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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN PCPLUED 2026/09/01 (2024-2026) Policy Committee on Planning, Land Use, and Economic Development 30th Session Hawai`i County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo,Hawai`i September 1, 2026 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Policy Committee on Planning,Land Use, and ORDER: Economic Development was called to order at 2:51 p.m.,in the Council Chambers, Hilo,by Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Chair Ms. Michelle M. Galimba,Vice Chair Mr. James E. Hustace, Member Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba,Member Ms. Jenn Kagiwada,Member Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder,Member Ms. Heather L. Kimball,Member Mr. Dennis "Fresh" Onishi,Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas,Member STATEMENTS The 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 on Bill 147 (Comm. 806), and came forward when called by the Chair: John Pelletier: Comment. Joy Dillon: In opposition. Richard Henderson, II: Comment. Mary Begier: In opposition. (See Comm. 806.10) Caitlin Miller: Comment. Sherry Rockwood: Comment. PCPLUED-30 September 1,2026 Madeline Ross: Comment. Jesse Rubendalli: Comment. Martina Wing: Comment. Anna Ruth Peiffer: Comment. John Moss: Comment. Julie Eliason: Comment. Linda Halbritter: In opposition. Jamie Humphrey: In opposition. CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you,we will move on to Business for the Day. Mr. Clerk,Bill 147. BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of ORDINANCES: business,Bills for Ordinances. Bill 147: AMENDS CHAPTER 2 AND CHAPTER 25 OF THE HAWAI`I COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION,AS AMENDED),RELATING TO TRANSIENT ACCOMMODATIONS Establishes operational standards and use regulations for transient vacation rentals,which include hosted bed and breakfasts (B&Bs) and un-hosted short-term vacation rentals (STVRs); allows B&Bs as a permitted use in the single-family residential zoning district; allows B&Bs as a permitted use in areas within the residential agricultural, family agricultural, and agricultural zoning districts that are also classified as State land use urban or rural; allows STVRs as a permitted use in the entire multiple-family residential district and in certain coastal areas adjacent to General Plan-designated Resort or Resort Node areas in other residential zoning districts; allows STVRs as a permitted use in the Downtown Hilo Commercial zoning district; and makes various conforming housekeeping amendments. Reference: Comm. 806 Intr.by: Council Member Kimball Referred to Planning Commissions: April 10, 2026 ; and • Page 2 PCPLUED-30 September 1,2026 Comm. 806.2: From Managing Director William V. Brilhante,Jr., dated July 23, 2026, transmitting for Council's consideration and action, a letter from the Windward and Leeward Planning Commissions. ; and Comm. 806.3: From Planning Director Jeffrey W. Darrow, dated July 28, 2026, transmitting a PowerPoint presentation for Bill 147. ; and Comm. 806.4: From Council Member Heather L Kimball, dated August 19, 2026, transmitting a PowerPoint presentation for Bill 147. CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: Council Member Kimball. Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to recommend passage of Bill 147 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada. CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair. You guys were provided with the slides from the Planning Department and from myself that were provided to the Planning Commissions. I am not going to suggest that we go through all of these today. You can peruse them on your own time. I also recommend the webinar that we put up on Hawaiicountytar.com. Just to start the discussion,the first thing I want to do is acknowledge that we understand and appreciate that this is an emotional issue for some folks because we're talking about livelihoods and being able to make ends meet and all of that. I think when we have these issues that evoke these emotional feelings, sometimes misinformation can get out there and takes on a life of its own. And I will say that I believe that has happened to a great extent in this case. In my conversations with both of the Planning Commissions, one of the commissioners actually brought up Bill 147 is essentially a housekeeping bill, and that's what it is. It does not change any existing policies;it just clarifies them. So, for example,with respect to what is permitted on Agricultural land,that is all dictated by Hawai`i Revised Statutes, Chapter 205-4.5; and the definition of the farm dwelling. And that is the finding that came through with the Rosehill decision. Page 3 PCPLUED-30 September 1,2026 I will note that through Act 34 from 2026,the definition of farm dwelling has changed a little bit,but I don't think it actually affects our understanding