LIHU‘E — Tight timelines have made the county’s transient vacation rental ordinance difficult to enforce, but county officials vowed last week to do their best to make it work. In an interview Thursday at the mayor’s office, Planning Director Ian
LIHU‘E — Tight timelines have made the county’s transient vacation rental ordinance difficult to enforce, but county officials vowed last week to do their best to make it work.
In an interview Thursday at the mayor’s office, Planning Director Ian Costa, Deputy Planning Director Imai Aiu and Beth Tokioka, executive assistant to the mayor, explained the rationale behind the administration’s recent controversial requests that the Planning Commission grant consent to the issuance of non-conforming use certificates for more than 60 TVRs.
“We’re committed to enforcing the law as it was intended and it takes some time,” Costa said, noting that the ordinance, passed last year, was never intended to completely eliminate TVRs but instead had regulation as its main aim and that it is more important to stop the proliferation of new vacation rentals and, over time, reduce TVRs outside of visitor destination areas through attrition.
“I don’t want to imply that it’s not enforceable,” Costa said, adding that the law will simply “take some time to have its effect.”
Despite what Tokioka described as “pretty significant attrition” thus far — more than 200 of the 500-plus applications have been denied, according to Costa — achieving those goals has been easier said than done due to some complexities in the ordinance.
“It’s the first ordinance I’ve seen that not only puts a deadline on applicants but also puts a deadline on the county to approve,” said Costa. He added that more than 500 applications have created resource and timing issues because “nowhere in the law does it say to put things on the back burner.”
Aiu acknowledged that “no law is ever perfect as currently written.”
But Tokioka said, “Even with challenges, we need this ordinance,” and that even an “imperfect” law is better than none at all.
Still, Costa said common misconceptions about TVRs abound. He insists that the ordinance has not been ineffective, that the Planning Department has not illegally approved any applications after the March 30 deadline, and that the law is not black and white but actually extremely complex.
The issue could at some point soon end up in Circuit Court. In July, former County Councilwoman and current Prosecuting Attorney Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho subpoenaed 64 Planning Department documents related to TVR ordinance enforcement, and left open the possibility of criminal prosecution for operation of illegal TVRs, a misdemeanor infraction.
Costa and Aiu said the Planning Department has not done anything wrong and that the subpoenas are simply requests for documents and did not include the prosecutor’s intent.
The two Planning Department leaders also said a lack of evidence has forced the county’s hands in some instances where some signage or advertisements make it seem like a violation is occurring, but inspectors are unable to substantively prove any transgressions. An applicant’s appeal of such a denial would be difficult for a court to turn away.
“We shouldn’t say something is legal or illegal without proof,” Costa said. “Others can freely use those terms, but we should not.”
Aiu said the Planning Department reserves the right to come back and inspect rentals, and likened the granting of consent without an admission of legality to a speed bump on the road to a full, sustainable denial.
“The issue is not done. We’re watching,” Aiu said. “We are committed to enforcing a complex ordinance and taking on the enormity of the task as best we can.”
• Michael Levine, assistant news editor, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or mlevine@kauaipubco.com.
