KAHULUI, Maui — The popular Maui Swap Meet is planning to move to Maui Community College under a deal that will bring money to the school and entrepreneurial opportunities for students.

The Saturday swap meet has been operating for 17 years at a parcel between Pu'unene and Kamehameha avenues and attracts an estimated crowd of 3,200 residents and visitors who shop for produce, locally made crafts, flowers, T-shirts, souvenirs, garage sale items and other goods.

Some of the 200 or so vendors travel from as far as Hana to sell their wares.

But the property is scheduled for development as a county affordable housing project and the weekly event must relocate once again. Before moving to its current site, the swap meet was in residence for 10 years at the old Kahului Fairgrounds.

Wil Wong of Maui Exposition Inc., which operates the swap meet, said it's just as well, because the event has outgrown its location. Parking is a particular problem, he said.

"We've really struggled with where we're at and parking has become a commodity that is not that much available."

Once permit approvals are received, the Maui Swap Meet will move to an area on the MCC campus used as a drainage retention basin. The 4.5-acre site is bounded by Kahului Beach Road to the north and Wahine Pio Avenue to the west. Access will be provided via Wahine Pio.

Wong will spend $296,000 on clearing, grubbing and grading the site to expand the drainage basin and create a berm; installing walkways and a service driveway; and constructing a 6-foot-high chain-link perimeter fence.

The MCC site will have the capacity to accommodate approximately 225 vendors, but Wong said the greatest benefit will come from additional parking. Instead of the 300 spaces now available at the Pu'unene Avenue site, the parking lot at MCC will have room for more than 800 vehicles.

Under a lease agreement with the University of Hawai'i, Maui Exposition will pay about $39,000 annually plus a share of revenues, said David Tamanaha, MCC director of administrative services.

Tamanaha said students will be offered a chance to sell ceramics and other products. Students in MCC's noted culinary arts program also may participate by preparing and selling food at the on-campus Pa'ina food court, he said.

Wong said swap meet hours will be extended to 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., but the 50-cent admission will remain unchanged. He said he is hoping to open at the new site by November.

An environmental assessment found no significant impacts from the project, which must obtain special management area, grading, building and flood hazard area permits.