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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN PCPLUED 2025/05/06 (2024-2026)Policy Committee on Planning, Land Use, and Economic Development 81h Session West Hawaii Civic Center 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Building A Kailua-Kona, Hawaii May 6, 2025 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Policy Committee on Planning, Land Use, and ORDER: Economic Development was called to order at 2:3 5 p.m., in the Council Chambers, Kailua-Kona, by Ms. Michelle Galimba, Acting Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Chair (via video conference from Hilo) Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Vice Chair Mr. James E. Hustace, Member Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Member (via video conference from Hilo) Mr. Matt Kdneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member Mr. Dennis "Fresh" Onishi, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member STATEMENTS The Acting Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business. FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: The following individuals registered to speak and came forward when called by the Chair: Joshua Mehalick: Bill 47 (Comm. 236), in opposition. Heather Korotie: Bill 47 (Comm. 236), in support. Joy Dillon: Bill 47 (Comm. 236), comment. Gordon Lindquist: Bill 47 (Comm. 236), in opposition. Caryl Burns: Bill 47 (Comm. 236), in opposition. PCPLUED-8 Point of Information: May 6, 2025 Stephanie Donoho: Bill 47 (Comm. 236), in support. (representing Kohala Coast Resort Association) John Casey: Bill 47 (Comm. 236), in opposition. William Burns: Bill 47 (Comm. 236), in opposition. Alayna Wiley: Bill 47 (Comm. 236), in opposition. Trey Livingston: Bill 47 (Comm. 236), in opposition. John Hall: Bill 47 (Comm. 236), in opposition. Kris Adair: Bill 47 (Comm. 236), in opposition. Martina Wing: Bill 47 (Comm. 236), in opposition. Claudia Rohr: Bill 47 (Comm. 236), in opposition. Geneva Jackson: Bill 47 (Comm. 236), in opposition. Joshua Montegomery: Bill 47 (Comm. 236), in opposition. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I just have a point of information. If information is brought to the Council, is everyone supposed to receive a copy? MR. HENRICKS: Generally. It may seem like more of a personal interaction with Mr. Onishi, whether or not he solicited it. MR. ONISHI: No, I didn't. MR. HENRICKS: Didn't think so. Just wanted to make that clear. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, just from my recollection, I believe if information is brought to the Council, each member is supposed to be given the same information. That's what I remember over the years. MR. HENRICKS: You mind if I ask you, did you want all of that? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I think it would be good, because then we'll all have the same thing. Page 2 PCPLUED-8 May 6, 2025 MR. HENRICKS: Your point is well taken, that generally when people come to bring things to the Council, they should bring enough copies for everybody and one for the record, you're absolutely correct. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Beautiful. Thank you. MR. HENRICKS: I thought maybe in these circumstances, it'll be better if we didn't do that. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. . ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: You're welcome. Maybe that'll be a lot of trees. Thank you very much. Clerk, could you read the first item in. BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. Bill 45: AMENDS CHAPTER 14, ARTICLE 10, SECTION 14-65, OF THE HAWAI`I COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO DESIGNATED EXCEPTIONAL TREES Amends the Tax Map Key and Location of the exceptional trees listing for the "Chinese Weeping Banyan" to 2-2-29:08 Kilauea Avenue. Reference: Comm. 234 Intr. by: Council Member Onishi Motion to Approve: Mr. Onishi moved to recommend passage of Bill 45 on first reading. Seconded "by Ms. Villegas. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Council Member Onishi. MR. ONISHI: Thank you, Madame Chair. This is just housekeeping. Basically, we had to change the TMK (Tax Map Key) number. What happened was, it was printed with the wrong number, where it was supposed to be 2-2-29:08; it had 28. So, what happened was when the owner checked about the tree, they found out that the TMK number was wrong. So, they have to do this correction. And also by doing this correction, they found out for Kilauea Avenue, the kahako wasn't above the "i."' So, we had to add in that. So, I'm just asking for your support. And this is something really simple and this is something really simple and just had to do some corrections. Thank you. Page 3 PCPLUED-8 May 6, 2025 ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Any discussion Council Members? Seeing none, we'll have to make a point to make a plan to see the Chinese Weeping Banyan. It sounds beautiful. All in favor of approving Bill 45 and sending it to Council with a favorable recommendation, please say, "aye." Any opposed? Vote on Bill 45: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 45 on first reading (Approved) was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Hustace, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Acting Chair Galimba — 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Bill 47: AMENDS CHAPTER 6 OF THE HAWAI`I COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO TRANSIENT ACCOMMODATIONS Adds a new article requiring most transient vacation rentals and hosting platforms for transient vacation rentals to register with the County before operating; provides for enforcement and penalties. Reference: Comm. 236 Intr. by: Council Member Kimball and Council Member Kierkiewicz and Comm. 236.1: From Council Member Heather L. Kimball, dated April 22, 2025, transmitting Hawaii Revised Statutes Section 237D-3 relating to exemptions to Bill 47. (Note: Comms. 