The Leeward Planning Commission on Thursday will take up three highly controversial bills initiated by the Hawaii County Council related to short-term vacation rentals.
The three bills introduced by Heather Kimball and Ashley Kierkiewicz aim to ensure that all STVRs in the county are operating safely, legally and according to a set standard.
The bills also address the affordability of properties used for long-term rentals, change the term ohana dwellings to accessory dwelling unit, and prohibits them from being used as transient accommodation rentals.
In November 2018, the council passed Bill 108 in an attempt to regulate transient accommodation rentals on the Big Island, and included some, but not all, of the recommendations in a Hawaii Appleseed report that provided an overview of the impacts of TARs on Hawaii’s housing market.
“Unless Hawaii takes action against illegal VRUs, their numbers will continue to rise as investors convert more homes built for residents into vacation rentals for visitors. Home prices and rents will rise, and Hawaii’s families, communities and economy will suffer,” the report stated.
Bill 108 only regulated “unhosted rentals” by limiting the areas where they could operate to resort and commercial zones and creating a set of operational standards. TARs already in operation outside of the permitted zones could be grandfathered in, but no new operations would be permitted.
The new bills propose to tighten up the regulations for TARs.
Bill 121 propose all TARs that are rented for less than 180 days will have to register with the county. There will be three rental types: owner-hosted, operator-hosted and unhosted.
Owner-hosted TARs can be started at any time and in any zoning as long as the owner certifies that the accommodations meet all safety and code requirements and the owner lives on the property as their primary residence.
Operator-hosted rentals are permitted in resort and commercial zones, and those in operation outside of those zones as of the first of 2024 will be grandfathered in, but no new operator-hosted rentals will be permitted after the passage of this bill. TARs currently operating in permitted ohana units will be grandfathered in with a nonconforming use certificate, but after the passage of this bill, new TARs in ohanas units will not be permitted.
Bill 122 would eliminate the bed-and-breakfast category.
Kierkiewicz said this bill was suggested by Planning Department staff, and the council wanted to put it out for discussion.
“A B&B is essentially an owner-hosted TAR, so rather than managing two processes, the idea was to phase one out. The difference here is with a B&B, one is seeking permission to operate this special use from the Planning Commission, which requires a majority vote,” she said. “Anyone looking to register a TAR they are operating at their primary residence could do that at any time through registration with the Planning Department. I’ve stated that we are open to withdrawing this bill if the community desires having this additional pathway available to them.”
Bill 123 changes ohana dwelling to accessory dwelling unit, defined as a structure or portion thereof designed and used for single-family residential purposes and which can be attached or detached from an existing residence, to be used for single-family occupancy and containing one kitchen.
Many general provisions for an ohana dwelling have been removed from the proposed bill, and accessory dwelling units would not be permitted for TAR’s.
Earlier this month, the Windward Planning Commission was inundated with public testimony about the highly controversial bills. The commission deferred a decision to its May meeting.
Councilwoman Rebecca Villegas would like to see more compliance with what is already been legislated.
“I’m concerned that Bills 121, 122 and 123 are too far-reaching and overly complicated,” said Villegas. “My personal preference would be to focus on effective enforcement of the current STVR legislation. However, it is unfortunate and disappointing that certain special interest groups are spreading misinformation that is whipping people into a frenzy.”
The Leeward Planning Commission will take up the bill at 9:30 a.m. Thursday at the West Hawaii Civic Center Council Chambers. In addition to in-person testimony, the public has the option to provide verbal testimony at the meeting by joining Zoom.
The bills can be found at hawaiicountytar.com.