and interpretation of a farm dwelling. I do want to note that you were provided with this very cool graphic. This was created by Maija Jackson at the Planning Department. This shows all the different permutations of what can happen on agricultural lands. The key difference is the understanding of what happens on a pre-1976 versus a post-1976 lot. Pre-1976 is before the current land use law took effect in the State. And on State Land Use Ag,the first dwelling is a single-family dwelling. So, you don't have the same constrictions that you have on farm dwelling for single-family dwellings in terms of having somebody there that is tied to agriculture. That's why you have all of these different permutations. I'm willing to go into that in more detail. So,that's one part of it, aligning with the State Law with respect to farm dwellings on State Land Use Ag. This also aligns us with the registration program, which TikTok today and folks are currently using. But more importantly,this aligns the Code with the historical practices of the Planning Department. I'm going to ask Council Member Kierkiewicz to come way back with me and remember when we started these initial conversations with the Planning Department about Short Term Vacation Rental regulation. We said, shouldn't all of these hosted be under the Bed&Breakfast establishment means any single-family dwelling and/or guest houses which have been permitted on a building site, in which overnight accommodations, and only breakfast meals are provided to a maximum of ten guests for compensation for periods of less than 30 days. Going through this process and going back to that initial thing,basically, all hosted rentals should have been regulated under this regulation of a Bed& Breakfast; it's less than 30-day rentals. That should have been followed, which requires in State Land Use, Urban and Rural,that homeowners get a Use Permit in order to operate. And on State Land Use Ag,they get a Special Use Permit. So,what we do in Bill 147 since that has not been the way that the department has enforced it up to date,is we actually removed the requirement to get a Use Permit in State Land Use Rural and State Land Use Urban. Page 4 PCPLUED-30 September 1,2026 So,I want to be clear that this is a big change with Bill 147 is that we're actually removing administrative requirements and burdens for hosted rentals by saying that they no longer need a Use Permit in State Land Use Rural and State Land Use Urban. Now I know there's some conversation about the five-bedroom rule. That's why I've asked our Building Division Chief to be here. The five bedrooms has to do, first of all, with the Land Use Code. If you have more than five rooms to rent,then you should be applying for a lodge, or an inn, or a hotel, per our Code. And that has been the law all this time. That has not changed. There's also changes that happened with the Building Code with respect to Fire prevention and other things when you to from five bedrooms to more than five bedrooms for rent in terms of health and safety requirements. So, questions regarding that can go to Mr. Spielman. • The other item that I wanted to just highlight is, you know,we're aligning this also with the Tax Code. And that was brought up, obviously, as a concern for folks. Again, commercial activity causes you to lose the homeowner's tax class, which we talked about with Bill 173. And that has been part of the law since the '80,right? And that is not something that changes. So,that's kind of the basics. I do have some amendments here that incorporate the changes that were recommended by the Planning Department per their background report for the Planning Commissions, as well as some that are more policy-like in nature and that I pulled out to be separate amendments for the body to consider. So, with that,I will ask Director Darrow and the department if there's anything you want to add in terms of this bill as far as introduction before I let my colleagues ask questions. Thanks. CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: The Chair recognizes Director Darrow. (Note: At this time,Planning Director Jeffrey Darrow came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. DARROW: Thank you, Chair Kierkiewicz and members of the Hawai`i County Council. Jeff Darrow with the Planning Department. This has been a long road, and we're finally here. It's started back in 2018 with the introduction of Bill 108 and the regulation of Unhosted Short-Term Vacation Rentals (STVR). We've been operating for the past eight years under that program, and it's been successful. Page 5 PCPLUED-30 September 1,2026 At this point, it's just daily routine. At first, it was very, very contentious. There was a lot of opposition.'But once the program launched,it relatively went very smooth. During that particular process there was a fund that was created. It was called the STVR Enforcement Fund. And that fund was established to pretty much run