THE GARDEN ISLAND Realtors, residents and operators of transient vacation rentals yesterday lined up in different camps over a proposed law to regulate vacation rentals and bed-and-breakfast operations. At a meeting on the proposal heard by the Kaua‘i Planning Commission
THE GARDEN ISLAND
Realtors, residents and operators of transient vacation rentals yesterday lined up in different camps over a proposed law to regulate vacation rentals and bed-and-breakfast operations.
At a meeting on the proposal heard by the Kaua‘i Planning Commission at the Lihu‘e Civic Center, critics said commercial uses wreck neighborhoods.
Supporters of the proposal said vacation rentals have brought prosperity and jobs to many residents and should be allowed to grow as an industry.
“It is an important industry for our island,” said Lucy Kawaihalau, president and owner of Kauai Vacation Rentals & Real Estate.
Kawaihalau has managed vacation rentals for 30 years, and though she acknowledged the complexity of the government proposal, she said it was necessary.
Others did not agree.
“This is blanket-grandfathering of thousands of vacation rentals and bed-and-breakfasts that have operated illegally,” Hanalei resident Ray Chuan said, referring to a booming industry in an area predominantly zoned to residential neighborhoods.
The planning commission reviewed the county’s proposal to revise the government’s comprehensive zoning ordinance to better regulate the vacation rental and bed-and-breakfast industry.
The proposal marks the first time the county has attempted to rein in vacation rentals on Kaua‘i.
In the past the county has required owners of bed-and-breakfasts to secure county use permits, but has not been able to enforce requirements due to lack of staff.
Under the county’s proposed ordinance, spearheaded by JoAnn Yukimura and Jay Furfaro, homeowners can only use single-family homes, not additional dwelling units or condominiums, as bed-and-breakfasts for 30 days.
Furthermore, vacation rentals can only be established in visitor destination areas designated by the county, including Princeville, Waipouli, Lihu‘e, the South Shore and Waimea.
Under the proposal, people wanting to operate vacation rentals outside of the designated areas must secure a permit from the planning commission.
Chuan threatened to file suit against the county if the proposal becomes law.
“They have totally ignored the fact that a majority of the vacation rentals are in the SMA, and that some are also on (state) conservation land and need a CDUA,” Chuan said, referring to a Conservation District Use Application permit from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
County planning commissions, however, have scrutinized SMA permits for homes built along the coastline.
Chuan said he profited from a vacation rental he operated in Hanalei for five years, but gave it because he saw the problems it caused.
“Namely, disruption of the neighborhood character,” he said.
The North Shore was a quiet, close-knit community before more homeowners began using their homes as vacation rentals, Chuan said.
Caren Diamond, another critic of the proposal and a Ha‘ena resident, said vacation rentals are “a misplaced activity in a residential area.”
She said vacation rental operators make outlandish profits, and a property owner with three houses on a lot by Camp Naue in Ha‘ena can make $18,000 in a week.
“It’s $6,000 a week for each house,” she said.
Chuan said people with money are “willing to pay $15,000 for a holiday weekend” on the North Shore coastline.
Diamond said the owner of the three homes by Camp Naue also put up a temporary fence on part of a public beach for his paying guests, depriving residents and tourists use of the same stretch of sand.
She said many other residents, including herself, support bed-and-breakfast operations because owners usually live in them and have better control of the property.
Several hundred residents signed a petition submitted to the planning commission seeking more stringent control of vacation rentals.
The petition said a county zoning ordinance encourages the development of adequate housing on the island, and yet, “owners are using the 30-day transient loophole (Section 8, Article 17) to vacation rent their homes to tourists.”
People who signed the petition said the intent of the county’s general plan was to keep tourist accommodations in resort areas.
Jonathan Chun, an attorney for the Kaua‘i law firm of Belles, Graham, Proudfoot and Wilson, said his company was retained by the Kauai Board of Realtors to give comment on the government proposal.
In a May 23 letter to planning director Ian Costa, Chun said:
• A report with comments from residents and public officials recommended the exclusion of bed-and-breakfast operations from the proposed law;
• The residents and public officials were unanimous in wanting existing vacation rentals to continue as “grandfathered” uses;
• The residents and the public officials said “grandfathering” existing vacation rentals should depend on tax payments to the state;
• Hawai‘i Revised Statute Section 46-4 requires all counties to recognize and allow for continued use of existing lawful uses;
• The residents and public officials support a cap on the number of vacation rentals in a neighborhood, an idea not supported by some in letters to the planning commission; and
• Rather than prevent all short-term rentals outside of visitor designation areas, government can craft an ordinance to “establish a limit on the number of weeks a house could be rented on a short-term basis.”
Chun said the proposed ordinance is based in part on a report prepared by Helbert, Hastert & Fee Planners, with input from talks with residents and public officials.
• Lester Chang, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or lchang@kauaipubco.com.
