HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0236.040 2024-2026 P/PcPL-uEO
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From: A (Somtida) Salim a
Sent: Sunday, May 4, 2025 7:25 PM
To: i Council Testimony --� —�
Subject: i Testimony- Bill 47-25 Transient Accommodations Registration
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Dear Hawaii County Council members,
Thank you for your dedication to the work of serving the residents on our beloved island.
My name is Somtida Salim. I am a full time resident and a registered voter in District 9
of North and South Kohala. I desperately hope for your very thoughtful consideration to
do "the right thing" for the livelihood of the county residents as I strongly oppose Bill
47-25 demanding the registration of hosted transient accommodations.
Reasons I oppose this proposed bill.
1. WAIT FOR THE ECONOMIC STUDY. TO INTRODUCE THIS BILL NOW IS TO PUT
THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE.
If the economic study is adequately and properly administered, the data from it should
be very insightful for determining how broad the economic impacts of transient
accommodations are to the island economic prosperity, livelihood of residents, small
businesses, and the ability to thrive and flourish of numerous small pockets of rural
areas around the island. If you want more data than that, there is a data aggregation
service called AirDNA. With a few hundred dollars a year of full membership access, the
county can get,all the data (the precise areas and numbers of short term rentals, the
price range, the occupancy rate, the average nightly rate). Has the county looked at it
before resorting to demanding that residents register? Demanding registration right
now, claiming that it is for data, sounds like a clear precursor to heavy-handed
regulations to come, which, will be armed by this registration demand with the
convenience of knowing where everyone is for precise, quick, and targeted wipe-outs of
the hosted transient accommodation businesses of resident hosts.
2. THE REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS SHOW CLEARLY THAT THIS BILL IS NOT
FOR COLLECTING DATA.
IT APPEARS TO ME TO BE A LIGHTLY VEILED THREAT FOR
a) THE QUICK AND SWIFT ENFORCEMENT OF THE UNDETERMINED
REGULATIONS TO COME,
b) AN ENACTMENT OF COMPLIANCE BURDENS TO MAKE IT MUCH HARDER
FOR RESIDENTS TO CONTINUE TO OPERATE,
c) A WITCHHUNT AND AN INTIMIDATION TACTIC.
To illustrate my point, this bill demands the followings.
- The harsh and unreasonable penalty for not registering. ; $10,000 fine. This fine
is so out of proportion to the incomes individual operators like me earn from the
transient accommodation businesses. What this fine means to us is they of -
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between submitting ourselves to an unreasonably forced compliance or being
pushed out of existence economically.
-Onerous registration requirements for layperson residents to comply. For example, No
accommodations for the unpermitted structures.Section 6-45-a-5 A declaration attesting that the
TVR complies with the health and safety requirements as may be required by the County. I have
two master degrees and I am deterred by the amount of work and research I need to do to
understand the numerous codes cited in this bill.That is how onerous and restrictive this bill is.
- The bill is vaguely written to give much power to the unelected officials in the
Finance and Planning departments to set rules. (section 6-42 Rulemaking
Authority)
- The enforcement lacks adequate due process protections for me - a host and a
resident in this county.
3. THE HIDDEN HOPE OF INCREASING LONG TERM HOUSING BY WAY OF
ELIMINATING TRANSIENT ACCOMMODATIONS IS UNREALISTIC.
- Many hosted transient accommodation, like mine, is too small for long term
housing. No cooking facilities. Not enough storage for long term housing use.
- Even if my hosted transient accommodation would eventually be regulated out of
existence, I WILL NOT consider renting it as long term housing for as long as the
landlord-tenant code in Hawaii remains what it is - offering very little protection
and eviction enforcement to landlords. What will happen instead, if I can no longer
operate transient accommodations, is I will not have the extra income that I
redistribute in our island community. I will no longer be able to afford as much
wildfire mitigation work as I currently do on the property. I will not be hiring the
house cleaner frequently and regularly as I do now. I will not be hiring handyman,
yard services, home improvement services at the extent that I can now. Shops,
groceries and food services in Kawaihae, Hawi, and Kapa'au will not be able to
thrive without patrons from transient accommodation users in the area.
These days, all of us live with so much more uncertainties in our lives. I don't need to name them.You, I,
and everyone else;share this common hardship.This bill will put so much more hardship directly on
many residents of the county.All of us in this transient accommodation business are simply trying to
make ends meet,trying to own and keep our homes with the help of a bit of extra incomes,trying to
improve our ability to care and maintain our homes. My elderly neighbors use the extra income for their
healthcare and helpers around the house.You won't find one example anywhere on the island of a
resident getting rich from running this side business but you will find numerous stories of how this
income helps us make our home life a little bit more enjoyable, stable, and secure.
I pray for the wisdom, compassion, big picture thinking, and long view thoughts of all council members
when you consider whether you want to support this bill. Please think about the people,the residents
you are here to serve. Please do not fall so easily for the lip service and false hope of increasing long term
housing;the county will not get it by enacting this bill.
Please do the right thing.You have the power. I pray that your wisdom, not the political power plays,
guides your council power...to do the right thing.
Thank you for your thoughtful and careful consideration.
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Somtida Salim
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