the program; all of its needs; all of its employees. That program is run through that fund. It was intended back then to come back pretty quickly and regulate hosted rentals. Unfortunately,that didn't happen quite as fast. In 2023, I believe, Bill 121 came about,Bill 122, and also Bill 123 with Accessory Dwelling Units. Bill 121 was proposing hosted rentals. Bill 122 was to try to remove Bed&Breakfast from the Zoning Code and focus on hosted rentals. We went through at least six drafts. Finally,it got shelved to work on it some more because of all the testimonies. And now,we're here with Bill 147. Again,taking all that into account and coming back to the Council for this proposed bill. • As Council Member Kimball mentioned, this bill does a significant change in the land use process for Bed &Breakfast or Hosted Rentals. Typically, anybody operating a Bed &Breakfast or Hosted Rental in a Residential Zone would require a Use Permit. In the Agricultural Zoning and State Land Use Agricultural Zoning would require a Special Permit. This allows them to continue as permitted to a registration process without having to go through a Use Permit. It would allow the operations on pre-'76 lots to be permitted within a Single-Family dwelling. And on the post-'76, there's no way we can get pass that based on State Law, and they would need to come in for a Special Permit. We have worked diligently to make the registration process much simpler than it could be. We've heard from people that it is a relatively simple process. We have really refined our Special Permit process for Bed& Breakfast anticipating the increase of Bed&Breakfast coming in that would need a Special Permit. As part of the amendments that Council Member Kimball is bringing forth, there is a grace period to allow time for people to be able to go through that process, and we will work with them. I'm here to answer any questions that you may have. Thank you. CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you,Director. Council Member Hustace. MR. HUSTACE: Thanks Chair. Thanks Director. Thanks Council Member. Before we dive into the amendments,just some questions here. You know, Director, would it not be clearer to just have TVR (Transient Page 6 PCPLUED-30 September 1,2026 Vacation Rentals) as the overarching sort of descriptor definition, and have hosted-unhosted subsidiary; and based upon more duration versus kind of like this class we're establishing? Particularly, like we have some testimony about ones that are over the 30 days. But the regulation is also talking about this under 180 days. So, there's this midterm rental period we're not really classifying or considering,right? So, would it not make more sense or clearer to them to establish it based upon the length and the duration of stay versus those intricacies there. MR. DARROW: Thank you for the question, Council Member Hustace. The allowance or the introduction of what we call a mid-term rental, which is this rental that has been operating beyond 30 days and less than 180 days, is being introduced in one of the amendments. So,you'll see it there. The reason why it's not as easy to deal with is because it's an unhosted • rental. And so, we run into the same issue that it may be on a property that is not allowed in a sense of a post-'76 lot were what we went through with the Rosehill decision. It is allowed in pre-'76 in Residential Zonings but it is prohibited on the post-'76 lots. So,therefore it's hard to lump it into one particular basket. It pretty much needs to be dealt with separately. Correct me if I'm wrong, Council Member Kimball. MS. KIlVIBALL: Yes, that's correct. So, one of the amendments that I have for you today addresses that, which is the 31 to 179 days that's coming through. I don't want to get out of order here. We can have conversations about terminology. MR. HUSTACE: I'm just trying to with the testimonies we received and the conversations,it just would make clearer sense to have TVRs the umbrella name. And you have Short-Term Rental,whether hosted or unhosted; and then B&B,just the subsidiary of the hosted one. A more specialized terminology of the Short-Term Hosted TVRs. MR. DARROW: I hear you. MR. HUSTACE: Okay,thank you. MR. DARROW: As I mentioned, when we had gone through Bill 121,it was for Hosted rentals. And we were trying to remove Bed&Breakfast. MR. HUSTACE: That's causing quite a stir with the whole B&B,because it's already established B&B. So,trying to find some sort of work around that. They are already established and recognized as a Hosted Short-Term Page 7 PCPLUED-30 September 1,2026 TVR,rather than trying to lump everything into B&B. It seems to be some of the crocks and some issue for sure. I'm going to pivot just for a second, if I can have our Building Chief come up. I just want to kind of dive into that. And Director, you might want to stay up as well. You know, Council Member Kimball talked about the Lodge piece. Why haven't some