HomeMy WebLinkAboutSegal Matsunaga, Doris
November 5, 2026
RE: Testimony for Bill 147, Draft 3
FR: Doris Segal Matsunaga, Waimea. dsegalmatsu@gmail.com
Aloha Hawai'i County Council Members:
I am submitting Comments only re: Bill 147, Draft 3, after reading a recent Civil Beat article
and then emailing with my Councilman. I am concerned about the impact of Transient Vacation
Rentals (TVAs) on our island and statewide: Loss of workforce housing and rental property for
families; and the hollowing out of residential neighborhoods.
I support the fact that the bill distinguishes between resort zoned areas, and conventional
residential neighborhoods like mine; and that it has different rules for unhosted vs hosted TVAs.
However, there seem to be areas where the law is like an old fishing net with big puka(s)
enabling even the big fish to escape.
Is there a cap on the # of hosted rentals in a given geographic area, esp. in residential
neighborhoods? If not, there should be. One hosted TVA in a neighborhood is one thing; 10
or 100 could alter traffic, water and power use, and hollow out residential areas permanently.
? My
understanding is that the host must maintain their principal home on the property and reside
there while it is being rented. However, the definition does not expressly require the host to be
the property. This sounds like a BIG hole in the net. For example, if I was a Hawaii County
property owner living on the Mainland, what prevents me from hiring a live-in property manager
and making them the host That would undermine a provision that was intended to help local
residents make ends meet vs absentee landlords and big corporations.
Who benefits from a TVA size limitation of up to 5 bedrooms in a residential
neighborhood? Are we encouraging the building of residential
communities? Does this apply to both hosted and un-hosted? I suggest lowering this 5
bedroom size limit could be re-considered for any new TVAs in residential neighborhoods; look
at the incentives this brings to bear for building large homes that are not owner-occupied. If the
hosted TVA rules are meant to benefit local families who want to be able to remain living on their
land, I would say few local families have a spare 5 bedroom houses to rent out to a visiting
group of 10 to 20 people.
Finally, A TVA allows rentals as long as 180 days. This hardly sounds temporary. Again,
who benefits from this?
I also know TVA's are not the only answer to our housing shortage, but from my recent travels
around the world, esp. to places that rely on tourism, hotels cannot compete with TVA's, rentals
disappear, and neighborhoods get hollowed out and fill with stores selling cheap Chinese made
knock offs. We always choose to stay in hotels when we travel, for this reason, even though it
costs more. I understand that many folks are trying to figure out how to live on this beautiful
island sustainably, and I fear that in the future, the disparity of cost- benefit analysis between
TVAs and long-term rentals will incentivize more and more of us truly residential homeowners to
go this route.
Mahalo for considering our concerns and questions!