LAHAINA, Maui — An almost evenly divided crowd filled the Lahaina Intermediate School cafeteria Tuesday night to discuss council member Jo Anne Johnson's proposed temporary moratorium on developing agricultural lands in West Maui.

No consensus was reached, and it remains unclear when and if the County Council will take up the measure. But almost half of the crowd of about 100 people had their chance to be heard.

The bill would halt new development until the county finishes revising its General Plan, which is on a two-year timetable for final action.

The moratorium also would remain in place until county leaders can implement traffic impact fees for developers and individual builders to help defray costs for roadways that must accompany all the new people making West Maui their home.

Johnson and council member Gladys Baisa, who chairs the Planning Committee, said Tuesday was an excellent opportunity for the committee to get out of the council chambers in Wailuku and get to where the people live who are most affected by potential legislation.

But discussions about the proposed moratorium are just beginning, Baisa said.

"There was no real discussion of anything by us," she said. "We all agree it's too premature, and the ordinance needs a lot of work if we are going to pass it."

She said her "very preliminary thoughts" on the subject were to work through concerns about overdevelopment case by case, rather than implement a moratorium that takes any discretion away from leadership.

"We need to take a breath and evaluate development on the whole island, but especially in West Maui," said Steve Carty of the Save Honolua Coalition.

Mae Fujiwara, president of the Lahaina-Honolua Senior Citizens Club, disagreed.

"The moratorium will spell the death of many well-planned housing developments," said Fujiwara, whose opinion was shared by many older folks worried about whether their children and grandchildren will be able to afford to live on Maui.

Developer Steven Gatchell called it unfair since the moratorium doesn't include hotels and time shares, which continue to proliferate.

"We have only one Maui and some things are getting really screwed up," said Kahu David Kapaku. "The word development doesn't sound like it's improving anything."

The council members did declare Tuesday's meeting a success, since they were able to eliminate some misconceptions about the bill.

Johnson has said its intention is to slow down development that is outpacing the creation of infrastructure in West Maui, including roads, drainage systems and water systems.

Johnson explained that her bill would not prevent homeowners from remodeling or repairing existing homes. It would also exempt already approved projects and those intended for public purposes, such as a hospital, police station or school. It would not preclude 100 percent affordable housing from being built, she said.

Other exemptions include residential developments by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and construction by the county, state and federal governments.

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