people transitioned into that Lodge piece or at least known it and said, okay, we have multiple bedrooms beyond this number. Why haven't they been informed to move in that direction MR. DARROW: Sure, as mentioned,the definition in the Zoning Code of a hotel,inn, motel,lodge is a building or group of buildings with six or more rooms. So, that's why B&Bs are limited up to five. And they're typically situated within a single-family dwelling. Once we had applicants come in and have applied for a B&B, and they've done successful, they've come back in and they've requested to change their B&B to a lodge. So,they've come in; they receive approval from the Planning Commission, and they increase the amount of rooms that they have. MR. HUSTACE: Okay, thanks Director. Building Chief Spielman, if you just kind of speak a little bit broadly about some of those additional layers and requirements for a lodge situation and what you see on the Building Code side. (Note: At this time,Building Chief Aaron Spielman came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. SPIELMAN: Sure. I guess the nuance is the Planning Department uses the Zoning Code Chapter 25,which has different definitions than the Building Division which uses Chapter 5 and its subchapters. So, our definitions in the Building Code do not include B&B. They do include lodging house. So as it stands, over five bedrooms,Lodging House would be the structure. Like this is a commercial building, you would have a lodging house. A lodging house would have certain Code requirements, because effectively, you're increasing the risks. The owner's increasing the risks to the people renting the rooms, who may not be familiar with the location like you and I might be at our own homes. So, that's why there's risks. A lodging house—I'm sorry, I do have a brief and I can share more detail on this with you later. But that's basically it, there's more requirements including what could be a requirements for fires, egress, everything else. Page 8 PCPLUED-30 September 1,2026 MR. HUSTACE: Absolutely. Thank you, Chief, appreciate that. Director Darrow,kind of going to the Ag side of things and the multi-dwelling properties that's kind of come up here and there. How do we read it? Right now, it's one TVR per building site limitation, is that correct? MR. DARROW: It's one TVR,but if you recall, that when the Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Code came out,that section specifically said that if there was an ADU on the property,it would only allow one TVR, one building. But you could have a TVR with say,you could have two structures; you could have two bedrooms in one and three in the other. One of the testifiers had said that they wish that it was allowed on the TMK (Tax Map Key), and that's the definition. It's allowed on the building site. In not in that particular dwelling. You could live in this dwelling and operate in that dwelling, depending on the circumstances. MR. HUSTACE: Do you have a broad sense of how many of our either hosted Ag or Farm stays could be impacted by these sorts of changes? MR. DARROW: The hope is that we have been hearing from the Hunden Study; from hearing from a Rentalscape platform that has been hired to help us, we see quite a number of unlicensed activity that's happening around the island. And our goal is to try to bring them to a place that they are operating legally. I've heard many times in the testimony; we're operated legally all this time. They may be legal in the sense that they paid their taxes. But there's a good chance that they probably needed a Land Use Permit, whether it's a Use Permit or a Special Permit to be able to operate. MR. HUSTACE: Okay. Shifting to the fines,because in the testimonies. You know,people are confusing fees and fines. There's no fee schedule in this bill, correct? MR. DARROW: The fee schedule is within Chapter 6. MR. HUSTACE: Right. So,but not in Bill 147. There's no fee schedule in Bill 147. MR. DARROW: Correct. MR. HUSTACE: There's a fine schedule, though. MR. DARROW: Correct. Page 9 PCPLUED-30 September 1,2026 MR. HUSTACE: The fine schedule we have; penalty levels, $55, $75, $100, $10,000. What are those basis for some of those penalty fines? MR. DARROW: It was taken in relationship to the other counties and how they operate. We basically, originally,through Bill 108 try to propose higher fines that were shut down. So,basically, we relied on our typical fines which is $100, it's very minimal. And so, we looked at the other counties through Bill 121, and these were the same numbers that we came up through that process. MR. HUSTACE: The one concern I have about the fine section area, and the enforcement, the prima facia,there really isn't a place for rebuttal or opportunity for individuals to contest the situation. So,I think that's missing in that piece there. If I'm not reading it correctly there,please let me know. • But in terms of just basically putting that burden solely