9 hours ago
Controversial STR bill to be heard by Maui Council June 9
WAILUKU, Hawaii (KHON2) — The Maui County Council will have a public hearing on June 9 to discuss whether to phase out thousands of vacation rentals on the island.
Mayor Richard Bissen introduced Bill 9 over a year ago, after the Lahaina fire pushed the housing crisis to the forefront. He is expected to make remarks at the hearing.
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Maui's Housing and Land Use Committee Chair Tasha Kama recently made amendments to the bill including delaying the phase out until 2030, and exempting existing timeshare units.
If passed without the chair's amendments, thousands of vacation rentals that have been operating under a grandfathered legal clause also called the Minatoya list, would not be allowed to operate anymore.
The group Lahaina Strong has been waiting for this bill to pass ever since the fire and is asking for the community to submit testimony before Monday's Minatoya list was established in 2001 and includes Maui condo properties that were grandfathered for legal short-term rental use despite being zoned as apartments.
'The Minatoya list is very densely located in south and west Maui,' explained Lahaina Strong member Jordan Ruidas. 'We're talking about 6,000 rentals, they are in apartment-zoned areas but operating short term rentals under an exemption. So we're asking the Maui County Council to retract this exemption in hopes this will help bring more long term owners and long term renters.'
She said residents are in dire need of housing.
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'We've already lost so many people already, you can see the restaurants, the hotels, the shops, all needing workers but workers can't work if there's no housing. So we need to help fix this housing crisis first and I think it will help make the workforce be more steady,' she added.
Multiple studies have been done regarding the controversial issue including tourism impacts.
'It would take Maui County 30 years to build its way out of this housing crisis, and that's not even taking into consideration the big water issues that we have, so this is a way to bring housing online quicker than build, build, build,' Ruidas added.
People can testify in person, online or by phone. The hearing begins at 10 a.m. at the county building.
The committee could choose to advance the bill, amend it, stall it or send to full council with recommendations.
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