2024-04-03 PL-CCI-2024-000003 Bill 121 Joe Kent Testimony

Home

From: Joe Kent To: WPCtestimonv Subject: Written testimony opposing Bill 121 Date: Wednesday,April 3,2024 1:04:50 PM Hello, I'm writing to state my opposition to Bill 121. I have been a Hawaii resident for 9 years and work for a solar construction company. I rent out a portion of my primary residence as a vacation rental in Volcano, HI. At the time I built my home, I was only able to afford it because of my ability to rent some of the rooms to tourists visiting Volcano. I enjoy interacting the tourists and making sure they are respectful of the local customs and environment and enjoy their vacation. My rental also provides income to a native Hawaiian resident who helps me with cleaning. She and her family depend on the income from cleaning mine and other rentals to support themselves. I understand the need for more affordable housing for local residents which this bill is intended to address, but I strongly feel this bill violates private property rights or local residents. It should not be to the State to decide who local residents allow in their homes, or whether or not they receive compensation from their guests. Furthermore, I feel the bill has the opposite of the intended effect of making housing more affordable to local residents by. Many local residents depend on renting rooms in their home to help pay their mortgage. I personally know several residents who would not be able to afford their homes without supplemental rental income. Eliminating the option of having a STVR does not necessarily mean these residents will automatically open up their homes for long term rentals. If the State truly cares about addressing housing affordability issues for local residents, I suggest they tackle some of these more glaring issues; • Hundreds of massive resort homes which sit vacant for the vast majority of the year, wastefully sucking up local resources (electricity, water, contractors) and dramatically driving up inflation for the rest of us. • The difficulty and regulatory restrictions on building and permitting ADUs on our properties. A good friend of mine was recently evicted from an unpermitted ADU on another property because the local AHJ required that the property owner shut it down. The ADU was built many years ago and it was impossible for the owners to permit. Now my friend is living out of his van, and the ADU is sitting vacant succumbing to overgrown grass and mold. Is that really better than allowing someone to live in an unpermitted structure? The State needs to incentivize and make it easier for local residents to create and provide long- term housing to other residents, not impose restrictive policies dictating how residents use their own properties.