on the homeowner, when we haven't really done our due diligence about using the registration process. And using the Fire Department to actually vet that that violation did occur and happen. So, I think there might be something missing in there in terms of just dumping it all on the homeowner that they're at fault. They'll aways be at fault and we're not really going to vet what happened there. So,there might be something missing in that burden of proof. MR. DARROW: So, whenever the Planning Director issues a decision, it's a determination. MR. HUSTACE: You're going to go to the Board of Appeals too. MR. DARROW: Correct. So, if a notice of violation was issued,it would provide all the information they need to appeal that particular decision. MR. HUSTACE. Maybe that just needs to be clear in here. I'm not sure, or maybe that's unnecessary. Okay, that's fair. Okay, I'll leave it there for now, Chair. Thank you. CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Anyone else, on this main motion before we dive into amendments on Bill 147? Are we diving? Deep breath let's dive. Council Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Just a quick question. You know,I have deep respect for John Pelletier and Nancy Pisicchio and our Action Committee in Kona. Page 10 PCPLUED-30 September 1,2026 And they had a number of amendments that they talked about continuously. And I will humbly admit all the acronyms and perpetual complexities with all of these makes me miss when it was hosted and unhosted. I also liked actually, Council Member Hustace's concept of B&B still existing but going under the hosted part. Because I've stayed in B&Bs, and getting is breakfast is very different. And interacting in a hosted property, they are a different experience. And I have some concerns about eliminating that as an option. Sorry, going back to my question for you, Council Member Kimball,is, as we dig into the amendments here, have you addressed the recommendations from the Action Committee when it comes to Multi-Family Residential and I believe it was Commercial. MS. KIMBALL: Yes, those will be coming as additional amendments. I pulled them out separately because they do represent a policy change. And so, I felt that they should be deliberated separately. But they are here. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay, I wanted to check on that. Thanks for your guidance going through, I'd say a lot since eight years ago and clear as mud. So, with that I yield at this time. CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Council Member. Vice Chair Onishi. MR. ONISHI: Thank you,Madame Chair. Question to the Director. So, you mentioned earlier that there were previous bills. Then they went to like Drafts 5 or 6, then listening to all the testimonies, and then it kind of stopped,right? Now, this comes back and we're still having all these testimonies. So,why? If you folks listened to all the testimonies in the past, when this comes up now,it should be understandable that everybody's on the same page. But it seems it's not. So, maybe you can help explain, I guess to the public, what's going on or what happened. Because I'm getting confused. MR. DARROW: So, as mentioned,the path that we were going down before was to simply call hosted, Hosted; unhosted,Unhosted or STVRs. B&Bs were going to be eliminated because it seemed that the Hosted met that criteria of a B&B. Whether you wanted them to serve breakfast or not, it was up to you. You still could as a hosted rental. And we tried to make that clear. Page 11 PCPLUED-30 September 1,2026 But people were very attached to the term,Bed&Breakfast. That was just one thing. There were other things,that you know, have been adjusted from that time to this bill. Again, Council Member Kimball is the one that did a majority of the work. We assisted,but I would say,that her and Council Member Kierkiewicz did a tremendous amount of work on doing Bill 121, 122, and 123. There seems to be lot less opposition this time than there was back then. MR. ONISHI: But then there is still some concern that I think it could be tweaked on Bill 147. MR. DARROW: This is Draft 1, I'm sure. MR. ONISHI: But I don't want to go through five drafts again. Let's get this bill done. MR. DARROW: I completely agree. You know, the one thing that is hard is people have been doing this for a long time, and we operate mainly on complaints. When people operate normally, and may not make a fuss, we don't get a complaint. So, we don't know they're out there operating. And we don't want to be proactive where we're going out and trying to find everybody. MR. ONISHI: But don't you have this company that does all the research now? MR. DARROW: Right. But the goal is again, when it comes to enforcement, if the Council feels like these fines are too high,let's bring them down, not a problem. Our goal isn't enforcement; our goal is to help people. MR. ONISHI: Another thing too, you don't have enforcement