Gov. Josh Green plans to extend his emergency proclamation that created a controversial emergency housing development approval panel.

But the governor said Friday that the resignation of the panel’s leader offers him an opportunity to extend “an olive branch” to organizations that have sued over the creation of the Build Beyond Barriers Working Group.

The impending resignation of Chief Housing Officer Nani Medeiros, who faced death threats and public criticism, means that Green might not replace her and instead run the panel “by committee,” allowing for more inclusion for groups with concerns, especially those focused on the environment and climate change.

The nonprofit public-interest law organization Earthjustice has filed suit over the proclamation on behalf of plaintiffs including the Sierra Club, affordable housing and Native Hawaiian advocates, the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii and some residents in West Maui where the Aug. 8 Lahaina wildfire killed at least 115 people and destroyed about 2,200 structures, 90% of them homes. A separate complaint was filed on Maui by local attorney Lance Collins and three other Hawaii lawyers on behalf of nine people who are contesting the authority of Medeiros and the working group.

Green said he never intended to create “conflict” with environmental groups and with people “that didn’t trust the process.”

He said his administration remains committed to environmental protection and addressing climate change.

Asked Friday about the future of the panel, Green said, “To my knowledge, we haven’t solved the housing crisis at all yet.”

He estimates that Hawaii needs 52,000 more homes — most of them considered affordable — to help keep residents from leaving for cheaper communities.

Green’s emergency proclamation expires Sept. 15, and he plans to extend it up to a year while the Legislature works to draft bills on some of the ideas endorsed by the panel.

The future panel, he said, creates an opportunity for more input and participation, “but it has to be done in a respectful way. It can’t be combative and threatening like occurred for Nani.”

On Thursday, Green accused B.J. Penn — a former mixed martial artist and failed 2022 Republican gubernatorial candidate — of rhetoric leading to threats against Medeiros.

Penn tried to get into Green’s Friday news conference at his offices at the state Capitol but was quietly escorted out by Green’s security detail with no problems.

Green addressed the future of the panel after providing a one-month update of the situation in Lahaina following the Aug. 8 fire, the deadliest U.S. wildfire in over a century.

Addressing both lack of commitment to prevent the disaster and lack of progress in creating more affordable housing, Green said, “It is tragic to see little action on big issues until something goes wrong.”

Green on July 17 suspended numerous state laws to speed up development of housing in Hawaii as a state emergency, and has come under fire since.

Detractors complain that he exceeded his legal authority in establishing the 36-member ad hoc Build Beyond Barriers Working Group to make alternate regulatory decisions on housing development projects. They also say that Hawaii’s long- standing shortage of affordable housing is not a disaster or emergency resulting from natural or human-caused hazards that allow for emergency proclamations under state law.

But state Attorney General Anne Lopez has defended the governor’s proclamation.

“The Emergency Proclamation on Housing is a lawful exercise of the Governor’s emergency powers as defined by law, and the emergency rules concerning the Build Beyond Barriers Working Group are valid,” she said in a statement following the lawsuits. “The Department of the Attorney General will vigorously defend against these lawsuits in court.”

Green’s emergency housing development rules largely waive or modify parts of several state and county regulatory procedures, including Land Use Commission rules, in an effort to produce more housing at lower prices without significant negative impact.

Green aims to provide “measured flexibility” to produce 50,000 new homes in five years, with most being affordable to low- and moderate- income households.