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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0236.027 2024-2026r _ p/Peplos) Sill U7 aim.256, From: Penny Lee Sent: Monday, May 5, 2025 11:11 AM To: Council Testimony Subject: Testimony in opposition to bill 47 - pdf attached Attachments: Testimony_05042025.pdf o b.C) Aloha County Council, Please see attached pdf with my testimony in opposition to bill 47. t -� Thank you, - I-; Penny Lee COMM. 10 Ref.To: OPPOSE Bill 47 Current General Plan Hawaii County In the current Hawaii County General Plan under"14.7.5.1 PUNA"it says: 14.7.5.1.2 Courses of Action (a)The development of visitor accommodations and any resort development in the district shall complement the character of the area. (b) Consider the development of small family or'bed and breakfast'type visitor accommodations and small- scale retreat resort development. There we are, under(b),the "small family or'bed and breakfast'type visitor accommodation". No Vacation Rentals in new draft General Plan 2045 Interestingly,the new draft General Plan 2045 doesn't mention vacation rentals anywhere. Vacation Rentals on Agricultural land Looking at the map, do you think it makes sense to have no tt vacation rentals in agricultural zoning(green),which represents 45.79%of this island? - as irvnse..• Who would benefit?Who would lose? Only 2.18%of the ..- r. [ A drat. island is zoned urban. Everybody else currently has a Nonconforming Use Certificate (NUC)or would need to get �,�.„' , one.The county can and should have vacation rentals on ^� 4 - agricultural land. fi Big Island -State Land Use: Agricultural (green):45.79% l�.f Conservation (blue):51.97% Rural: 0.06% 5 la 20'61" State land U. Urban (red): 2.18% .,„.. Urban am/Tams 0'-.. Map 10 Bill 47 NOT a"Simple Registration" Planning Committee hearing, Oct 2nd, 2024, Heather Kimball introducing a new amendment to TAR Bill 121 says: "This amendment puts forth the most restrictive actions we could legally take..." Now we are presented with Bill 47 and told it's just a "Simple Registration". Issues with the bill,for example: 1. Registration under Bill!j47 is like signing an incomplete contract,that has blank clauses to be filled in later.The county intends to change Zoning and use restrictions and regulations regarding vacation rentals later. "We will have to do a cleanup of chapter 25"and "I'm not going to make any commitments about what we're going to do ...". Heather Kimball says while presenting the timeline (at about 26 min in zoom briefing). 2. Bill 47 removes the transferability of existing STVRs with Nonconforming Use Certificates (NUC)at the sale of the property.This is a regulatory taking without compensation of existing legal STVRs in agricultural zoning.That is not a good sign for the future of vacation rentals in agricultural zoning. 3. Unusually large fines 10k+twice the highest daily rate for a wide variety of potential reasons "basis". Immediate cancellation and "cease and desist", automatic liens if you can't pay and the threat of non- judicial foreclosure. A"Simple Registration" of a vacation rental should not lead to punishment like this. What is the intent?What is in here that supports vacation rentals?We are not in this bill.There is nothing in this that represents us. I will not be registering. I do not agree to being"deemed registered". I already have a registration and permit.And if you decide to go after our legal nonconforming use certificate,which represents our way to make a living on this island, and our house and family in this way.Too much to lose for too many families. Should we trust the county? There are very strong protections for property rights in the Hawaii and US constitution. Furthermore, Hawaii County has extensive use of nonconforming uses and subdivisions. People rely on these foundational assurances. Hawaii County needs to tread very carefully because they could potentially open up a huge legal can of worms based on historical layers of fraud,mislabeling and mishandling of so-called "Ag" land on this island.The county's actions created every single piece of this mess and they do not have clean hands. With both SB2919 and the Rosehill Supreme Court decision the state dumped the legal due diligence squarely on the county. SB2919 itself only changes the statute, it is up to the county to make sure their regulations do not violate property rights protections in Hawaii and Federal constitutions. Of course,the county could also just choose to support vacation rentals on agricultural land. Outlook is dire An ugly side of county government emerges. Corruption,greed and collusion with the corporate Hotel industry.This is no longer the county government we used to have,which used to let people live and make a living.This is a direct threat to the little bit of economy we have in the more remote rural areas of the island. If you go to the level of fining people who do not have the money to pay the fines,with liens and the threat of taking their house, at the same time stopping their income flow. If people are not able to buy the basics such as food and don't know how to keep their house,they will go nuts on you.What do you think will happen? How do you think people will react?Tourism is already way down and the country is falling into a deep recession.