WAILUKU — As promised, the Maui County Council’s Planning Committee took up a package of bills Tuesday meant to restrict short-term rental properties outside of resort areas and instead promote bed and breakfasts.
And as promised, transient vacation rental (TVR) proponents nearly filled council chambers with about 100 people, many of whom pleaded with the council to seek a compromise from Mayor Tavares’ policies. Since the first of the year, the county has been clamping down on the exponential growth of illegal TVRs over the last several years by citing illegal operators.
Merchants and Realtors as well as B&B and TVR operators said they have all suffered as a result, and some businesses may soon have to close their doors.
Meanwhile, Tavares and her supporters insist that this painful path is necessary in order to promote more affordable housing and protect the character of residential communities.
Based on the councilors’ mostly neutral questioning of Tuesday’s 27 testifiers, it was not immediately apparent whether they would vote to move forward the Planning Department’s three draft bills — with no changes — or bundle them with amendments suggested by the vacation rental operators.
“I have a feeling that we’re at the very beginning,” said Planning Chairwoman Gladys Baisa. “We will be revisiting this again.”
In fact, Baisa said she will place the bills on the committee’s agenda when it meets every two weeks until the issues are resolved.
In the bills, Tavares and county planners are asking to:
• Streamline the B&B permitting process.
• Allow B&Bs in agricultural districts as long as the facility is an operating farm that annually generates between $1,000 and $2,500 gross income from agricultural products.
• Allow B&Bs in rural districts with conditional use permits.
• Eliminate the TVR conditional use permit process for any vacation rental located outside hotel/resort areas.
Faced with the possibility of being forced out of business for good, TVR and B&B proponents offered up a few solutions to keep themselves afloat. Most of the proposed compromises were set forward by the Maui Vacation Rental Association and revolved around changing the definition of a TVR so it fits into the mold of a B&B, which is an owner-occupied property. Proposed compromises would:
• Cap the number of short-term rentals to about 2 percent of the housing stock or 1,000 units or have individual communities set limits.
• Expand the definition of B&Bs to include cottages and separate ohana units.
• Allow on-site managers for B&Bs.
Baisa expressed support for the idea of having on-site supervision, saying it could be quite beneficial to have a third party there to step in if neighbors have problems with partying or loud renters. Council members are working to find a way to make compliance easier so TVRs do not continue to operate under the radar, she said.
Proponents repeatedly said an on-site manager is a good way to allow TVRs to operate in areas outside of resort/hotel districts, where they are only allowed with conditional use permits. TVR operators complain that the permits, which require council approval and a series of public hearings, are too difficult and expensive to acquire.
Susan Savage, who owns a property management and vacation rental company on Molokai, said there is an economic impact. With the crackdown on TVRs and then the closure of the Molokai Ranch resort in April, residents have both less money to spend and fewer choices to accommodate visiting family, she said.
“People aren’t making it,” Savage said. “They need to be able to subsidize their incomes. It’s the local people that are hurting more than others.”
Most members of the public who spoke Tuesday were in favor of allowing TVRs to operate in residential, rural and agricultural districts.
Maui Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Pamela Tumpap asked that the county allow TVRs “with reasonable regulation.”
Brandon Shim, owner of the Pauwela Cafe in Haiku, has been featured in advertisements by the Realtors Association of Maui calling for compromise. He testified that his business is on the verge of closing without surfers and windsurfers who like to stay in the typically more affordable TVRs close to the north shore’s ocean playgrounds.
Travel agent and Realtor Margit Tolman said that the TVR crackdown and national economic slowdown has hurt businesses in Paia. For the first time in her memory, Tolman said she’s seen empty parking spaces along Baldwin Avenue.
She brought a petition signed by 38 Paia merchants asking for a fair and reasonable B&B ordinance. Without compromise, there is a possibility that businesses will close, Tolman said.
Not everyone spoke in favor of easing the process for allowing TVRs though.
Maui resident Elaine Wender said Realtors are fighting for this because a property with a TVR is worth much more money. She also said Shim made a mistake in basing his business on an illegal activity.
Wender said there are plenty of reasonably priced condos and TVRs in resort areas and that ohana units should be reserved for long-term renters. Finally, she said that if short-term rentals are allowed on agricultural land, it could become valuable as resort property and give further reason to push out farmers.
Wailuku Main Street Association Executive Director Jocelyn Perreira said compromise is essential, but she supported keeping the conditional use permitting process for TVRs.
“We are very supportive of B&Bs in general,” Perreira said. “But we don’t want something to turn into a B&B when it’s not truly a B&B.”
She said that the Paia-Haiku Community Plan discourages TVRs while provisions for ohana — or second homes on a single property — aim to provide for extended families and farm workers. If the council makes some of the proposed changes, it should first gain public consensus and then amend the community plans, Perreira said.
• Chris Hamilton can be reached at chamilton@mauinews.com.
