STAR-ADVERTISER / 2023
State legislation designed to ease Maui’s affordable housing shortage stalled this session, but the county has its own solution in the works. Vacation rental units are seen perched on a hillside at the Kapalua Golf Villas in Lahaina.
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This is regarding your front-page article about now stalled state Senate Bill 378, which “Establishes a working group within the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation to identify existing mixed-use developments in Maui County that could be acquired by the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation for use as affordable housing and commercial rental leases” (“Maui housing conversion endeavor stalls,” Star-Advertiser, April 11). What a ridiculously inefficient idea.
The state already gave counties the authority to make such decisions, and Maui’s mayor came up with a perfect idea a year ago: Convert the 7,000 “Minatoya list” units from vacation rentals back to long-term rentals for Maui residents. This would solve the housing crisis, stop the steady outflow of residents and resolve overtourism, all without requiring HHFDC to purchase anything.
The Maui County Council is set to take up Bill 9 in May or June. Let’s all get behind that.
Regina Gregory
Makiki
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