Five concerned community groups filed a motion Wednesday in U.S. District Court seeking to intervene in a lawsuit filed in federal court by the nonprofit Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance asking for an order to stop the city from enforcing a new law that increases the minimum allowable stay to 90 days from 30 days.
The groups — which include Hawaii’s Thousand Friends, Save Oahu’s Neighborhoods, HI Good Neighbor, Keep It Kailua and Save North Shore Neighborhoods — say they support the enforcement of Ordinance 22-7 (Bill 41), and contend that HILSTRA’s arguments to stop enforcement of the ordinance “are a threat to all residential-zoned neighborhoods and communities on Oahu.”
If the request is granted, these groups, which are not a party to the HILSTRA vs. City &County of Honolulu lawsuit, could join the ongoing litigation to protect their own rights and interests.
HILSTRA’s lawsuit, filed in June, alleges that the new city ordinance, which is slated to take effect Oct. 23, is unconstitutional because it interferes with owners’ vested rights to own and rent property and violates state zoning law.
HILSTRA, made up of Oahu residents who rent out second homes on their properties or elsewhere and those who rent out their homes while traveling or working elsewhere, have argued that Ordinance 22-7, formerly Bill 41, caused “immediate and devastating” effects because it makes no provision for those property owners and operators who have purchased and legally rented their properties for periods of 30 to 89 days.
The request to intervene from the groups follows U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson’s Oct. 13 order granting HILSTRA’s request for a preliminary injunction. His order enjoined the city “from enforcing or implementing Ordinance 22-7, signed into law on April 26, 2022, insofar as it prohibits 30-89-day home rentals, or the advertisement of such rentals, in any district on Oahu, pending further order from this Court.”
It was expected that Watson’s ruling could prompt additional legal action given the decades of contention between short-term rental supporters and those that have pushed for a more regulated industry. Mayor Rick Blangiardi and city officials also are slated to address Watson’s order today at a 1:30 p.m. news conference at Honolulu Hale. The city said it also plans to discuss the “city’s focus on aggressively enforcing the restriction on rentals of less than 30 days.”
Larry Bartley, executive director of Save Oahu’s Neighborhoods, said in a statement, “For many years, we have fiercely fought to protect our residential-zoned neighborhoods from vacation rentals.
“We believe these lodging businesses when located in residential zoning reduce residential housing supply, drive-up property values and long-term rental rates; promote tourism sprawl and resident discontent; alter the residential character and ambiance of neighborhoods and communities; compromise neighbors’ safety and security; and contradict Oahu’s General Plan.”
Kathleen Pahinui of Save North Shore Neighborhoods said in a statement,“We are the neighbors who will be harmed if the ordinance is compromised.”
The group said that it also questions the validity of vacation rental operators’ claims that they have always advertised, offered and rented only “legal” short-term rentals. They also contend that owners, who are renting their properties as visitor lodging, are using the argument that they are housing health care workers, military members and residents in transition as decoys.
Chuck Prentiss of Keep it Kailua said in a statement, “In our opinion, vacation rentals to transient guests in blocks of 30 days, up to 12 times per year, are equally as harmful to residential-zoned neighborhoods and residential communities as those properties that are rented weekly.”