personnel now on the East side. MR. DARROW: Well, we're working on it. MR. ONISHI: But not yet. MR. DARROW: But what our goal is,is to help them get registered and get into the process. That's what our goal is; to make sure they are legal. MR. ONISHI: Okay, and that's what we passed last year. Page 12 PCPLUED-30 September 1,2026 MR. DARROW: Chapter 6, correct? And that has launched. MR. ONISHI: So, now, how has that been coming along? MR. DARROW: It just started today. So, it's coming along. I've been here so,I can't answer. MR. ONISHI: Okay, somebody brought that up. So now, that comes up, the registration. That's now required,right? And prior to that they could just come in voluntarily to go and register, right? MR. DARROW: No, they couldn't register. I mean they could for a STVR, because we have a registration process. So, if you came in for a B&B, you would need to go through a Special Permit. So,before this launched, we got inundated with a whole bunch of applications trying to meet this. And we're thinking it's easier to go this way than it is to go that way. MR. ONISHI: So, then, I guess,people are not totally paying attention to all of these meetings that's happening with the Council,right? And all these different drafts and they get confused. That's why I think at one of the meetings,Ms. Kierkiewicz mentioned about, I guess reaching out to the public. You mentioned a webinar. MR. DARROW: We did a webinar, and it was very successful. We had a lot of great questions, a lot of input. Lot of people responsive to the webinar. It's on our website now, so,people can still access it. MR. ONISHI: Then I think she also mentioned how you folks were reaching out to all those out there. MR. DARROW: So, we have it on our website. MR. ONISHI: I understand but not everyone might be reaching this; the newspapers might not be publishing everything, so,how will they know? MR. DARROW: So, to take the next step, we're asked the Administration if they could do a public media announcement, as well as put it on Social Media. So that it can get out more than it is just on the websites. MR. ONISHI: Okay. Then, the last thing I have is, have you folks looked at, as it was mentioned,if someone has a loan on the property,right and it could convert to Commercial, or something could trigger their loan. Have you looked into that? I see Division Chief saying, "Yeah,"right? Page 13 PCPLUED-30 September 1,2026 MR. DARROW: I'm not familiar with that,maybe Council Member Kimball. MR. ONISHI: So, for my question, Chief? MR. SPIELMAN: I was just nodding that I understand what you were getting at. I did hear the testimonies as well. I'm not an expert in that field. MR. ONISHI: Okay. But wouldn't the department be also looking at that? Like, I guess, what would trigger the property owner in case this kinds of legislation would come into play. MR. DARROW: So, typically,B&Bs have been around for decades,right? This hasn't been an issue up to now. We haven't heard about it being an issue. If it is an issue,then something's changed that we're not aware of. It could be that they're talking about taxes,but I'm not sure because taxes are definitely affected when you start doing rentals. • MR. ONISHI: We had that when Administrator Miura mentioned to us about the taxes on B&B. Because the homeowner gets the exemption or something,but they get the Residential rates because of the business. That's why I think one testifier was also making a complaint about why. I guess certain businesses were not being taxed like the others. But I think across the board, everybody's the same. MR. DARROW: Again,I couldn't answer. I just know that in our definition of a Bed&Breakfast, it's incidental and subordinate to the Single-Family dwelling to the dwelling itself. MR. ONISHI: Okay. But I think it would be good to get an idea of how much of an impact it would burden that person. MR. DARROW: Well,just real quickly,is that how they're doing it now? So, if they're doing it now; if they're renting it out now? MR. ONISHI: As a B&B? MR. DARROW: As whatever they're doing. I don't know how they're renting it,but it sounds like they're not regulated. And they get regulated and something happens? It should have happened,because they're doing the same exact thing that they're doing when they come in and get this. There's no difference. Page 14 PCPLUED-30 September 1,2026 MR. ONISHI: That's why they push for the registration part,right? Okay, I'll yield. Thank you, Chair. CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: You're welcome. Council Member Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: In true Heather fashion, we have brought in a very complex bill that people have their concerns about. But again, I have four amendments in front of me that play with each other. What I'm going to ask is,before you dive into amendments,because the amendments are amending Bill 147,maybe you walk us through all of these.. Because some play with each