Maui Invents New Managed Retreat Revolving Fund

November 27, 2022

What this funding plan means for retreat in Maui and beyond!

In this episode, hosts Peter Ravella and Tyler Buckingham head out to Hawaii to speak with Maui Councilmember Tamara Paltin about the innovative Managed Retreat Revolving Fund the County of Maui recently adopted. The champion of the Managed Retreat Revolving Fund ordinance, CM Paltin has a long history of service on the Maui coast, having lifeguarded there for 20 years prior to taking office. During that time, the shorelines of Maui underwent tremendous change, both naturally due to sea level rise, and unnaturally due to intense upland development. The new Managed Retreat Revolving Fund will specifically support shoreline improvements and the in-land relocation of infrastructure owned by the county and private entities. The money will come from 20% of the county's transient accommodations tax, which is estimated at $60 million. Will tourism tax fueled managed retreat funds be coming to other coastal communities around the American Shoreline soon? Find out, only on ASPN!

Show Transcription
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Peter Ravella & Tyler Buckingham

Peter and Tyler joined forces in 2015 and from the first meeting began discussing a project that would become Coastal News Today and the American Shoreline Podcast Network. At the time, Peter and Tyler were coastal consultants for Pete’s firm, PAR Consulting, LLC. In that role, they worked with coastal communities in Texas, Florida, and North Carolina, engaged in grant writing, coastal project development, shoreline erosion and land use planning, permitting, and financial planning for communities undertaking big beach restoration projects. Between and among their consulting tasks, they kept talking and kept building the idea of CNT & ASPN. In almost every arena they worked, public engagement played a central role. They spent thousands of hours talking with coastal stakeholders, like business owners, hotel operators, condo managers, watermen, property owners, enviros, surfers, and fishermen. They dived deep into the value, meaning, and responsibility for the American shoreline, segment-by-segment. Common threads emerged, themes were revealed, differences uncovered. There was a big conversation going on along the American shoreline! But, no place to have it. That's where CNT and ASPN were born.