There goes the neighborhood is common complaint in Haena

LIHU’E — The Kaua`i County Council Planning committee Wednesday discussed a

challenge of vacation rental housing from a neighborhood group calling

themselves Concerned Citizens of Wainiha/Haena.

The problem, according to a

letter to the council signed by Barbara Baker, Hope Kallai, Paulette Phillips

and nine others, and amplified by a parade of locals and long-term residents,

is:

l “Many long-term North Shore families are being forced to leave the

area as their rental homes are being converted into tourist

accommodations.

l “Single-family homes are being divided up into multiple

units, which rent at varying rates, becoming virtual hotels.

l “Families

cannot afford to compete with the tourist market for rental space, and buying a

family home is becoming impossible for island residents.”

The neighbors

want the council to restore “integrated neighborhoods … and preserve our

communities.”

It’s the neighbors’ contention that, according to the

county’s General Plan, vacation rentals are prohibited in all except designated

resort areas or commercial districts in Poi`pu, Lihu`e, Wailua-Kapa’a or

Princeville. “Without enforcement, we are losing our ability to function as a

community,” the neighbors said.

Caren Diamond presented the council members

with a petition from local homeowners and renters in the area.

But the law

is not currently supportive of the petition’s position.

Deputy county

attorney Blaine Kobayashi informed the council in a letter dated July 11, “It

is this office’s opinion that under current provisions of the CZO

(Comprehensive Zoning Ordinances),single-family vacation rentals in non-VDA

(Visitor Destination Area) areas are not illegal.”

Responding primarily to

Chas Chipper Wichman, who talked about local families losing long-held family

land because they can’t pay the escalating taxes, Councilman Jimmy Tokioka

asked for help from everyone in the community.

“I hate to see people

getting hurt simply because they want to keep their family lands. So how do we

help these people? Local people can’t afford to live in Hanalei,” Tokioka

said.

Staff writer Dennis Wilken can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252)

and dwilken@pulitzer.net