other, and some override each other. I can see there's a structure to that,but I'm wanting to understand the structure of what you're about to walk in with the four amendments,before we say, yes to one. And then realize that the next one is coupled with it, or not with it, or undoing something that we just did. Because it gets complexed really fast, and I know you know this inside and out. But the public and maybe some of us don't. I'm going to claim that I'm one of those people who's just trying to follow this. But I want to make good decisions at the end of the day. MS. KIMBALL: Chair,if I may? CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: Yes, go ahead. MS. KIMBALL: So, the first amendment in the set of amendments is largely clerical in nature. It's adopting some of the amendments proposed by the Planning Department, as part of their background report. And so, it's not substantive in nature. It doesn't change policy. It's really clarification, editorial, and adding some grace periods. The following three amendments all deal with permitted areas, and where STVRs are permitted. And they do overlay on each other,but they're independent from the standpoint if they change things in different zoning districts or during different durations. Because they each represent a policy shift that is different than something we're doing already. I wanted to separate them as independent things. So, you have one that deals with mid-term rentals,which is the 31 to 179; one that deals with Neighborhood Commercial or CN; and then you have one that deals with RM (Residential Multi-Family). And those all overlap because they address the same section. But that will be solved. Page 15 PCPLUED-30 September 1,2026 They're written as if none of them overlap,but they will overlap when LRB (Legislative Research Branch) gets a hold of them after we decide which ones we're going to approve and which ones we're not. CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: Clear as mud. Council Member Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: It is and it isn't. I see some—like if I just took one of them to address Section 7 (c);but one touches on the pre-1976 Rule. On the main motion, here's my concerns, and I've been thinking about this as a whole, I think about some of the areas in Puna where we're seeing increased building mainly having multiple homes on one lot,pre-'76. And I'm thinking about density. ADUs and pre-'76 build-outs allow for density that I don't think the County is ready for. That's it, if I had to summarize as my thoughts for the last month. When we start to allow accessory dwelling units to a maximum of four in Urban areas, and we start to allow almost all of Puna and even part of Ka`u and huge subdivisions to have up to two units; some which can be vacation rentals, I don't think the County is ready for that density build-out when it comes to roads, water, and sewer; and even HELCO (Hawai`i Electric Light Company) and Hawaiian Telcom. So,I understand we're walking through this, and it's a housekeeping bill. But the result of this is an amazing amount of density increase that some folks are going to love, and some folks are going to hate. I see both. I see the perks,but I also see the cons. Just sitting in this seat for eight years and listening to a complaint about our wastewater system failing; the state of our roads in and out of our different areas. When we allow density like this, and we're not putting money into infrastructure, then we're creating a problem. And that's the long and short of it for me. So,interesting to see where we go with the bill today. But I mean, I'm not even looking for a comment. If you want to say comments, you can,but that's my thoughts. MR. DARROW: If I could,just briefly. So, what we're trying to do is, each one of these that are existing and operating need a permit,right? We're trying to make it so that they can come in without needing a permit. Some, there's no way we can get out of it. They're just in an area where we just can't get pass State law in that particular aspect of it. Page 16 PCPLUED-30 September 1,2026 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: That's not a small statement, that's a big statement if you understand how many of those there are. MR. DARROW: It is,but all of them would be coming in for permits. That's quite big as well. So, we're trying to make it so they can come in and register through this process; not have to go through a Land Use Permit that they've got to go through the Planning Commissions to get an approval. That's our main goal. So, that's the main thrust of this bill. It's to work in coordination with Chapter 6, which is already requiring people to come in and register. If they come now and register without us amending this,every single one of them are going to trigger some sort of Land Use Permit. So, that's going to be a huge burden on them, as well as the Planning Department. