HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0675.029 2022-2024 From: Guthrie de Bruyn C.)
Sent: Sunday,January 21, 2024 3:25 PM
To: Council Testimony `-
Subject: TESTIMONY AGAINST BILL 121 M'
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Dear Council Members, •
We thank you for taking the time to read this and giving it your thoughtful reflection and consideration.
NO 77
Doctors live by an oath of"do no harm".When someone has a diseased toe,they do not amputate the entire leg.They try to
treat the toe, and if the toe won't heal, perhaps it must be removed-but you don't start with the entire leg unless the disease is
EXTREMELY malignant or the doctor is EXTREMELY bad at their job/heartless. Considering the complaint rate for short term rentals,
why on Earth would such an extreme bill with such extreme penalties and consequences be proposed that covers the entire island
when 99.996%of the time nobody has a single issue with short term rentals?And the less than 1%do have a complaint,they are
always in just 2, heavily populated sections of the island?They are not in Puna.They are no in Kau.They are not in Hamakua.They
aren't in the majority of districts. So why a blanket law for all? It make very little sense and seems blind to the harm it will do.
Vacationers from abroad and neighboring islands stay at our rentals, collectively,with absolutely no issue from anyone at all.
They bring much needed income to the proprietors as well as the island as a whole. They spend money at local farmers markets.They
spend money at local restaurants.They spend money at local shops,go on tours, buy gas, rent cars, and so on.They are able to do
much of this in areas that wouldn't get their business otherwise because many of these short term rentals give them the opportunity and
convenience to.There are no hotels in many of these areas,such as ours; there is no other option. They go home with beautiful
memories and tell their friends that they should do the same,and the cycle repeats itself. Not to mention, the money that is earned by
the proprietors is also spent at many of these same businesses/vendors, and invested back into the island.
It is extremely difficult to understand how anyone looking at a system that is so unproblematic, bringing relief in the form of
much needed income to many,with such a minuscule rate of not even failure but complaint, in only 2 areas of an extremely large and
diverse island,would see it as a pressing issue that needs"fixing". Not even"fixing", but enforcement of costly changes and penalties
for those that have built it up in the first place. The last law change for short term rentals that prevented nonresidents from buying up
sections of the island/neighborhoods and pulling income out of the state made sense. But this one?We are the ones that live here.
Work here. Raise our families here.We have invested our lives into this island and into our fellow residents. We pay our taxes and we
reinvest into the island's future. How is this bill on our side?How is this bill even necessary at such a time with so much struggle as it is,
with such little causation and such little promise of progress?Our opinion on both of these questions is one and the same: It isn't.
Bill 121 seems to also suppose that its implementation would open up more long term housing opportunities for residents. I
cannot speak on if this would be the case for areas such as as Kona or Hilo etc, but I can speak on the fact that for us, and many in my
area of Wa'a Wa'a, it would not.
First off-for us-it isn't why we built it, it isn't suited for long term, and we have no interest in having long term tenants.
Secondly,the income generated by a long term renter would be approximately one quarter of what we can make doing short term.
And third,we do not have the capability of having long term renters as we are entirely off grid. Short term renters use far less electricity
and water than would a long term tenant(s).As you can infer from this fact,we therefor put absolutely zero hardship on island
infrastructure/utilities/grid etc.We don't even live on a county road and chip in as a neighborhood to keep it maintained. Perhaps an
exemption from all the stipulations in this bill should be granted for any off grid rental operations.
Long term renters are not an option for us. In our area we have:
• No county electricity
• No county water
• No phone lines for phone/internet/cable } S.2q
Comm. No.
• No USPS mail delivery rl,t d ll II
Ref. To: �■
• No public transportation J�� 3 F
• No school bus Ref. Date
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• No walkable stores or restaurants
• And NO COMPLAINTS FROM NEIGHBORS OR GUESTS
In 2018,the Kilauea eruption nearly took us out.All of us still here are extremely grateful that it did not,while also feeling
extreme empathy for all those that were.The landscape and life down here was forever changed. Kapoho gone.The hot ponds gone.
