2024-04-16 Bill 121 Emmy Chen - Laserfiche WebLink

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From: Emmy Chen To: LPCtestimony Subject: Testimony to Opposition of Bill 121 Date: Tuesday,April 16,2024 9:17:55 PM My name is Emmy Chen. I bought my first vacation rental house in Kailua-Kona in 2013. 1 moved to Kona in 2016. 1 had owned and managed more than ten vacation rentals in Kailua-Kona. Due to some personal reasons, my business is only half the size it was before. I don't believe vacation rentals are the reason for the affordable house shortage. First of all, the vacation rentals are less than 5% of the houses in our island. Second of all, these vacation rentals are luxury and multi-million dollar houses. Even if they are not vacation rentals, normal local working residents cannot afford to buy these multi-million dollar houses. Instead of restricting the STVR, our government should build more affordable houses for our local residents. Restricting STVR is more like killing the hens for eggs. Our island depends on tourists to support our local people and government. I am firmly against this Bill 121. One local section-8 family the couple who worked for me have 5 children. After they worked for me for a while, they lost their section-8 program and they got kicked out the section-8 program. They almost became homeless because they could not afford to buy houses even though their income was high compared to the section-8 standard. I had no choice but to buy them a home so they could have a place to live and continue working for me. My business has been paying a lot of GET/TAT to our Hawaii state and Hawaii county. My family and all my workers, including my housekeepers, handymen, pool guys, and gardeners, depend on my business income. I have been in the Vacation rental business in Kailua-Kona for more than 10 years. I have provided many job opportunities to our local residents. I also support our local stores, including Lowe's, HomeDepto, Walmart, Target, Ross for Less, and furniture stores. I have been hosting hundreds of thousands of tourists who are visiting our beautiful island for vacation. Many people benefit from our affordable vacation rentals for their life-dream weddings, anniversaries, family reunions, birthday celebrations, etc. I have been respectful to our neighbors. I have strict rules for our guests, including the quiet hours rule, no parties or events at the house, keeping the trash out of the street, and not parking on the street.