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, thank you. I yield, Chair. CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. I'm looking at the hour,it's 4:15 p.m. We've been here since 9:00 a.m. discussing a variety of issues. And it takes a lot of brain power and energy to be engaged and have robust discussion. This is a very complicated issue. There are a lot of impacts on community with whatever kinds of decisions are made on this bill. I would like to propose postponing. I know it's not a popular idea, and that you really wanted to just kind of dive through all of this today, Council Member. But I would like to propose fresh minds tackling this at the next Committee meeting;preferably in the morning, not in the afternoon. I'm trying to read the room right now, and I think folks would just like a little bit of a brain break to digest all of the information that's been shared today; to hear how the registration process is going; to dive into each of these amendments; engage in their constituents a bit further. So, I'm going to suggest postponing this measure, so that we can have robust discussion at our next Committee hearing. MS. KIMBALL: I would prefer to move forward,but I appreciate the recommendation. And so, we'll go with what the body decides. Obviously, I don't have a choice. We'll go with what the body decides. Happy to make the motion to postpone. I did want to address a couple of comments. First, with respect to your comments, Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, there's nothing about this bill that increases density in anyway. Bill 123 made it clear that if you had an ADU, you could only do one STVR on the property regardless of whether it's an ADU or in the main house. You can only do one. So,that doesn't come into play here. Page 17 PCPLUED-30 September 1,2026 The other thing, with respect to pre and post-1976,in pre-1976, the first dwelling is a single-family dwelling. It can be used as a Hosted Rental. The second dwelling on a post-1976 lot is now a first Farm Dwelling. And so,it has all the restrictions per HRS 205-415 in terms of what a Farm Dwelling does and I'll hand you this sheet of paper that shows the limitations on that. So, that's one thing I wanted to make a comment on. The second thing that I wanted to just comment on is the terminology. Like in Chapter 6, TVR is the main umbrella; you have hosted and you have unhosted. In Chapter 25, we have STVR and Bed &Breakfast. That's the terminology that's been in there forever. I really don't care what we call these, I really don't. But I want you to just think about is they're just terms; they're just terms of art to describe these things. With respect to the Bed&Breakfast,like I don't think there's anybody that goes to Airbnb, and says, "Oops, I wonder if they got their permit for the Bed &Breakfast? I prefer to go to a place that has that permit." That doesn't happen, right? This is just how we define it within the Code. So,if you folks want me to change the names,I'll change the names. But I wouldn't make a decision for this bill on that alone. So, you know, finally, I will say that it's a heavy lift. We've been working on it for years. We have seen a considerable amount of folks reaching out, watching the videos; asking questions that we've been able to respond to. So; if you folks have constituents that still have concerns, hawaiicountytar.com is the website. We have the bill. We have all the amendments. We have a description of what it does. We have the webinar; we have frequently asked questions. There is a ton of information out there. You don't need to answer it yourselves,just direct people to that website. It's all there and easily accessible. And I will say that we have been partnering with Airbnb,Expedia, and some of our partners to make sure that they let all their hosts know that this is happening and when those webinars are. So, there has been a significant amount of communication to make sure is aware of what's going on. With that in mind,I guess the motion forward is to postpone. Motion to Postpone: Ms. Kimball moved to postpone Bill 147 to September 15, 2026. Seconded by Mr. Inaba. Page 18 PCPLUED-30 September 1,2026 CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor,please say, "aye." Any opposed? Vote on Motion The vote to postpone Bill 147 to September 15, 2026, to Postpone: was carried by the following voice vote. (Approved) Ayes: Committee Members Galimba,Hustace, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Onishi,Villegas, and Chair Kierkiewicz—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: Motion carries. Bill 147 is postponed. We are at the end of our agenda. Meeting is adjourned at 4:19 p.m. Thank you. ADJOURN- There being no further business Chair Kierkiewicz adjourned the meeting MENT: at 4:19 p.m. Approved: Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Chair (Date) Policy Committee on Planning, Land Use, and Economic Development AK/dt Page 19