WAILUKU — A proposed Spreckelsville campground intended primarily to serve the homeless is likely "dead on arrival" as one Maui Planning Commission member put it after neighbors threatened to tie up the project in litigation.

The Maui Planning Commission voted 8-1 Tuesday to allow a group of 77 Spreckelsville residents, represented by Wailuku attorney Isaac Hall, to intervene on the application from landowner Peter Martin to build the Hoomoana Campground on 5 acres mauka of his Stable Road home and next to Kahului Airport.

After the vote, Martin withdrew his application for a state Land Use Commission special use permit to operate the campground for one year in an agricultural district.

"I'm not ready to say I'll never reapply, but I've been through one of these (intervention cases) before and it has taken years and lots of money in lawyers' fees," Martin said.

Although the commission was voting on the intervention process, which allows the neighbors to take their complaints about the 30-site campground before an independent hearings officer, the members knew they were probably deciding the fate of the project.

Prior to the meeting, Martin passed out a letter to the commissioners telling them he would not risk a protracted legal fight with his friends and neighbors.

Several Spreckelsville neighbors spoke out against Martin's plan Tuesday, claiming that it would attract burglars, sex offenders, trespassers and trash, and diminish property values.

And yet, some of the same folks also lauded the importance and worthiness of helping the homeless.

The residents said that they felt blindsided by Martin's plan since many had not heard about the campground, which had been planned for 11 months, until only a few days before it went before the commission two weeks ago.

"I don't think this should be a hardship on the community, even if it is a good work," said Spreckelsville resident Barbara Woods.

Martin's attorney — and Spreckelsville neighbor — Tom Welch argued that there is no proof that the project will lessen home values or damage the fabric of the community.

But Martin had rankled his neighbors from the start by not disclosing much information about his plans. He said it was only an oversight on his part. And, a week ago, Martin met with neighbors at the Kaunoa Senior Center to tell them about his hopes to assist nonviolent and mentally ill homeless people find permanent homes.

A few residents said that after Martin gave his presentation, he asked the group of about 50 people how many would support his endeavor. Two raised their hands.

Martin is part owner of the former Camp Pecusa in Olowalu, which provides low-rent housing for the homeless, and his supporters lauded him for trying to fill gaps that the state and nonprofits can't.

Martin had hoped to set up a foundation with an undisclosed amount of his own money to build a landscaped tent campground in what is now fallow sugar cane fields. The foundation funds would also subsidize operations, but Martin said he wanted it to be a mix of two-thirds homeless people in transition along with one-third commercial campers.

The plans, presented by planning consultants Munekiyo & Hiraga Inc., included a farmhouse, a manager's cottage, a parking lot, showers and restrooms on the site makai of Pa'ia Spur Road and mauka of Stable Road.

Much of the Maui Planning Commission's session was devoted to wrangling as commissioners tried to decide whether the neighbors had a right to intervene since they'd missed the deadline by 10 days. A few commissioners expressed concerns that Martin's plan was incomplete or flawed.

Martin said he would shrink the campground to six sites just to give it a trial run for the first year. Then, he would come back to the commission and they could decide how he did.

"I'd go down to one site," Martin said. "Let's do something proactive and good."

But it was to no avail.

Commissioner Joan Pawsat was the lone "no" vote, saying she was disgusted by what she saw as community outrage based on people's prejudices.

Commissioner Wayne Hedani said that even if the commission voted to deny intervention, the residents had the right to appeal to 2nd Circuit Court, which would likely cause Martin to abandon the project anyway.

"This is a very worthy cause," Hedani said. "But a lot of people with a lot of money are against this, making it very difficult to proceed."