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Concerns over the impact of vacation rentals — legal or not — on destabilizing Maui’s housing market and quality of life have reached a tipping point, with county officials stepping up enforcement while proposing policies that would eventually eliminate short-term home rentals in particular.
Last month the Maui County Council decided to set a zero cap on short-term rental permits on Molokai, and Councilman Riki Hokama is proposing a moratorium on vacation rental permits for his home island of Lanai.
Spurred by Council action, the county Planning Department held a public information meeting March 6 to get community feedback on a proposal that would phase out short-term rental homes. Under the proposal, “neighbors get their communities back” by limiting residential areas to Maui residents and directing tourists to resort areas, hotels and businesses devoted to the visitor market, according to the presentation.
The Planning Department presentation noted 229 STRH permits in the county as of Dec. 31, almost evenly split between Hawaii owners and owners with mainland or international addresses. A total of 349 permits are allowed countywide.
The proposal would set a date after which no new STRH applications would be accepted, while allowing existing operations to continue until a future date or until permit expiration. Property owners who want to continue vacation rental operations would be encouraged to apply for conditional or bed-and-breakfast permits, which require the owner to be present on the property.
Meanwhile, to curb illegal vacation rentals in all categories, the county established hefty fines for operating a bed-and-breakfast home, transient vacation rental or other transient accommodation without a permit. The fines that went into effect Dec. 22 are $20,000 for the initial penalty and $10,000 for every day the operation persists.
Employing customized software from LODGINGRevs, the Zoning Administration and Enforcement Division has been analyzing tens of thousands of advertisements on various internet platforms to identify potentially illegal operations. Further vetting confirms the scofflaws.
Last year the county issued more than 180 notices of warning and 80 notices of violation to illegal vacation rental operators, according to the Maui County Transient Vacation Rental Enforcement 2019 Summary. The violation notices resulted in $50,000 in collected fines and an additional $300,000 in pending or contested fines.
The summary and the presentation on limiting short-term house rentals are available at mauicounty.gov/121/Planning-Department.
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