The round meeting room at the Hanalei Community Center was packed to near or above capacity Tuesday night, as two council members discussed a proposal that would limit the creation of vacation rentals throughout the island. The polite crowd of
The round meeting room at the Hanalei Community Center was packed to near or above capacity Tuesday night, as two council members discussed a proposal that would limit the creation of vacation rentals throughout the island.
The polite crowd of North Shore neighbors sat in a circle without shoes (as is the custom in the building) and often used just first names to acknowledge themselves.
But the laid-back atmosphere did not cramp a lot of the heated emotions of those in the audience.
It was also one of the least diverse crowds of any meeting on the island, with at least 601475f the eighty-plus residents in attendance being Caucasian and over forty. According to the 2000 census, only 30177702f the population of Kaua‘i is Caucasian.
About 30 residents raised their hands when asked whether they owned vacation rentals, and nearly ten people raised their hands when asked if they were real estate agents.
But speakers in the crowded circle expressed a wide range of opinions, although those supporting vacation rentals appeared to outnumber those against them.
Many in the audience, however, including Councilmembers JoAnn Yukimura and Jay Furfaro, expressed the need to regulate the spread of vacation rentals.
It appears that exactly how to regulate the conversion of rooms, houses or condominiums into vacation rentals will be a hot topic of conversation for many months to come.
Yukimura and Furfaro were at the meeting to discuss a proposed County Council bill. The bill, which is still in a preliminary stage, would create a moratorium on the creation of new vacation rentals outside of the Visitor Destination Areas of Princeville, Kapa‘a-Wailua, Lihu‘e, and Po‘ipu.
If the bill, in its present form, is passed, those who have existing vacation rentals and have paid general excise taxes and hotel room taxes for over three years will continue to be able to rent their houses to vacationers until they sell their property, Furfaro said.
Those who have had vacation rentals since 2001 will have an opportunity to demonstrate that they have paid their taxes, and be able to continue their business, through an appeals process, Furfaro added.
The bill, however, is far from passage and will surely undergo changes before a vote by the Council, Yukimura said.
Meanwhile, folks in the audience discussed a wide range of issues, from high taxes forcing residents to rent their properties to visitors in order to keep their land, to the future of tourism on Kaua‘i, to the loss of traditional communities, even the lack of consideration by visitors of the residents living near vacation rentals.
While no specific changes were made, Yukimura and Furfaro will take the information gained and use it to construct the bill, they said.
“The draft bill is a way to start a discussion,” Yukimura said. “It is our intention to have a lot of discussion before any action” is made.
Tom Finnegan, staff writer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or mailto:tfinnegan@pulitzer.net.
