A trio of contentious measures revamping where and how short-term vacation rentals are allowed to operate on Hawaii Island are heading back to the County Council.
Earlier this year, three bills were introduced to the council that would create a slew of new regulations for short-term rentals, ranging from various rental standards to stricter zoning and nonconforming use restrictions.
These bills were, on the whole, not popular among short-term rental operators, who turned out in droves over several meetings to warn that the new regulations would lead to the collapse of their livelihoods.
Following equally tempestuous meetings of the Windward and Leeward Planning Commissions, the council on Monday will consider updated drafts of the bills at a meeting of its Policy Committee on Planning, Land Use and Development.
The centerpiece of the reforms is Bill 121, which defines short-term rentals — units rented by tenants for less than 180 days — as “transient accommodation rentals” and establishes a new section of the County Code regulating their use.
In particular, Bill 121 establishes three different types of TARs: owner-hosted, operator-hosted and unhosted, each subject to their own requirements, with unhosted TARs facing stricter conditions than the other two. Owner- and operator-hosted units would be allowed in a wider range of zoning districts than unhosted units, and units outside their permitted districts could be more easily grandfathered in if they are owner- or operator-hosted.
All types of TARs would be beholden to certain operational standards outlined in the bill: limitations on gathering sizes, off-street parking rules, quiet hours and more. Owners or operators of unhosted TARs also would need to be reachable by telephone within an hour of any request from a guest, neighbor or county agency, and would need to be physically present at the unit within three hours.
Furthermore, Bill 121 prohibits TARs of any type from being established in an “additional farm dwelling, second dwelling or ohana dwelling,” although owner- and operator-hosted units in such buildings could be grandfathered in. TAR hosts also would be required to live in an a dwelling unit within the home itself, and not in a guesthouse or detached bedroom.
These requirements are what drew the bulk of outcry from rental owners. Joshua Montgomery, president of the Ohana Aina Association, an organization advocating for the island’s transient rental operators, said the bill will be devastating for rental owners and operators.
“If you live in (an area zoned for agriculture) and you have a tiny home on the property, this bill shuts you down,” Montgomery said. “If you are trying to do something new, like glamping, this bill shuts you down.”
Montgomery, who is running for a West Hawaii council seat, said the stated purpose of the bill — limiting the impact of the rental industry in an effort to keep long-term housing affordable for residents — is at odds with its actual impacts.
“Everyone covered in this bill is a resident here, and this is how they pay for their own housing,” Montgomery said. “If you take that away, people will lose their homes.
“The council isn’t interested in more housing, they’re interested in your housing,” Montgomery added.
While the Windward Planning Commission issued a default recommendation against passing the measure — the panel was unable to reach a decision within a 120-day deadline, which leads to an automatic negative recommendation — the Leeward Planning Commission was able to recommend 21 changes to the bill.
Although most of those changes would be relatively insubstantial tweaks to the bill’s phrasing, one recommendation would significantly change the scope of the measure: defining a TAR as a dwelling only rented for 30 days or less, instead of 180 days or less.
Council Chair Heather Kimball, co-introducer of the bills, has submitted amendments to the bill echoing the commission’s recommendations, including the 30-day change.
“If we go with 180 days, it could mean that we have to grandfather in unhosted rentals that have only been rented for more than 30 days and less than 180 days since the original bill passed,” Kimball said via email, explaining that the 180-day rule in the original draft was chosen to align with state statutory definitions of short-term rentals. “We have no way of knowing if there are any rentals that meet this qualification.”
Bills 122 and 123 are largely supplementary to Bill 121, with the former removing language referring to “bed and breakfast establishments” from the County Code — such lodgings would fall under the TAR definition from Bill 121 — while the latter would update the county’s definitions of ohana units, replacing them with the blanket “accessory dwelling unit” category.
For the most part, Bill 123 simply prohibits the use of an accessory dwelling unit as a TAR.
Both planning commissions were favorable toward Bill 122 and recommended only minor grammatical changes. As for Bill 123, the windward commission was once again unable to reach a decision on the matter within 120 days — and therefore gave the bill a negative recommendation by default — while the leeward commission again supported the bill with minor changes.
But Montgomery pointed to a possible alternative to the proposal: Puna Councilwoman Ashley Kierkiewicz, who was the TAR bills’ other co-introducer, will introduce a resolution on Tuesday that will call for a comprehensive study about the economic and fiscal impacts of the short-term rental industry on the island.
“I’m a science-driven person,” Montgomery said. “If somebody can present hard data that shows this bill will be beneficial, I’ll change my tune.”
Kierkiewicz told the Tribune-Herald the study isn’t intended to delay the TAR bills, and could be completed by February of next year. She added that she and Kimball have disagreed on various aspects of the bills throughout the process.
That said, Kierkiewicz added that it is responsible policymaking to ensure the county is fully aware of the economic impacts of the bills.
“I don’t know if we’ll get all this housing that we need if we reduce vacation rentals,” Kierkiewicz said. “How many of these vacation rentals are good for family housing? … I don’t believe that TARs are the main culprit for our housing crisis.”
On the other hand, Kimball said via email that “there is a wealth of information on the impacts of TARs on local economies,” and that the study isn’t necessary before the bills can be passed.
“I think if we were looking at closing down thousands of existing rentals like Maui, then a study might be more important,” Kimball wrote, referring to a plan by Maui Mayor Richard Bissen to eliminate more than 7,000 vacation rental units by 2026.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.