The Maui Planning Commission from left to right - Kim Thayer, Dale Thompson, Ashley Lindsey, and Andrea Kealoha - listen to citizen testimony on Tuesday in Wailuku. Courtesy photo

KAHULUI – The Maui Planning Commission listened to testimony from citizens on Tuesday about Maui Mayor Richard Bissen’s proposal to ban short term rentals on the “Minatoya list.”

According to the county, there are approximately 13,700 TVRs in Maui County, and the bill would potentially impact 7,100 units on the Minatoya list. The bill “primarily focuses on units in West and South Maui, and intends to identify units best suited for long-term residential housing.”

Nearly all that testified for the allotted three minutes, rallied against the idea of banning short term rentals on the Minatoya List. Many of those testifiers were owners of short term rentals on the list.

Most of those in favor of the bill were born and raised in Lahaina (wearing red Lahaina Strong shirts), or on Maui and were in favor of passing the bill. At times the discourse was reminiscent of conversations that have been had in the past and have now made their way to the forefront of modernity.

Mayor Bissen’s proposed bill, transmitted last month to the County Council, calls for reverting all Apartment-District properties to their intended long-term use, removing the exception provided to properties built or approved prior to 1989 (Minatoya List) and fully discontinuing TVR use in Apartment Districts.

Several residents who testified during the six and a half hours of testimony that was heard before the commission, at times were brought to tears while testifying their point of view. A ten minute recess was needed before public testimony began for the Fire Marshall to organize those in attendance. In total, over 200 people signed up to testify before the commission and have their voices be heard and some had to wait outside the chambers for their turn to testify.

Due to the sheer volume of testimony, the commission did not ask any clarifying questions.

“We recognize that this bill is only part of the solution, and that we will also need to explore strategic tax policy and zoning changes to support our objective of creating more long-term housing,” Mayor Bissen said. “This is just the first step in a process that will include consideration of community input, economic impact research, and potential tax policy and zoning changes, but we have reached a point where we simply cannot continue to prioritize off-shore investments over the needs of our people.”

Many who testified disagreed with Bissen’s point of view on the bill and let the commission hear their grievances.

Wesley Pali, who was the first person to testify, started the tone of the meeting off with his passionate testimony.

“The reason I am here today is to testify that this short term (rental) agreement, it’s not good,” Pali said. “Our economy and everything is hurting. Our people are hurting.”

Pali added that the main thing he was there for was to stop the mayor from “making anymore foolish mistakes.”

Jen Mather testified in favor of the bill and was applauded for her efforts.

“We’ve recognized and acknowledged that we haven’t had a housing crisis,” Mather said in her testimony. “We’ve had an STVR crisis. So I’ll say it again. Not a housing crisis, but a STVR crisis. I’ve said it for years now. A lot of us have said it for years now. And now because all of these people are activated now, I’m going to push the envelope and I’m going to say we don’t have a STR crisis, we don’t have a housing crisis. We have a foreign invasion crisis.”

Mayor Bissen spoke for two minutes in an opening presentation and presented his point of view at the meeting before those in attendance.

“Our housing crisis stems from a myriad of complex issues that have challenged our community for decades,” Mayor Bissen said. “This is a consequence we cannot accept. The system is broken, and long overdue for change. And while this proposed bill is only part of the equation, we must continue to seek innovative ways to address our housing crisis.”

At the end of the day, after over eight hours of hearing testimony, the Planning Commission recessed the meeting until July 9th. At that meeting the commission will hear any remaining public testimony before taking a vote to recommend passage to the county council for their consideration before they will take a vote to pass the proposed bill into law.