236.2 from Council Member Heather L. Kimball, dated May 6, 2025, transmitting a Power Point slide presentation and Comm. 236.3 transmitting proposed amendments to Bill 47, were circulated.) Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to recommend passage of Bill 47 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair. And I do have a brief slide presentation. So, I ask for a little bit of leeway on the time limit. I wanted to start by thanking Council Member Kierkiewicz and her team over there in District 4 for continuing to work on this lengthy project. And also send a big mahalo to our staff in LRB (Legislative Research Branch), particularly, Jacob Perry, who has really worked very closely with us to really refine the language on Bill 47 and really could not have done it Page 4 PCPLUED-8 May 6, 2025 without his help. So, want to mahalo him as well. Alright this is primarily for Council Member Onishi and Council Member Hustace. Just a very brief history. (Note: At this time, Ms. Kimball provided a PowerPoint slide presentation to the members of the Committee. For viewing of the presentation, see the DVD copy of the proceedings on file in the Clerk's Office, or online at http://hawaiicounty.granicus.com. A copy of the presentation is made part of the record, see Comm. 236.2.) ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. I don't have a presentation. I think Council Member Kimball did a really excellent job walking us through the legislative history and what's being proposed here. I did take some notes as testifiers were offering comments on the legislation. I wanted to address some of that right now. Again, to emphasize, Bill 47 establishes a simple registration process for Vacation Rentals (VRs) in our County. And this insures that we have an accurate understanding of where and how many rentals are operating on the island. The registration process is purely informational. This is not a regulatory measure. Again, emphasizing no changes to Real Property Tax Code; no changes to Zoning, Land Use,and we are not introducing operational standards for vacation rentals. All of that was contained in Bill 121, and we are not doing that. Somebody mentioned that Bill 47 would restrict their ability to operate. This bill is not restricting anyone's ability to operate a vacation rental. We are merely asking that you register your status as an operator. We are not requiring building permits. There were some comments that were made about building permits, we are not requiring that. We are not telling you what kind of visitor accommodations you can or cannot offer. We are simply asking for a site drawing to understand what on the property is available for visitor accommodations. You know, I was the Council Member that introduced the resolution directing the Department of Research and Development to do an Economic Impact Analysis of vacation rentals here on Hawaii Island. That study is ongoing. And in speaking with the consultant, it became very clear that having registrations within our County would be a critical tool that would compliment the economic study that is ongoing. I think by knowing the location and the distribution of VRs, we can make data driven decisions about things like visitor destination areas and where we might want to make changes within our Code, such as real property tax relief for those that are operating vacation rentals in their primary home. And if we need to work with Page 5 PCPLUED-8 May 6, 2025 State Legislators to make adjustments in Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) regarding hosted rentals on agricultural lands. Looking for my colleagues' support on this straight forward measure so that we can get an accurate understanding of where VRs are on Hawaii Island to better balance tourism impacts and preserve are residential areas. Because at the end of the day, like lot of folks have said, they're using VRs as a tool to help make ends meet. And so, we want to make sure that we are taking that into consideration and advancing policy that is balanced. Thank you, Chair, I yield. