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New TVR option offered
Planning chairwoman expects no action before this summerBy CHRIS HAMILTON, Staff Writer
WAILUKU — Rather than restricting short-term rentals to just hotel/resort districts, Planning Director Jeff Hunt said the administration would consider a recommendation for a countywide transient vacation rental permit to be granted on a case-by-case basis.
Hunt introduced the option into the contentious and ongoing TVR debate Thursday during a continued meeting of the Maui County Council’s Planning Committee.
Meeting in Council Chambers on a review that began Tuesday and was continued Thursday, the members began the laborious process to review and revise five bills prepared by Mayor Charmaine Tavares’ administration.
The bills already have been reviewed by the county planning commissions and referred to the council with recommendations.
The bills define where bed-and-breakfasts and TVRs would be permitted outside the hotel/resort districts, while simplifying the permitting processes.
Administration officials have expressed a decided preference for B&Bs — and say the public agrees with them — and is encouraging TVR operators to convert to B&Bs, which has a manager or owner who lives in the same house.
By contrast, TVRs may not have a manager on-site; and neighbors say they don’t know where to complain about loud renters.
The bills would expand where B&Bs can exist to include rural and agricultural zoning districts. In the ag zone, a landowner would need to meet farm-income thresholds.
While the discussions stretched into the afternoon, the committee did not proceed to action. Planning Chairwoman Gladys Baisa said she didn’t expect the committee to revisit the issue until June, after the county budgeting process.
She also opened the continued meeting by reminding the audience that it was the council that advised the administration to take a hard-line approach a year ago.
The new bills would eliminate what’s been described by both county staff and operators as an arduous conditional permitting process that allows TVRs to operate in residential, rural and agricultural districts.
While some operators have complied, the operators say the difficulty and cost of seeking a conditional permit deters many others. It is estimated that more than 1,200 illegal TVRs operate throughout the county, a number that has grown exponentially in recent years.
TVR proprietors have argued that they contribute up to $319 million annually to the local economy, provide hundreds of jobs and receive few complaints from neighbors.
Hunt said the proposal for a countywide TVR permit, each of which would be decided by the administration, is only an option if the County Council decides to keep the existing conditional permitting process. The existing conditional permit process can take years and thousands of dollars for analysis and public hearings by planning staff and planning commissions, before going for approval from the County Council.
Council members also brought up the idea of spot zoning for TVRs, but Hunt dismissed the idea as overly complicated.
Council Chairman Riki Hokama said that conditional permitting is, in essence, spot zoning. On a separate B&B issue, Hokama also later said he was reluctant to give the administration the authority to grant permits.
Council Member Jo Anne Johnson said that the West Maui community does not agree with outright TVR permitting, especially in residential areas.
“I’ve received a lot of calls against this,” Johnson said.
Johnson also submitted an amendment that would give TVR owners 90 days to submit a permit application once an ordinance is approved. Then the TVR owner could continue to operate until the permit is accepted or rejected.
The amendment, if approved, would provide relief for those whose permit applications have not been heard yet and also could result in another influx of TVR applications.
“I do not believe that any one of us wants to see people losing their homes,” she said.
However, the committee members — Mike Molina, Baisa, Johnson, Bill Medeiros Mike Victorino, Michelle Anderson and Hokama — spent most of the day reviewing the language of the first bill related to B&B standards, line by line. About 50 people attended the meeting.
At one point, the committee spent nearly a half hour discussing on-street parking regulations. Two TVR bills, which forego conditional permits and essentially define the rentals as a hotel, were not discussed.
Tom Croly of the Maui Vacation Rental Association said he was disappointed that committee members hadn’t made more progress, but he was glad to see them finally take up the issue.
“The longer we take, the more people who are losing their homes and their businesses,” Victorino said. “I am very interested in this moving along as quickly as possible.”
Some TVR operators and tourism business owners have floated ideas such as grandfathering in current TVRs, requiring on-site managers and parking and capping the number of TVRs.
Baisa came into Thursday’s meeting with hopes that committee members would come out with some significant changes to the ordinances. By mid-afternoon, Baisa said she was happy if they left with a good understanding of where councilors stood on the issues.
