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Hosting Platform Registration and Revocation <br /> Section 25-4-17.1(c) would allow the director to "cancel a hosting platform registration for cause, <br /> including any violation of this Code."This is overbroad and means that a hosting platform's <br /> registration could be revoked for a single disturbance of quiet hours. Revocation of a registration <br /> should be a last resort for the County after several attempts to bring a platform into compliance <br /> have failed. We recommend changing this to read: "may cancel a hosting platform registration after <br /> the platform has received three or more final judgments against it for one or more violations of <br /> Division 1.2 of this chapter." <br /> Amend the Definition of"Transient" <br /> We support the Planning Director's recommendation to maintain the definition of"transient" or <br /> "transients" to mean "any visitor or person who rents or uses lodging or dwelling unit, portion <br /> thereof,for thirty consecutive days or less and whose permanent address for legal purposes is not <br /> the transient accommodation rental."The Hawai'i County Planning Department as well as hosting <br /> platforms already have systems and operations in place to utilize the 30 days or less definition and <br /> changing the definition of"transient" to be a longer period of time creates a significant <br /> administrative burden. It could also create legal challenges from rental properties since a property <br /> could have been legally rented for periods of 30 days or more but would be newly required to <br /> register as a transient accomodation rental (TAR) to continue the practice and is ineligible to do so. <br /> This is similar to the issue in the recent Hawai'i Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance v. City and County <br /> of Honolulu lawsuit in which the Hawai'i Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance (HILSTRA) prevailed. <br /> We also recommend changing the exemptions in the definition of"transient" in Chapter 25-1-5 to <br /> match the exemptions for transient accommodations tax in the Hawai'i Revised Statutes in Chapter <br /> 237D-3,which rely on the characteristics of a structure rather than a person, e.g., exempting a <br /> student dormitory rather than lodging occupied by a student. Under the current draft, any full-time <br /> students, military personnel, or temporary health-care employees would not be subject to transient <br /> accommodations regulations, even if the stay was personal and recreational.These exemptions offer <br /> limited benefit as there is no way for most booking services and hosting platforms to confirm the <br /> identity of a traveler to show that they qualify for exemptions and could create incentives for <br /> scofflaws to cater to individuals inaccurately claiming to qualify for exemptions. <br /> Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments. We look forward to working with Hawai'i <br /> County as it contemplates Bill 121. Please do not hesitate to contact me if there is any additional <br /> information we can provide. <br /> Mahalo, <br /> Mackenzie Chase <br /> Regional Manager, Hawai'i <br /> Expedia Group <br /> MaChasePExpediaGroup.com <br />