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you. Council Member Onishi. MR. ONISHI: Thank you, Madame Chair. Good afternoon Director Jeff Darrow, can you please come up? (Note: At this time, Planning Director Jeff Darrow came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. DARROW: Aloha, Jeff Darrow with the Planning Department. Good afternoon. MR. ONISHI: Thank you for coming up. I need you to help me in educating me on what's been happening in the past years. Because I remember before I left in 2016, we had this in front of us at Council. My concern was about these hosted or unhosted parking. Because I was hearing a lot of complaints about cars being parked in all different areas within the community. And so, I know part of the requirements was, you needed to have, especially in an Airbnb (Air Bed and Breakfast), about having a one -stall per room that's registered. And also, you had to provide, I think, a handicap stall. But it didn't go farther enough about that host having parking for their use, right? And so, some other complaints were that those hosts would park within the community. So, from there after I left because we didn't get to even settle that, right, and after they did some stuff. But to my understanding, parking was not addressed. So, can you give me a history, because I'm hearing mixed information or concerns from the residents who have these activities. And then, also what the Council Members have done in the past where I think it went up to a Draft 5, and I guess it got tabled. So, if you can help educate me on what's going on and how the department feels about all this. MR. DARROW: Sure, Vice Chair, I'll try to do my best. This has been ongoing for, you know, since Bill 108, which is now within our Zoning Code under (Section) 25-4-16. That is focused on short-term vacation rentals which are considered unhosted. So, in that particular situation, an unhosted dwelling only requires two Page 6 PCPLUED-8 May 6, 2025 parking spaces because you're renting out the entire dwelling. And that's similar to our Code when somebody built. Bill 121 was going through different versions. I don't recall where we left off. But again, it was to focus on parking for each individual room. I believe it was focused on our Section in the the Zoning Code 25-4-51, and Subsection 8, which was adopted previously regarding, I believe, the concerns that you're raising. But there were a lot of issues coming up in Urban areas where people were renting out rooms, and there wasn't enough parking; they were parking all over. So, that particular section says that the parking requirements for a single-family dwelling, a double -family dwelling or duplex. Then if they're occupied for any period of less than 180 days, one space for each rented bedroom in addition to one space for the dwelling unit if the rooms in the dwelling unit are rented individually, or two spaces if the dwelling unit is rented as a whole. So, it's reflecting that particular type of parking calculation. MR. ONISHI: But then --okay, so now with the testimony that we got, this bill basically is to get everybody registered. But don't the Planning Department or Real Property Tax already have that in place? MR. DARROW: We have the current processing which is strictly focused on short-term vacation rentals or unhosted rentals. This particular bill is focusing on all rentals, both unhosted and hosted. Again, looking at the timeline that Council Member Kimball brought up, is that, this is going to be in a series of actions that happen. First, introducing this bill and waiting for the economic study. And then, eventually also incorporating changes in the Zoning Code that will specifically identify all of the additional planning information relating to hosted as well as unhosted rentals. MR. ONISHI: Okay, back then when I was on the Council again, when there was a complaint about a neighbor with the Airbnb, I would notify Planning; Planning would get their investigator to look online first, like the websites to make sure that they were registered and so forth, right, with the County, and also with that organization. And if they weren't, then you folks would send out a notice stating that, "You need to get registered or you need to cease," right? Is that correct? MR. DARROW: Yes, but again, our authority for doing that is focused on short-term vacation rentals, which are strictly unhosted, not hosted. So, the way to look at hosted dwellings at this time or hosted rentals is what we refer them to. That is, somebody is allowed to rent a single-family dwelling, because let's say, you yourself owns two homes. You can't live in both of them. You can rent out the entire home, or let's say, you live in there and you have three extra rooms. So, Page 7 PCPLUED-8 May 6, 2025 you're able to rent out the additional rooms as long as you maintain the definition and consistency of a single-family dwelling. Where we get called in to complaints is when somebody creates multiple dwellings, they'll end up with several kitchens in the unit and creating several dwelling units; or they'll rent it out to much more people than supposed to be within a single-family dwelling. Therefore, overwhelming the surrounding properties. MR. ONISHI: Okay, during the time I was on the Council, in my district, there was an Airbnb. