When wildfires scorched Lahaina last summer killing at least 101 people and displacing thousands, Family Life Center sprang into action, devising a plan to house vulnerable Maui residents who lost everything in the Aug. 8 inferno.

Half a year later, the nonprofit that works to end homelessness is still struggling to officially open Ohana Hope Village. Among other things, the midterm housing project still needs a precious commodity that’s often scarce and bitterly fought over in Maui: water.

Ohana Hope Village is a cluster of pop-up modular homes spread across 10 acres of land owned by King’s Cathedral in Kahului. The 88 units can house up to about 350 fire survivors for three to five years until they find permanent housing. Three-quarters of the units are designed for multigenerational families with the rest intended for the elderly. The project is by Kuihelani Highway and Puunene Avenue.

Ashley Kelly, Family Life Center’s chief operating officer, had hoped to have the rent-free housing ready to go within weeks of the fire. Construction started 11 days after the disaster. The government of Hungary arranged for the transport of a portion of the 8-by-20-foot modular units, constructed by Continest, soon after the fire. It flew them to Maui on a NATO aircraft.

Although it had a promising and dramatic start, the project has been bogged down in mundane details, namely permitting obstacles and access-to-water issues that have delayed the grand opening by months.

The major headaches center on what to do with the waste generated by hundreds of people living in a relatively condensed space, and how to provide residents with water for drinking, washing and fire suppression.

Civil engineer Jacob Freeman of CDF Engineering, who is working pro bono, said he thought Ohana Hope Village could tap into the county sewer system since it’s in a heavily populated area of Central Maui.

That turned out not to be the case. By phone, Freeman said he learned from Maui County wastewater officials that the closest sewer line was already operating at capacity and could not accept more effluent. The engineer needed to find a workaround.

The easiest solution turned out to be old-form technology. Ohana Hope Village now has 16 septic systems installed, according to Freeman.

The Department of Environmental Management did not return a phone message and email requesting comment.

Water has proven to be an even trickier issue.

Beneath the ground where Ohana Hope Village sits runs a water line owned by Alexander & Baldwin, a former plantation company now into real estate.

Kelly said there have been months of back-and-forth with the company over whether Ohana Hope Village could temporarily access water from the privately owned line. It needs about 30,000 gallons daily. Ultimately, contractors will use directional drilling to bore underneath the adjacent highway to tap into county water.

Earlier this month, Kelly said she received an email from Carol Reimann, A&B’s vice president on Maui, saying a temporary solution could be found.

But details still need to be hammered out and the matter remained unresolved as of Wednesday, according to Kelly.

“We are actively supporting the Family Life Center as they work with the County to secure a permanent water source for Ohana Hope Village. We are investigating options for a temporary source of water, balancing water system capacity and needs, as well as engineering and regulatory requirements,” said A&B spokesperson Andrea Galvin by email.

People working to open Ohana Hope Village said the delays have been frustrating.

“We assumed everyone had the same sense of urgency as we did, even bureaucracies that move rather slow. Given the magnitude of the disaster, we thought we would be able to circumvent some of the permitting and cut through red tape,” said David Sellers, main architect with Hawaii Off Grid who is donating his services to the project.

Rather than making things easy given the scope of Maui’s housing crisis, the county hasn’t budged much, Sellers, Freeman and Kelly said. It has required Ohana Hope Village to install both a sprinkler system within the modular units as well as hydrants outside. That’s above and beyond what’s normally required for a permanent subdivision, they said.

Sellers said he’s in talks with the county’s Fire Prevention Bureau to see if officials will agree to a more cost-effective, less involved solution that will still get the job done and keep residents safe.

Officials at the Fire Prevention Bureau could not be reached for comment.

Sellers, who often interacts with the county on building projects, said some of the roadblocks encountered by Ohana Hope Village are emblematic of Maui’s larger housing crisis and why it takes so long and costs so such to build homes on the island.

Kelly agreed, noting contrast in how quickly Hungary reacted to the Family Life Center’s request for assistance compared to Maui County’s response over the past few months.

“When we have foreign governments helping it kind of reinforced that assumption that surely our county and our local government is going to support this. And it’s been really hard,” Kelly said.

Despite the bureaucratic obstacles, Family Life Center and those who are helping to make the project happen are hopeful doors can open within a few weeks. They’re also thankful for the help they have received from a range of vendors, suppliers and volunteers.

Judging by the amount of interest already expressed, Kelly said there’ll be no problem filling the units.

“I have about 800 household applications representing about 2,500 people,” Kelly said.

Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by grants from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.