Construction halted at Maui Veterans Cemetery

WAILUKU (AP) — Construction is stopped on improvements to Maui Veterans Cemetery after the project was found to conflict with the National Historic Preservation Act.

The Maui News reports (https://bit.ly/1MKAaJC) the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is pursuing a historic analysis to gauge the potential impact work on the area could have on the neighboring Makawao Cemetery.

State Deputy Attorney General Amanda Weston says construction can resume when the veterans affairs department complies with the preservation act.

The $6 million project would improve and expand Maui County’s only veterans’ cemetery, where available burial sites are becoming scarce.

Weston said there are fewer than four dozen available burial sites. There were 14 burials in October.

“We’re very concerned about the lack of space, and we’re eager to start construction as soon as we are able to so that we will not run out of burial space for the veterans and their families,” she said.

A lawsuit filed by the Makawao Cemetery Association in October said some improvements would damage the area’s historic nature. Last week, the group asked for a temporary restraining order to stop work on a shared lot.

Association attorney Isaac Hall says the group is happy construction is on hold.

“We were having difficulties getting them to stop,” Hal said. “They were taking the position that lot one, which is used in common, saying, ‘That’s our property and we’ll do whatever we want with it.’ We’re hoping, with the preservation act, that they’ll start taking more seriously our claims that they need to mitigate some of the impacts their project would have on Makawao Cemetery.”