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Council Member Onishi, is this about this particular bill? MR. ONISHI: Yes, what I'm trying to get to is back then in 2014-2016, there was some type of registration, because when the complaint came up, I went to Planning. The investigator, they do the investigation to make sure that they were registered. Also, I checked with Real Property Tax to make sure that were paying their property tax. And they said because it was hosted, half of the home would determine homeowners and the other half, which they're renting out, was being taxed at the higher rate. So, basically, what I'm saying is that, from back then, it was already being monitored, right? So, what I cannot see is that we're going through this whole thing again, where there is something to me was in place back then. So, unless they're upgrading the way the system is right? And just to make sure that —like they said, they need to know where these short-term vacation rentals are, right? But I remember maybe two or three years ago, you folks passed something where they had to register by a certain time, right? Director, didn't you folks have at one time, where they had to register by a certain period of time? MR. DARROW: Yes, that's what I had spoken to originally with Bill 108, and that was strictly focused on short-term vacation rentals which are unhosted. What happened probably about 2016 or so, that's when the whole discussion started. We started looking the Mayor was saying, I want to do something, we're getting a lot of complaints from communities where there were these influx of short-term vacation rentals. We were looking at doing all of it at once, hosted and unhosted. As we were studying the process and going through it, we realized pretty quickly, that it was just too heavy of a lift. So, we focused on the ones that were having more issues because nobody was living in the houses to monitor the activity. At least in the hosted, you had someone living there. Page 8 PCPLUED-8 May 6, 2025 MR. ONISHI: To manage the place. MR. DARROW: So, we're at that time now, that we're looking at bringing in everything. So, you're looking at adding in the hosted component. MR. ONISHI: So, Chair, back then, hosted already had something they could monitor. Then the non -hosted was coming back in about 2018. So, that's what I'm trying to get to. So, I just wanted to get more clarification. So, a lot of the concerns that I'm hearing —so, they're worried about when they have to —and lot of the, I think, the people that testified are already registered. So, would they have to re -register or are they all good? MR. DARROW: Maybe if I could ask Council Member — MR. ONISHI: No, your department is going to do the enforcement. So, have you folks had the discussion on the enforcement, how you folks are going to do the enforcement. MR. DARROW: We have been doing the enforcement. So, I think it's similar to the current enforcement that we do. MR. ONISHI: Okay, so, basically, if they're registered already, they're all good. Only those who are not registered will fall into this situation. MR. DARROW: As mentioned through the presentation, there's a little bit of a difference. There's going to be an annual fee that occurs. But the main thing is what happens is, Planning gets a complaint. The first thing we do is we'll look on the internet for advertising, because in the bill, or in the log now, it says that if they're advertising that's prima facie evidence to show that they're operating. First, we issue a courtesy letter and then, if they're not able to come work with us to get registered or shut down, then we issue a violation notice. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Council Member Onishi, I'm going to let someone else, Council Member Villegas speak. MR. ONISHI: I'll yield for now, then. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Council Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you. Thanks for putting together this presentation. Thank you also for constituents that showed up to testify. I'm going to call out the hypocrisy with the number of testimonies, because I know for a fact that the properties they're speaking of, and some dwellings that are utilized for short-term vacation rentals are actually intended to be farm dwellings for workers on farms. So, Page 9 PCPLUED-8 May 6, 2025 I'm going to point out that hypocrisy and that righteous indignation, I call baloney on that for the record. You know, it's very obvious here to me that besides Waikoloa Village, Kailua-Kona; it's no secret is the highest percentage of vacation rentals. We also have some of the highest rents and housing prices on the island. I appreciate the data that's being presented here by a number of different papers. I love that they were certified, and peer reviewed as well. You know, it just seems common sense. Of course, housing prices and rental prices are going to go up in a place. If you can get $10,000 a month for a short-term vacation rental property versus, you know, $2,500. Well heck, now we can't even find a house to rent in my district, let alone, a room to rent. According to this, and I'm just going to kind of throw it at a couple questions. So, it looks like, approximately, there's a potential of, if unhosted are included and registered, we could go from what's already like 4,000 TVRs (Transient Vacation Rentals) in the County up to 10,000. So, there's the potential for an additional 6,000 hosted TVRs. MS. KIMBALL: May I respond, Chair? ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Please do. MS. KIMBALL: So, yes, the difference between what we currently have registered and those estimates that we have for 2025, some number of those are hosted rentals; some number of those are unhosted operating illegally; some number of those are Bed and Breakfast. The answer to how many of each is the question we don't know the answer to. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay. I also want to validate the fear and concerns of people who look at this and go, "Oh my gosh, this is potentially going to jeopardize my livelihood."' I get that. I appreciate what's being stated here that nothing in this claim that this is just a registration tool to know how many there are. I also want to appreciate the testimony at a time when we are living in a dystopian nightmare about a lot of things that are happening in the national level. But having been in office when Bill 108 was being passed, I do want to provide one personal backing of that is not the intention, and that has not been the intention of this. My district in particular was suffering from people identifying and commodifying the opportunities in District 7 specifically to come in and buy multiple homes in residential neighborhoods and turning them into vacation rentals, which directly impacted property values, rentals; eliminated the housing on our markets. And you Page 10 PCPLUED-8 May 6, 2025 added COVID (Coronavirus disease) when people were moving here sight unseen; paying cash over asking value. And it has completely alienated the working class in the district. So, that was the premise of the bill; is to limit the zones and the areas in which vacation rentals could be operated. And even though it was one at a time, tackle the unhosted, because that's where the complaints were coming from; from people who worked every day and had to listen to somebody on vacation playing in the pool till 2:00 a.m. in the morning next door, right? Very different energy when we go on vacation, which I like to stay in an Airbnb when I go, and I love what it offers. Fortunately, part of our responsibility as policy -makers is to try to create policies to make policies that encourage and require people to not be assholes. And unfortunately, no matter what do, oftentimes people still behave that way. And that's one of the challenges here, is we can't —and I'm dealing with this with the parking in Kona. Anyway, I digress. My question becomes and my concern then is, because I know I'm going to get a lot of questions about this. Like currently, if you're a hosted vacation rental on Ag property, you're fine. So, I see people who are doing hosted rentals on Ag are going to be very, very leery about then registering for this because they've been covered under the other.. Not digging down on the unhosted, has allowed a lot of people to utilize vacation rentals to the betterment. We know that Ag doesn't necessarily pay for your mortgage on a farm. So, I guess my question also becomes, if this is passed, does this open up currently unless it's a resort node, you cannot unless you originally got a non -conforming use permit. You cannot start a vacation rental in a residential area or other areas if it's unhosted. So, I'm wondering does this open up all the areas again? So, everybody can come in and start creating —I'll yield not, but I just have a lot of questions, especially because of the variety of issues that land in my district, which is urban but very rural at the same time with a lot of Ag. Okay, I yield. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: If I could respond to that quickly. Chapter 25 still applies. So, if it's an unhosted rental, unless you have an existing non -conforming use certificate, you cannot start a new transient vacation rental that's unhosted on a post-1976 lot. I'm sure that made that clear as mud. But that's when the Land Use Law became the law at the State. So, anything that was created after that on Ag land, you cannot have an unhosted rental. Page 11 PCPLUED-8 May 6, 2025 Now, if it's a hosted rental, the County Planning Department has always maintained that you can do that on Agricultural land. Unless it's in an additional farm dwelling that you would have had to create a farm plan for and sign an agreement, but that was meant to be used for farm workers. So, that's another piece of that 1976 piece. But I hope that clears up that question. Then, to respond to Council Member Onishi's question. We are proposing additional services than what is currently provided from the standpoint of the current process with respect to transient vacation rentals is that it's a complaint driven process. So, we are not aware in many cases of the transient vacation rentals that are out there that may be operating illegally per the existing Code. And the registration process comparing that with the advertisements on VRBO (Vacation Rentals by Owners) and whatnot won't allow us to use that. MR. ONISHI: I just wanted to clarify as Ms. Kimball was asking and responding back to my questions, because I was talking to basically, the Planning Director for my questions. But that's it. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Okay, let me just check with Hilo and we can get back to you real quick. Is there anybody that would like to ask questions or comment in Hilo? MS. KAGIWADA: It's clear to me. I have no questions, thanks. