor industry, their employees and the local businesses that work in conjunction with the industry requires planning that will get us to a manageable reopening. Our goal is to introduce a phased approach that will begin on Oct. 8 and allows for housing needs to be clearly addressed.”
The phased reopening of West Maui hotel properties will still begin Oct. 8, starting at Kapalua and working its way slowly down the coast to Kaanapali.
As outlined in the press release, the first phase includes the area from The Ritz-Carlton Maui, Kapalua to Kahana Villa.
Following an assessment, the county will move on to Phase 2, which includes the area of Mahinahina to the Maui Kaanapali Villas.
Phase 3 will be the last and covers the area from the Royal Lahaina Resort to the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa, as it has the most displaced residents sheltering there.
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