“And then we’re going to have to do the hard thing, and that is to say yes or no; and I don’t think we’re there yet,” she said.
• Chris Hamilton can be reached at chamilton@mauinews.com.
Hunt introduced the option into the contentious and ongoing TVR debate Thursday during a continued meeting of the Maui County Council’s Planning Committee.
Meeting in Council Chambers on a review that began Tuesday and was continued Thursday, the members began the laborious process to review and revise five bills prepared by Mayor Charmaine Tavares’ administration.
The bills already have been reviewed by the county planning commissions and referred to the council with recommendations.
The bills define where bed-and-breakfasts and TVRs would be permitted outside the hotel/resort districts, while simplifying the permitting processes.
Administration officials have expressed a decided preference for B&Bs — and say the public agrees with them — and is encouraging TVR operators to convert to B&Bs, which has a manager or owner who lives in the same house.
By contrast, TVRs may not have a manager on-site; and neighbors say they don’t know where to complain about loud renters.
The bills would expand where B&Bs can exist to include rural and agricultural zoning districts. In the ag zone, a landowner would need to meet farm-income thresholds.
While the discussions stretched into the afternoon, the committee did not proceed to action. Planning Chairwoman Gladys Baisa said she didn’t expect the committee to revisit the issue until June, after the county budgeting process.
She also opened the continued meeting by reminding the audience that it was the council that advised the administration to take a hard-line approach a year ago.
The new bills would eliminate what’s been described by both county staff and operators as an arduous conditional permitting process that allows TVRs to operate in residential, rural and agricultural districts.
While some operators have complied, the operators say the difficulty and cost of seeking a conditional permit deters many others. It is estimated that more than 1,200 illegal TVRs operate throughout the county, a number that has grown exponentially in recent years.
TVR proprietors have argued that they contribute up to $319 million annually to the local economy, provide hundreds of jobs and receive few complaints from neighbors.
Hunt said the proposal for a countywide TVR permit, each of which would be decided by the administration, is only an option if the County Council decides to keep the existing conditional permitting process. The existing conditional permit process can take years and thousands of dollars for analysis and public hearings by planning staff and planning commissions, before going for approval from the County Council.
Council members also brought up the idea of spot zoning for TVRs, but Hunt dismissed the idea as overly complicated.
Council Chairman Riki Hokama said that conditional permitting is, in essence, spot zoning. On a separate B&B issue, Hokama also later said he was reluctant to give the administration the authority to grant permits.
Council Member Jo Anne Johnson said that the West Maui community does not agree with outright TVR permitting, especially in residential areas.
“I’ve received a lot of calls against this,” Johnson said.
Johnson also submitted an amendment that would give TVR owners 90 days to submit a permit application once an ordinance is approved. Then the TVR owner could continue to operate until the permit is accepted or rejected.
The amendment, if approved, would provide relief for those whose permit applications have not been heard yet and also could result in another influx of TVR applications.
“I do not believe that any one of us wants to see people losing their homes,” she said.
However, the committee members — Mike Molina, Baisa, Johnson, Bill Medeiros Mike Victorino, Michelle Anderson and Hokama — spent most of the day reviewing the language of the first bill related to B&B standards, line by line. About 50 people attended the meeting.
At one point, the committee spent nearly a half hour discussing on-street parking regulations. Two TVR bills, which forego conditional permits and essentially define the rentals as a hotel, were not discussed.
Tom Croly of the Maui Vacation Rental Association said he was disappointed that committee members hadn’t made more progress, but he was glad to see them finally take up the issue.
“The longer we take, the more people who are losing their homes and their businesses,” Victorino said. “I am very interested in this moving along as quickly as possible.”
Some TVR operators and tourism business owners have floated ideas such as grandfathering in current TVRs, requiring on-site managers and parking and capping the number of TVRs.
Baisa came into Thursday’s meeting with hopes that committee members would come out with some significant changes to the ordinances. By mid-afternoon, Baisa said she was happy if they left with a good understanding of where councilors stood on the issues.
“And then we’re going to have to do the hard thing, and that is to say yes or no; and I don’t think we’re there yet,” she said.
• Chris Hamilton can be reached at chamilton@mauinews.com.
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