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Council Member Onishi. MR. ONISHI: Thank you, Madame Chair. So, Director, talking about the fines again. So, if they're already registered, they're all good. Now, it's those that are not registered, and there's a complaint that comes to your department; you folks investigate; then you folks send them a letter stating that they're in violation and y You need to do the proper procedures to get registered, correct? MR. DARROW: It's basically like that. It's a little less dramatic on the first step. We send a letter saying we've received a complaint. Basically saying, you're operating a short-term vacation rental. Please contact us so we can either set up a site inspection or provide us with information that shows that they're registered. We're basically opening the door to be able to start communications to work with it. If that doesn't work, then the next step is issuing the violation if we're not able to show that it's valid. MR. ONISHI: Right. And that's when the fines come in? MR. DARROW: Right. Currently, the fine schedule is different. It's not $10,000. Page 12 PCPLUED-8 May 6, 2025 MR. ONISHI: Right. If this bill passes, then it will become $10,000. MR. DARROW: It could be. MR. ONISHI: Then that's like what, like 30 days, 90 days? MR. DARROW: Whatever the bill says. But again, there's still work to be done. That collaboration between Chapter 6 and Chapter 25 in regards to that. Because there's different types of violations. This one is for not registering. We'll get complaints about different things as well, for registered offenders. MR. ONISHI: But basically, this bill in front of us is what I'm hearing from Council Members, is about just registration. MR. DARROW: That's what it appears to be, yes. MR. ONISHI: Yes. Well, one other question is, we talked about enforcement, about your manpower. And I guess in the past, the registration that you folks got for these hosted or unhosted—but maybe you can explain like what's happening now, and it's been predicted that we're going to get an increase. MR. DARROW: Well, again, one of the slides showed the original increase in submittals at the onset of Bill 108 when it got approved. That was crazy. And it was like for one year or so, because you had a period of time to register. And everybody was registering as quickly as they could to get in at that time. We had staff, I mean every day we were at work trying to —and it didn't matter what your job was. Somehow you were also trying to help out with the STVR (Short - Term Vacation Rental)registrations, but we got through it. And then once the initial year set up then it balanced out. And it's just been continual registrations; mainly those and then enforcement. MR. ONISHI: So, do you have an idea, like per month how many, I guess hosted or unhosted are being registered? MR. DARROW: It would just be unhosted. I couldn't give you that. I mean, I would say, it's probably in the area of 20 to 30 or maybe less. But it's not overwhelming. We've actually started to see some changes. I'm not sure if this — I'll just say it, that, I guess with people that, you know, operate for a period of time, they start to realize, this really isn't my cup of tea. I'm not built for doing short-term vacation rentals. And also, it effected their tax base. So, we're starting to actually see requests for cancellations on a regular basis. Page 13 PCPLUED-8 May 6, 2025 MR. ONISHI: Okay, thank you. Well, I hope this helps clarify the part about the fines and the registration to the community. But what I'm worried about too, is if we do too many restrictions or we make it really harder for them, they might decide — and we're talking about affordable housing; we're talking about aid in housing. It could become like Oahu is, where now they're having a lot of vacant homes, and the County Council is looking at now, taxing them for being vacant. So, I would not like to see that happen here. We're going to force people to just don't do anything with their homes, right? And so, there is really a fine line, and I'm hoping the Planning Department and also Finance, because Finance seems like they're going to be in charge of the registration, keeping track of the TAT (Transient Accommodation Tax) and all the taxes that they're paying. So, I'm hoping that the manpower that you folks have will be sufficient enough to make this moving forward and smoothly. I yield, thank you. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Council Member Kdneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Good discussions so far. Director, a couple questions for you. Section 6-41 Administrative Enforcement. If you can't answer that, I'll ask the makers to answer that, because they wrote it. Section 6-41 (b), "In the case of a hosted TVR, the owner and the host of a TVR are jointly and severally liable for all fines and penalties assessed under this article." Looking back at the definition of hosted, refers to the TVR located on the property that is the principle home of the host. If I read those two correctly, then the principle home of the host would be the owner. So, say that we're going to be fining potentially the owner and the host seems redundant. MR. DARROW: The definition says that hosted refers to a TVR located on the property that is the principle home of the host. So, he is living there. He may not be the owner, or the owner could be living somewhere else. That was one of the issues that came up when we were discussing originally, like people that did purchase multiple homes. We were concerned that all they were doing was getting somebody to live in the home, and then host it. But that's why it wasn't covered under our enforcement or our bill. So, at this point it will be. But yeah, the host and the owner can be different. