HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0236.133 2024-2026P/COM61
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cxpodia group -
June 3, 2025
Council Chair Holeka Goro Inaba
County of Hawai'i
Hawaii County Building
25 Aupuni Street
Hilo, Hawai'i 96720
COUNTY CLERK
COUNTY OF HAWAI'I
RECEIVED
Time [2:OOM, sy
Date JUN 0 3 2025
Re: Bill 47, Draft 2 & Councilmember Kimball's Amendment
Dear Chair Inaba, Vice Chair Onishi, and Hawaii County Councilmembers,
On behalf of Expedia Group, a family of brands that includes Expedia.com, Hotels.com, and
short-term rental leader Vrbo, I am writing to share comments on Bill 47, Draft 2. Expedia
Group welcomes balanced regulation and management of short-term rentals and has worked
with municipalities around the world to craft, enact, and enforce laws to regulate vacation
rentals.
Previous Amendments
Thank you for adopting amendments last month to establish clear guidelines to foster
collaboration between platforms, like Expedia Group, and Hawai'i County. The amendment
adopted updating Section 6-53 outlines a process for platforms to support county enforcement
of county laws and regulations.
New Amendments
We respectfully request that you adopt Councilmember Kimball's amendment making
additional changes to Section 6-53 to further clarify and improve the language. As currently
drafted Section 6-53(a) would require the director to cancel a hosting platform's registration if
a single transaction for a TVR without a license took place. If, for example, a transaction took
place the day a TVR's license expired, there is no grace period or opportunity to rectify the
situation under 6-53(a). This is inconsistent with the compliance outlined under Section 6-53(b).
The amendment proposed by Councilmember Kimball clarifies that platform license
cancellation is the remedy if platforms do not delist properties that the county has highlighted
as improper rather than for a single, inadvertent violation.
We also appreciate that the amendment specifies how the department will identify a listing, so
platforms can reliably find the correct listing.
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1111 Expedia Group Way West I Seattle, WA, 98119 I USA I T +1 206 481 72001 F +1 206 481 724AM
expediagroup.com Corn' Ref. TO:
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We strongly urge you to pass the amendment from Councilmember Kimball making changes
to Section 6-53, which address the concerns we raised at first reading. Thank you for the
opportunity to provide comments. We look forward to working with Hawaii County Council.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if there is any additional information we can provide.
Mahalo,
Mackenzie Chase
Regional Manager, Hawaii
Expedia Group
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1111 Expedia Group Way West i Seattle, WA, 98119 i USA i T +1 206 481 72001 F +1 206 481 7240
expediagroup.com