Mayor continues TVR ban

LIHUE — Mayor Bernard Carvalho has extended a ban on the operation of transient vacation rental properties in the Wainiha-Haena area for 60 days beyond its scheduled expiration, which had been set as Wednesday, the mayor’s office announced.

The announcement also indicated the prohibition may be renewed again unless conditions on Kuhio Highway improve.

Many observers have seen extension of the ban as inevitable for several weeks. Carvalho’s staff had reportedly been urging him to issue the formal proclamation last week, but these sources said the mayor was trying to balance the reality in the storm-ravaged area with pressures from TVR owners who are losing revenue.

The extension the mayor signed on Wednesday, however, is unequivocal. TVRs may not legally operate in the flood-stricken area until at least the last week of July. The date is the earliest expiration of the renewed ban that the mayor had reportedly been considering.

But to check listings on Vacation Rental By Owner (VRBO.com) and Airbnb.com, two popular online booking sites, at least a handful of TVR owners are still listing their properties as available for the period May 26 through May 31. At least eight of these houses and condos were listed as currently available on Wednesday night on VRBO.com.

Owners doing business on Airbnb.com were apparently being more conservative. The website showed only one property available in the affected area. It was not clear how quickly property owners would adjust availability dates to comply with Carvalho’s new order.

TGI sent inquiries through VRBO.com to owners of seven of these properties. Only one of the owners, David Bancroft, who apparently owns a home at 5-7048 Kuhio Highway, responded after TGI asked owners to explain how they were listing their homes as rentals in spite of the mayor’s order originally issued on April 14. It was not clear where Bancroft lives, but his property tax bill is sent to a Hanalei post office box.

In an email, Bancroft said: “Thank you for your interest in my vacation rental. Unfortunately, it is unavailable at this time.” Two North Shore residents familiar with TVR operations in and around Haena said Bancroft is a Mainland resident who makes his house available for 12 to 16 people. The VRBO listing describes it as: “House, 6 Bedrooms, 3 Baths” and it was listed as available for May 26-31 for a total cost of $4,598.

Its VRBO listing notes that it had been viewed “63 times in the last 48 hours.”

In a news release, Carvalho said: “We thank the people of Kauai as well as our visitors for your continued patience.” He said the new order “is necessary for the wellbeing of both our residents and visitors, and all of our governmental and community partners are actively working to ensure life on the island gets back to normal.”

Engineers with the Hawaii Department of Transportation have made a formal estimate that repairs to the highway will take three to five months, but sources within the DOT have also said four to six months appears to be the earliest possible timeframe for work on the highway to permit safe two-way traffic. Private engineers who have viewed the roadway in the last several days say even four to six months appears conservative at this point.

There have been isolated reports of friction between TVR owners and county staff members charged with issuing special vehicle placards that permit access to the Haena area for local residents and people with legitimate work needs to enter the area. Permit holders are escorted in convoys to and from the area several times a day.

In response to reports that some TVR owners had attempted to essentially run the roadblocks, the mayor’s Wednesday order also extends language that makes clear that tourists are not included among those eligible. The county has been permitting TVR owners to send single employees for cleaning, maintenance or security purposes and a county statement noted that people riding in such vehicles may be asked to provide proof of residency.

Exemptions are also given to insurance adjusters, contractors, engineers, utility crews, volunteers and staff members of nonprofit disaster relief organizations and a few others. The area is guarded by checkpoints manned by state sheriff’s deputies and Hawaii National Guard personnel.

The convoy system was made necessary by the condition of the heavily damaged roadway in several places. The highway between Hanalei and Wainiha is unsafe for more than one lane of traffic and vehicles that weigh more than five tons.

An estimated 81 permitted TVR properties in the area are affected by the mayor’s closure order. Local residents familiar with the TVR situation say another approximately three dozen properties operate without permits.

Violators are subject to fines of as much as $5,000. The mayor’s Wednesday order extends the emergency rules until July 23, but allows for the future issuance of “a separate proclamation” pushing the reopening date farther out.

The order appears to confirm what many Hanalei businesspeople have said they came to realize over the last three weeks: The North Shore west of Hanalei will likely be inaccessible to visitors for most, if not all, of the 2018 summer travel season.

It includes such destinations as the Kalalau Trail, Kee Beach, Haena State Park, Makua (Tunnels) Beach, Limahuli Garden and Preserve and many other popular destinations.

At least three locations on the highway sustained catastrophic damage in the storm, with large parts of the roadway and ground below collapsing. Repair of two locations requires construction of retaining walls as high as 30 feet. A third location still under evaluation may require a short portion of the highway to be rerouted slightly mauka of the existing road, protected by a still higher uphill retaining wall.

Contractors and state highway workers are working on repairs six days a week. Convoys must coordinate with the construction crews by radio each time a group of vehicles is led through the area.

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Allan Parachini is a Kilauea resident who writes occasionally for The Garden Island.