HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-04-02 PL-CCI-2024-000003 Bill 121 Nathan Eggen Testimony From: Nathan Eooen
To: WPCtestimonv
Subject: Testimony Regarding Bill 121
Date: Tuesday,April 2,2024 1:30:40 PM
Chairman Dennis Lin
Windward Planning Commission
County of Hawai'i
25 Aupuni St.
Unit 1502
Hilo, HI 96720
Aloha Chairman Lin,
I am a rural home owner on Hawai'i Island and I am writing to you regarding concerns with
Hawaii County Bill 121 /TAR. I do not support Bill 121 for several reasons.
First, this bill will make resident owned and occupied vacation rentals in the small towns and
rural areas with ag zoning mostly illegal. The bill may say it allows an owner in any zone at
any time to register but the additional rules/restrictions mean that most ag zone rentals will
be prohibited because it is most common to rent an ohana or other structure when there is
more land available in a rural location. There are many kupuna who rely on renting their
ohanas etc on their property as their sole source of income. This way of surviving -renting out
ohanas to visitors - has existed since long before AirBNB or the internet. Dictating what part
of your property you can rent or what bedroom you can sleep in is a government overreach.
And as you likely know, Ag zoning makes up about 48% of the entire island. Preventing
existing resident owned vacation rentals from operating in these rural areas means that the
visitor economy in the smaller towns in Hawaii County will collapse leading to further tax
revenue decline for the county and job loss at restaurants, stores, arts, culture, and other
venues as they shrink or close. Look at towns in areas such as North Kohala, Kau, Hamakua,
and Puna-they have no resort areas and yet the retail store and restaurant options in these
locations are almost entirely visitor supported. These small towns were hurting badly for
decades after the end of sugar. The visitor economy is their primary source of revenue. People
who live in Hawai'i should be able to participate in the highest value tourism activity which is
providing lodging to guests. Why should anyone who wants to participate in lodging tourism
work for a mainland corporation for low wages instead?
Third, the bill will lead to job loss and reduce tax income from the supporting businesses that
work with TARs such as cleaners, landscapers, construction, and maintenance jobs due to the
shrinkage of this market.
Fourth, the bill as written appears to have many legal problems that will almost certainly result
in costly litigation for the County of Hawai'i spending taxpayer money for years. The County
of Hawai'i and therefore Hawaii County tax payers could also be liable due to constitutional
takings of individual property rights through this regulation. The 180 day restriction has
already been blocked by a federal injunction and Hawaii County appears to be blindly walking
into that same mistake.
Fifth, this bill has been floated as a"fix" for the housing crisis in Hawai'i. STVR of all types
represent less than 5% of the housing stock. The need for housing is far greater then 5% of
homes. Look closely at the statics floated by the Kohala Coast Resort Association -they have
extremely flawed data showing duplicate properties (counting the same unit that is listed on
AirBNB, VRBO, and Homeaway as 3 STVR units) and even show that the majority o the
units in their report are actually hotel rooms from the resorts listed as rentable - Marriott
International and other chain hotels list on these P2P rental platforms too. These flawed
statistics are leading to false conclusions.
Finally, consider that the housing crisis existed in Hawaii well before AirBnBNRBO or even
the internet. House construction started lagging demand in the 1980s. It is now a decades-long
problem. The majority of Hawaii County's housing issues are due to issues like rigid state
LUC zoning, lengthy and challenging development processes (rezoning, subdividing), lengthy
permitting delays, the huge affordable housing department corruption scandal, and the cost of
a limited supply of buildable land with water etc. Hawaii County could help affordable
housing a lot more by more easily creating small residentially zoned parcels and removing
barriers to new lot creation and housing development. The planning commission can be
leaders of that housing change instead.
With Aloha,
Nathan Eggen
Hawi, Kohala, Hawaii