New parking rules, restrictions proposed for short-term rentals

New rules prohibiting on-street parking for vacation rentals in communities zoned as rural, residential or apartment use will be considered before the City Council as soon as next month.

The City Council’s Committee on Zoning and Planning on Wednesday passed the third reading of Bill 41, the city’s latest attempt to address complaints of parking, noise and crowding connected to vacation rentals in non-resort communities across Oahu, especially coming from Kailua.

Councilwoman Esther Kia‘aina — whose district includes Kailua and other communities on the Windward side — successfully proposed several amendments to Bill 41 on Wednesday. The latest version of the bill, as proposed by Kia‘aina, bans on-street parking for visitors renting transient vacation units and bed and breakfasts that have a Nonconforming Use Certificate in areas of Oahu zoned as country, residential or apartment use.

Owners of B&Bs in the same areas also must provide one off-street parking space for each room where visitors sleep.

Enforcing the proposed parking rules will be up to the city’s Department of Planning and Permitting and not Honolulu police, committee members were told.

The amended version of Bill 41 keeps intact the prior proposal to increase the minimum stay to 90 days from 30 days for short-term rentals without a Nonconforming Use Certificate.

The committee voted unanimously to move the amended Bill 41 to the full Council, with reservations from Council members Calvin Say and Radiant Cordero.

The next Council meeting is scheduled for April 13.

More than 100 people signed up to testify remotely or over the phone Wednesday to support and oppose the latest short-term rental rules, with some representatives of property owners threatening potentially lengthy and costly litigation.

“We have thousands of legally operating Oahu property owners who will have a valid legal claim for vested rights should the definition change to 90 days,” said Andreea Grigore, CEO of Elite Pacific Property Management.

“This means that the bad actors that this bill is written for will continue to act poorly and will continue to do things illegally.”

She questioned how effective DPP will be in enforcing new rules while complaints continue about the current rules.

If Bill 41 passes, Grigore said that DPP “will have no allies to help with enforcement.”

By killing it, she said, Council members can “avoid a very expensive and very drawn-out legal battle that will ultimately be paid by your constituents’ tax dollars.”

Loren Seehase, an attorney, said she represents “thousands of legal short-term rentals on Oahu” who all oppose Bill 41.

If the minimum length of stay increases to 90 days from 30, “then thousands of property owners would have a valid claim against the city for violation of their constitutionally protected rights … without due process.”

Steven Yamamoto Jr. testified that increasing the number of minimum days for a vacation rental stay could jeopardize Hawaii’s military readiness and health care system.

Department of Defense personnel and private contractors who are assigned temporarily to Oahu’s military installations “are provided a housing allowance that is far below the average hotel rate,” Yamamoto said.

He warned that Pearl Harbor could “shut down” if transient military workers, along with traveling health care workers, can’t afford to find affordable lodging.

“This bill is going to kill the No. 1 industry in the state, as well as prohibit us from having adequate healthcare professionals on the island to take care of our people,” Yamamoto said.

But several longtime homeowners — particularly from Kailua — urged passage of Bill 41, saying visitors staying in short-term rental units have changed their once-quiet beachside community.

Judy Bishop of Kailua said, “I’m in support of any and all further restrictions and stronger enforcement of vacation rentals. … Vacation rentals are ruining the residential neighborhoods in Hawaii and driving the residents away. …. Please give us back our neighborhoods.”

In a statement to the Hono­lulu Star-Advertiser, Kekoa McClellan, spokesman for the American Hotel and Lodging Association, said Bill 41 “could add as many as 10,000 or more units back to the housing pool on O‘ahu, while at the same time opening up revenue opportunities for the City and our State through taxation. … As amended, Bill 41 seeks to strike the right balance of enforcement while allowing legally permitted short term rental opportunities, giving our visitors a choice in their selection of accommodations while prioritizing the needs and preferences of our kama‘aina.”