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�d�y 00 V� lu, r <br />Chairman Dennis Lin <br />Windward Planning Commission <br />County of Hawai'i <br />25 Aupuni St. <br />Unit 1502 <br />Hilo, HI 96720 <br />Subject: Concerns and Recommendations Regarding Bill 121 <br />Aloha Chairman Lin and Windward Planning Commission Members, <br />I`%ri 5 <br />Thank you for your public service and for considering the viewpoints and concerns shared by <br />the community regarding Bill 121. <br />While I appreciate the hard work of the Council members who drafted the bill, and the stated <br />intent of the bill, I have deep concerns that the proposed legislation fails to consider how it will <br />impact the economic well-being of Big Island residents in practice. <br />Recommendation #1: Press pause and conduct an impact study <br />Tourism is Hawaii's principal industry and legislation that limits the ability of residents to <br />participate in this economy deserves a nuanced approach that acknowledges and equitably <br />accounts for the unique circumstances that exist across diverse regions of our island. Even well- <br />intentioned legislation can have far-reaching unintended consequences. This would also give <br />affected communities an opportunity to provide meaningful input proactively rather than <br />reactively. To my knowledge, no public input was invited during the drafting of this legislation. <br />Recommendation #2: Maintain the present definition of short term { transient as thirty <br />consecutive days or less <br />Owners who rent their homes legally for 31 days or more have a vested right to continue this <br />existing use. Changing the definition to 180 days would require creating an avenue for existing <br />rentals to apply for nonconforming use certification. Instead of creating additional administration <br />for an already complex and cumbersome set of provisions. I support upholding the present <br />definition of short-term/transient to be a rental period of thirty consecutive days or less. <br />Recommendation #3: Remove restrictions about where hosts can live and where guests <br />can stay <br />Hosts rely on rental income for their livelihood—they use it to pay their rent, mortgage, <br />medical bills, an empty nester may have college tuition to cover—any number of financial <br />hardships could give a host cause to move into a secondary dwelling in order to rent out the <br />primary home. Regulating which permissible residential dwelling can be occupied by a host <br />.d 8t mtg by <br />'d Read <br />