HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0675.551 2022-2024From: Phillip Koszarek
Sent: Sunday, September 29, 2024 5:06 PM
To: Council Testimony
Subject: Bill 121 Comments
Section 25- 4- 16. 1 Owner -hosted transient accommodation rentals.
a) Where permitted. When the transient accommodation rental is subordinate and clearly or customarily incidental to its use as the principal home of
the owner, a transient accommodation rental may be registered at any time in any zoning district subject to the following requirements:
2) Good neighbor standards.
Unless established otherwise by the director at the time of issuance of the transient accommodation rental registration number, the renter limit for
adult occupants in a transient accommodation rental shall be two more than twice the number of bedrooms for rent.
C) The maximum gathering size shall not exceed double the overall renter limit
G) Quiet hours shall be from 10: 00 p.m. to 8: 00 a.m.
Bill 121 can be confusing and difficult to understand its intent.
Let's start with Where permitted and at any time in any zoning district. When I read the first sentence (Where permitted) I
think this paragraph does not apply to Ag districts because we are all aware that vacation rentals are not permitted in farm
dwellings in Ag districts per HRS 205 and the recent State Supreme Court ruling. But then the author adds at any time in
any zoning district. To me this makes the bill confusing and can lead to multiple interpretations. How is the Planning
Department going to know what to do? How will the Board of Appeals know what was the intent?
Is subordinate and clearly or customarily incidental is not well defined and open to interpretation. If you have a three
bedroom home and rent two bedrooms does that meet the definition of subordinate or incidental when you are renting
over 50% of your home?
I know of an unpermitted vacation rental in an Ag district that rents four bedrooms. What that means for the neighborhood
is that on a routine basis there can be 10 unknown people in the neighborhood and if they have a gathering the number
can expand to 20.
So with the at any time in any zoning district, two more than twice the number of bedrooms for rent, double the overall
renter limit, and making noise until 10 pm the impact to a neighborhood will be huge. I say this because in the
introduction the authors wrote "these bills were also intended to preserve the character of our residential and agricultural
areas". I believe the way this bill is written the impact on the neighborhoods will be negative. If you truly wanted to
preserve residential and agricultural neighborhoods you would have written a bill that prohibited transient rentals in our
neighborhoods.
Previously the County said it would honor neighborhood covenants and not issue permits conflicting with local
covenants. I don't see that in your bill. At a bare minimum your bill should state that the County will reject or revoke any
registration where prohibited by a local covenant. Bill 121 is going to be bad. Rentals will just suddenly appear with no
input from neighbors and conflicts will ensue.
Phillip Koszarek
Kaawaloa
Sent from my Phone C
Comm. No
Ref. TO:
t Ref. Date 2