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The boat ramp and what was Pohoiki basically gone. Kua 0 Ka La gone. The roads gone. Most of those roads are still gone.The boat
ramp is still useless. Even still, we pushed and scraped and kept our rental going.We, and others like us, attracted visitors to Pahoa,
and those visitors brought much needed money to a suffering community,trying to rebuild and regain a sense of normalcy.
In 2015, my young family(myself, my husband and 6 month twins)moved onto our land. Since then we have put everything
we have into it. Financially. Physically. Mentally. Emotionally.And we continue to. It was all junk trees and cane grass before we got
here. Now it is a loving home and business.When building we made multiple calls to the Building Department in Hilo.We spoke with
various people, but I can remember one in particular named David.We described our intentions and what we were doing in detail. In
terms of permitting,once they found out what area we were in,we were told,verbatim, "Oh as long as you're not concerned with resale
value just build it behind some trees...that's what everyone in Puna does...so long as you can't see it from the street its not a big
deal...we don't even like going down that way anyway...unless'a neighbor makes a formal complaint, you won't hear anything from us."
We were assured again and again that there would never be any penalties for what we were doing,financially or otherwise. Yes, I do
wish I had that in writing, but you have my word that is what we were told.
We finished the first rental during the 2018 eruption.Just like everyone in the area, we wondered what our future would look
like. Thankfully,we were spared. In November of 2019, Highway 132 finally reopened: Hooray! In early 2020, a pandemic befell the
entire globe and restrictions were soon to follow.When your income runs dry and you're not sure if tourism/travel will ever be in the
cards again,you don't invest all your eggs into that basket. Like just about everyone else,we once again worried about what our futures
would hold.We finally got back to renting in June of 2022 after much work and investment had to go into dusting off our rental from
sitting for so long, unused-but soon enough our calendar started to fill up and for the first time in a very long time,the future almost
seemed bright.We are practically done with a second one now,which once running,would finally put us in a place of being able to
save some money and provide a better future for our children. And then Bill 121 came along...
How,when we aren't harming anyone, aren't even harming the planet as we are off grid,when we are providing a service as
well as providing for ourselves, can we not feel targeted by this needless bill? How can we not feel as if you are trying to shut us down,
chase us out?And if those words seem too heavy or unfair or accusatory-let us at least agree that this bill would only make an already
difficult life only more difficult for us.What good will come for families like ours? For individuals in similar situations?Couples? Folks
looking to finally"retire"with some sort of income to keep them feeling somewhat secure? In an effort to give more people housing and
a better chance at survival, I wonder how many homes and livelihoods this bill would actually be taking away.
The Big Island is home to 8 out the 13 climate zones found on the planet. It is big enough to fit all the other islands within her
shores. It is a rare gem of biodiversity as well as human diversity.Anyone can see the different challenges we face from one corner of
the island to the other by simply taking a drive or long walk, by living here through changing seasons,or even just the weather, hour by
hour. For this,we celebrate life on Hawaii and attract visitors from all over the world.We are not like the mainland nor are we even like
our sister islands. It seems a great waste of opportunity to put forth sweeping legislation that pretends none of this to be true. We have
a chance to do it differently,to weigh the information we have at hand,to handle our rare situation with care, and move towards the
future with balance and aloha.
Why the threat of enormous fines that very few of us can afford, certainly not my family?Why the threat of criminal
prosecution?Why the need for permitting on safe and sound structures that reviews prove visitors enjoy and fall in love with over and
over again?Why did Heather Kimball state very clearly in her Zoom webinar that permitting had been removed from the bill, and
replaced with a need to sign an affidavit that simply stated the rental was safe and healthy, but now permitting is back in the bill?She
discussed a"health and safety inspection"but like so many other parts of this bill,the details were sloppy, unavailable, or
undetermined.What kind of back and forth truth telling is this? Is this really the best we can do?
It is said that we judge ourselves by our intentions, and others by their actions. Even though your bill threatens my family's
very ability to financially survive,we still give you the benefit of the doubt that your intentions are good. But we do not believe in its
actions nor its probable legacy. For my family,your bill's only legacy will be that it accomplished what the lava,the pandemic,economy,
inflation, and so many other challenges thus far could not. Please consider us in your intentions. Please consider us in your actions.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
G.de Bruyn
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