HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-06-25 Amy Valdez Opposition TestimonyFrom: Amy Valdez
To: Planning LPC Testimony; Jade Julie Chen
Subject: Testimony Bill 147
Date: Thursday, June 25, 2026 8:38:25 PM
Testimony in Opposition to Bill 147
Hawaiʻi County Council – Planning Committee
Submitted by: Amy Valdez, Part-Time Resident, Waikoloa, Hawaiʻi Island
I am submitting this testimony in opposition to Bill 147 as currently proposed.
My husband and I are part-time residents of the Big Island. We are not a corporation, not investors, and not absentee landlords purchasing property for profit. We are a family who
chose Hawaiʻi as our home, lived there full time, and were forced to return to California to care for my aging mother. Renting our home during the months we are away is not a business
model — it is the only way we can afford to keep our house while we are temporarily separated from it. It is the bridge that allows us to return there full time after retirement, which
remains our goal and our plan. The county's own economic impact study found that 54 percent of short-term rental owners
rely on rental income to cover housing-related costs, and only 4 percent said they would convert to a long-term rental if short-term rentals were restricted. We are among that 54
percent. Restricting our ability to rent would not free up housing stock — it would force us to sell a home we intend to live in. Hawaii Life
Bill 147 paints all short-term rental owners with the same broad brush. The legitimate concerns driving this legislation — neighborhood nuisance, overcrowded resort areas,
speculation — do not describe us. We pay our General Excise Tax and Transient Accommodations Tax. We take care of our property and our guests. We are exactly the kind of
responsible, community-rooted owner that good regulation should protect, not penalize. I respectfully urge the Council to distinguish between large-scale investors and families like
ours — part-time residents with deep ties to this island, contributing to the local economy, and committed to returning as full-time residents. Bill 147, as written, does not make that
distinction. I ask the Council to amend the bill to include meaningful protections for owner-occupied or
owner-intended properties whose rental activity is temporary and directly tied to housing retention — not profit maximization.
Mahalo for the opportunity to testify. Amy Valdez
Part-Time Resident, Waikoloa, Hawaiʻi Island
amylbv@gmail.com 714-396-6966