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Section 6-45 Registration No. (7)(B). I was just reading HRS 237D, where you have a certificate of registration under the HRS. My question is, do we not double check the HRS registration? Is that still applicable? Does that happen? Because from my reading of 237D, you have to as a transient vacation rental apply with the State. There's some funky language in there, but I mean, they have to. So, do we not criss-cross with the State on what they have registered and what we do or don't? Page 14 PCPLUED-8 May 6, 2025 MR. DARROW: This might be a good question for the maker. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, yes please. MS. KIMBALL: So, with the State you don't register by TMK or property. So, if you're an owner that has five transient vacation rentals, you will have a TAT number, but will not be associated with individual properties. So, that would be the difference between this registration where you're going to register each STVR. The State also does not share the registration information with us. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Glad you have the State's level in a few different ways. I also recognize that you have to register one time with the State. You don't neccesarily have to register if you gain more short-term vacation rentals, which is interesting in the same language. So, you may have some issues within the State law that need to be addressed. That would be helpful. Okay, thank you. Then the registration fee under that same Section 6-45 No. (10), 1250 or $500, in the case of a hosted or unhosted TVR, respectively." I just want to make sure that means what I think it means, and it doesn't need to be clearer. MR. DARROW: It's $250 for hosted, $500 for unhosted. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, two makers just making that crystal clear. MS. KIMBALL: To be clear, that is just the initial registration fee. That's not the annual renewal. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Section 6-46, Failure to Register. Pay a simple fine of $10,000. So, there's not an up to, it's a straight shot. Is that right? MR. DARROW: That is what it says because according to the presentation, it's consistent with the other counties. Thank you. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, thank you. And then Violations and Penalties at the very end of the ordinance. So, this one you'll be paying a single fine for each day in the violation if the violation persists. MS. KIMBALL: May I interject? It's the hosting platform, not to the TAT. That would be like if there was a violation by Airbnb or VRBO. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, I got you. So, different all together. Not applicable to the previous sections for hosted and unhosted. Okay, I yield for now, Chair. Page 15 PCPLUED-8 May 6, 2025 ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you. Anyone else? Yes, Council Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Yes, some of the other things the testifiers have asked about, was waiting until we've got the report from the Economic Impact Study, which you know, that question pops up to me too, but I also see that you're looking for alignment for getting that information; having people registered and moving forward. So, I get that part. I also get fear, and I get the concerns from the community. So, how to move forward with an equitable reflection of what's happening. You know,. I also have the pleasure of not running for office again. So, all the people that came for me in the last round. I anticipate there being a lot of people that work in real estate and property management having issues. I mean, if I could just break this down and the legalese wasn't so concerning that there's some "shall or if' of whatnot here. I mean it makes sense tome to have everybody registered. It makes sense tome what's going on. I get that. On the other hand, I also understand the testimony of people who —one of the testifiers mentioned, you know, in agriculture areas. Not all of the shelters, I'll call them, are permitted; or those are, you know, structures that are currently under the government's scrutiny and approval. So, I also hear of rights of people to get to stay where they want to stay and rent what they want to rent. If the market will bear it, then that liability lies between the person who rents the Airbnb and the person that owns the property. I see that as a separate liability thing. So, does this remove the opportunity for people who are currently renting those kinds of spaces from being able to continue to do so? ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: So, the registration process for vacation rentals is not included in the unhosted Short-term Vacation Rentals, only requires a signed affidavit, but it meets health and safety requirements, like it has a fire extinguisher; it has two methods of egress. These kinds of stuff you'd want to do for a visitor, right? It doesn't say anything about building permits. And this is enforced by the Planning Department who doesn't have anything to do with building permit enforcement. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay. I guess my final question would be for the Department of Finance, because I see this heavy lift riding on them. Do we have anybody here from Finance? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yes, Deputy Finance Director is approaching. Thank you. MS. VILLEGAS: Aloha Malia. (Note: At this time, Deputy Finance Director Malia Kekai came Page 16 PCPLUED-8 May 6, 2025 forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. KEKAI: Aloha, Malia Kekai, Deputy Finance Director. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you for being here. Just wanted to check in with you guys, as much as PONC (Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources Preservation Commission) Maintenance fund now lands with you. And to add this other lift, I just want to ensure that you think the department has the capacity and bandwidth. MS. KEKAI: Thank you for that question. I think this is going to be a different division, it's our TAT and Internal Controls Division that would be helping with this registration process. And I think, currently, we are down one person, but we're hoping to fill that soon. So, I think we would be able to help with this registration process in line with Planning's help as well. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay, thank you for answering that. You know, I'm interested in looking forward to hearing from my constituents, but I want to put a call out to my constituents, as well as those who don't work in the real estate industry, and who may not own a short-term vacation rental. But the people who are looking for places to rent and places to live specifically in District 7, because I think that needs to be taken into consideration, not just the interest of those who are utilizing a residential space as a commercial activity. So, I also want to say that I appreciate the amazing work that the Kohala Coast Visitor Association does and the representations of their properties. This is not put together by them, and I'm going to call that out. They also have their data pretty solid. And so, I do want to validate the information that they bring have brought forward. In a time when we're going to talk about equity, even if we're told not to, that is an issue as well. As much as I would like to see us transition away from tourism as our primary source of economic growth, it's probably not going to happen. The things that are happening are happening, not because of this legislation, they're happening because of other things happening in our Country right now and across the globe. So, just want to call out those things on some perspectives there. I do appreciate, I mean this took a lot of doing in order to come up with some other ways. Somebody else had asked whether or not you may have had to wait two years to bring another piece of legislation that relates to, you have to wait to the next term, which are two- year terms. But that's why this legislation, which is still quite different from the last one. So, that could be argued. But that this encompasses a different angle, I. think I can be okay with this today, as long as this doesn't open up Pandora's Box. So, anybody now can add an STVR, and we accidentally end up undoing the boundaries and parameters that were created by Bill 108 to begin with. Page 17 PCPLUED-8 May 6, 2025 So, I'll continue to dip down in this. I don't think the fee is based on what I know people are making, short-term vacation rentals. The couple $100 a year are that extraneous. So, I yield at this time. MS. KIMBALL: I'd like to call for the question. I know we have a couple people leaving. Vote on Motion to Call Ms. Kimball moved to call for the quesion. Seconded by for the Question: Ms. Kierkiewicz and carried by the following roll call vote: ,(Approved) Ayes: Committee Members Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Villegas, and Acting Chair Galimba — 6. Noes: Committee Member Onishi — 1. Absent: Committee Members Hustace and Inaba —2. Excused: None. Vote on Bill 47: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 47 on first reading (Approved) was carried by the following roll call vote: Ayes: Committee Members Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Villegas, and Acting Chair Galimba — 6. Noes: Committee Member Onishi —1. Absent: Committee Members Hustace and Inaba —2. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you very much. That brings us to the end of our agenda. Thank you all. ADJOURN- There being no further business, Acting Chair Galimba adjourned the meeting MENT: at 4:35 p.m. Approve Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Chair Policy Committee on Planning, Land Use, and Economic Development AK/dt f gr241(K- (Date) Page 18