HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-04-14 PL-CCI-2024-000003 Bill 121 Kathleen Carr Testimony From: Kathleen T Carr
To: LPCtestimony
Cc: Kathleen T Carr
Subject: Testimony on Bills 121 and 122
Date: Sunday,April 14, 2024 10:48:50 AM
To the Hawaii County Leeward Planning Commission,
I am writing to you because I have concerns about the proposed new regulations,
Bills 121 and 122 that will impact hosted vacation rentals.
I have been operating a vacation rental in my home for 22 years, and have not been
required to register as a hosted vacation rental, according to the Planning Dept. With
the new proposal, I would need to register as a hosted TAR. Would I be
grandfathered in?
What concerns me is the following section in the proposal for requirement to register.
My house was built in 1980 with building permits. The building code has changed
since 1980, so I'm not sure whether there would be a requirement to pass current
codes. How would this be handled? Will there be inspections, and if so, by who?
There are a lot of homes in South Kona that were built around this time period.
"Section 25-4-16.5 (2).The transient accommodation rental must meet health, safety,
and construction code requirements established by law."
This building division approval is also problematic because the building permits
presently take up to two years to build a house, and this proposal would overburden
the permitting process even more. Part of the housing shortage problem is the
obstacles in getting permits in a timely manner.
One of the reasons for the new proposed regulations is to create more housing for
residents. However, my unit and many others would not be suitable for long term
rental. One reason among others, is that there have been no stoves permitted in
these units or rooms, so I only provide a hot plate, microwave and toaster oven. Most
vacationers do not do much, if any, cooking so as a vacation rental it is not a problem.
Mine is a 350 sq. ft. downstairs studio, which just doesn't have satisfactory facilities
for long term rental.
The county passed regulations for non-hosted vacation rentals in 2018 to create
additional local housing, but has there has been any independent research presented
on the results. Have those regulations helped the housing situation?
This legislation will affect more than 7500 families, including me, plus all the jobs
created for service providers who clean and maintain the rentals. For many of us, we
rely on this short term vacation rental income to be able to afford to live on this island.
Many of us depend on this income to make ends meet each month. I will be turning
78 next month, and there are not a lot of other employment opportunities for me, so it
is essential that I be able to continue offering part of my home for short term vacation
in order to be able to continue living in my home.
This legislation will create far more hardship than whatever benefits it will provide and
will not solve the housing shortage.
I live in South Kona, and there was only one hotel, the Manago Hotel, in the area,
which is now no longer available as a hotel. My visitors do not want to stay in a hotel
or resort setting, but would rather have a more affordable authentic Hawaiiana
vacation, so they love vacation rentals. I think it is important for our visitors to have a
choice in the kind of experience they want in accommodations. This legislation will
also hurt our tourists and the income that the state derives from these vacation
rentals.
Before passing any new legislation, I would hope that you would commission
independent research to see what benefit it would actually have. From my
perspective, it seems that this proposed legislation would create a lot of hardship fo
the thousands of families currently hosting vacation rentals, create angry constituents,
litigation and unintended consequences.
I hope that you will listen to the feedback that you are receiving, and either come up
with a plan that benefits all concerned, or leave the hosted vacation rental regulations
as they are—at least until independent research has come to some actual results
from the 2018 legislation.
Thank you for considering my request.
Kathleen Carr