LIHU‘E — Three meetings focusing on the impact of vacation rentals opened in residential neighborhoods on Kaua‘i came to an awkward ending Monday night. After three hours of discussion, little consensus was reached among the nearly 15 persons titled “stakeholders”
LIHU‘E — Three meetings focusing on the impact of vacation rentals opened in residential neighborhoods on Kaua‘i came to an awkward ending Monday night.
After three hours of discussion, little consensus was reached among the nearly 15 persons titled “stakeholders” by the facilitator of the meeting.
The stakeholders were picked to represent all sides of the vacation-rental issue, and no complete agreement on the issue is expected, organizers said.
The number of vacation rentals operating on Kaua‘i, specifically in single-family homes in residential neighbor-hoods, has risen dramatically in the past few years. There is no sure count of how many are being operated, and some community members say whole communities are being swallowed up by island visitors who are displacing long-time Kaua‘i residents.
Others say that vacation rentals have been around since the first missionaries arrived in Hawai‘i and set up residences in the islands. Members of the vacation-rental-business community stress what they see as a huge positive impact on the economy, and to the island at-large, by dollars spent on Kaua‘i by visitors who stay in a vacation rental.
“Please don’t think you’re going to come out with an ordinance,” the group was told by facilitator Elizabeth Kent of the Hawai‘i State Judiciary’s center for alternative dispute resolution.
“I don’t think you could come up with a consensus,” she told the stakeholders.
At the meetings dozens of community members, including the stakeholders, have been given a chance to discuss their opinions on the impact of vacation rentals on the Kaua‘i community.
The group of 15 stakeholders agreed on three points:
- That the unchecked opening of vacation rentals in residential neighborhoods throughout the island is a problem
- That some regulation (if only to register the rentals) is needed
- If stiffer regulation comes there should be a differentiation between operators of new vacation rentals and those who have been operating their businesses for years and paying taxes as business entities.
The difficulty in solving these problems is in getting the details worked out on where to go from there, organizers said.
Members of the public shared ideas from banning all vacation rentals to just setting up a registration list.
The group of stakeholders, whose members range widely on the issue, struggled to make even the conclusions they reached. They could not get a full consensus on whether another meeting might help.
The goal of the meetings, as described by county officials, is to gather a list of recommendations for the County Council and Planning Department. The list will to help in writing a fair and effective law regulating vacation rentals.
Most agreed that another meeting would help to formulate a report. A fourth one may be in the works.
However, the series may be over.
The meetings are expensive and time-consuming, said Planning Director Ian Costa. Another stakeholder, Gary Smith of Kilauea, said he is worried another meeting would result in “chasing our tail.”
A co-host of the meetings, an official with Helber, Hastert & Fee, Planners, Inc., said the firm is preparing a consultant report on the vacation-rentals inquiry.
One stakeholder, Bruce Pleas of Kekaha, said that he hoped the meetings and a report would provide “a second opinion” to the firm representative’s report.
Mayor Bryan Baptiste served as a co-host of the meetings, and sat in as an observer Monday night. After the meeting, he said that “what needs to be determined is what is fair and what is equitable.”
Baptist said he was at the Monday meeting “to see how far they progressed, to see if there have been any significant breakthroughs,” the mayor said.
- Tom Finnegan, staff writer, 245-3681 (ext. 252) or tfinnegan@pulitzer.net.
