LIHU‘E — How cool would it be to stay at James Bond’s house, maybe not even legally? Apparently, there are a few with such bragging rights. He may have a license to kill, but did he have a permit to
LIHU‘E — How cool would it be to stay at James Bond’s house, maybe not even legally?
Apparently, there are a few with such bragging rights.
He may have a license to kill, but did he have a permit to allow transient renters in his home?
The Planning Commission just now gave former 007 actor Pierce Brosnan a non-conforming-use certificate for his home as a transient vacation rental, acknowledging he has been using his home as such since 2007.
A current county ordinance regulates TVRs which had been in use before the law was passed, in March 2008. If a TVR started operations after that date, it wouldn’t qualify for a permit unless it is in a visitor destination area. Owners have to reapply for a permit every year.
Planning Director Ian Costa said applicants also have to show state general-excise and TAT (transient accommodations tax, or hotel-room tax) licenses, plus records of bookings, reservations and collections to qualify for a permit.
The Planning Department confirmed that the records for the Brosnans’ TVR have been verified and are available for viewing upon request.
According to at least one North Shore resident, however, the Brosnans should have been denied the permit, just as it happened when they previously applied for it.
“It’s possible that in the last year it was a vacation rental, but if that occurred, it was after he had been denied (a permit),” Caren Diamond said.
Another condition for a use permit states that the owner had to have been using the dwelling as a TVR for at least 30 days out of the year, according to Diamond.
“After a year, non-conforming use ends,” said Diamond, adding that the Brosnans let two years pass without using the house as a TVR.
According to Diamond, the Brosnans did advertise their home as a TVR in 2006, but in 2007 and 2008 they occupied the house as a primary residence. “He blew it.”
“The applicant was living there, his children were enrolled in Hanalei School, they had pets and dogs, they became a neighbor,” Diamond said.
Hanalei School records of their children’s enrollment would prove that the Brosnans resided in the house, according to Diamond.
“It’s overwhelming greed, no matter how wealthy people got, the greed is overcoming” said Diamond, visibly frustrated with the non-conforming-use certificate issuance to Brosnan’s TVR.
A representative for the Brosnans said there’s evidence they have utilized the dwelling as a rental for 30 days out of the year.
The representative admitted that the Brosnans did live in the home as their residence in 2006, but have not occupied it as a primary residence in the following years. “But they do come back and forth,” she said.
The fact that in 2006 the Brosnans resided in the house, said the representative, should not be relevant in the commission’s determination.
• Léo Azambuja, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or lazambuja@kauaipubco.com.
