HomeMy WebLinkAboutLeRoy, Mark
Tsuneda, Kaci
From:Mark LeRoy <mark.l@gathervacations.com>
Sent:Monday, August 31, 2026 8:03 AM
To:Council Testimony
Cc:Hustace, James
Subject:Bill 147: Preserve Jobs, Visitor Access, and Existing Property Rights
Aloha Council Members,
My name is Mark LeRoy. I have lived in North Kohala for approximately twelve years and am a constituent
of Council Member James Hustace. I am a Hawai ʻ i-licensed real estate professional and have worked in
vacation rental management on Hawai ʻ i Island for more than fourteen years, primarily along the Kohala
Coast.
I am writing in opposition to Bill 147 as currently drafted.
I support reasonable regulation of hosted vacation rentals, including registration, tax compliance,
enforceable good-neighbor standards, and accountability for operators. My concern is that Bill 147 goes
materially further by potentially eliminating lawful, existing hosted rentals that have operated under the
rules, contributed to the local economy, and created employment and income for Hawai ʻ i Island
residents.
North Kohala has very limited visitor accommodations. Hosted rentals serve families coming for
reunions, community events, King Kamehameha Day, school reunions, weddings, and visits with
residents who simply do not have room to accommodate extended family. Without these properties,
many visitors must stay at Kohala Coast resorts nearly an hour away, often at substantially higher cost.
The five-bedroom limitation is particularly concerning if applied retroactively.
Property owners made substantial investments under regulations that did not impose this limitation.
Eliminating otherwise compliant existing operations after those investments have been made creates an
obvious fairness issue, but it also creates predictable downstream economic consequences: lost
employment, reduced visitor spending, less tax revenue, impaired property values, and greater
economic uncertainty for local families and businesses that depend on this activity.
The County’s own 2025 Hunden Partners Economic Impact Study should weigh heavily in this
discussion. The study describes vacation rentals as important to the livelihoods of thousands of Hawai ʻ i
Island families and estimates very substantial direct and indirect economic activity associated with the
industry.
Equally important, restricting vacation rentals should not be assumed to produce meaningful amounts of
affordable housing. The same County-commissioned study reports that only a small percentage of
vacation rental owners indicated they would definitely convert their properties to long-term rentals.
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That is an important distinction. Eliminating a visitor accommodation does not automatically create
workforce housing. A six- or seven-bedroom home designed and operated as a hosted rental is
particularly unlikely to become an affordable long-term housing unit. Regulation should be based on the
likely outcome, not simply the hoped-for outcome.
There is also a practical issue with the definition of a hosted rental. Bill 147 refers to a host living at the
“same building site” as the TVR, yet “building site” appears insufficiently defined. A host residing
elsewhere on the same Tax Map Key should clearly qualify as an on-site host. Using the TMK as the
standard would provide owners, residents, and County enforcement personnel with a much clearer rule.
There is a reasonable compromise.
Allow existing hosted vacation rentals to continue operating when the host resides on the same TMK and
the property was lawfully operating before the new regulations take effect, regardless of whether it
contains five, six, or seven bedrooms. The County can then impose the new bedroom limitation
prospectively on future operations.
This approach does not prevent regulation. It distinguishes between regulating future activity and
retroactively disrupting lawful existing businesses and household economics.
I believe hosted vacation rentals should register, pay all applicable taxes, operate professionally, respect
their neighbors, and be held accountable when they do not. Those objectives can be achieved without
unnecessarily eliminating compliant existing businesses, local jobs, tax revenue, and an important
source of visitor accommodations in communities such as North Kohala.
I respectfully ask the Council to amend Bill 147 to grandfather existing compliant hosted rentals and
clarify that a host residing anywhere on the same TMK satisfies the residency requirement.
Mahalo for your consideration.
Mark LeRoy
North Kohala
Hawai ʻ i Island
Mark LeRoy, Chairman of The LeRoy Collection
Realtor® (RS-76356)
Gather Vacations, Inc
(808) 464-2454 | Book A Meeting
View The Collection
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