2026-09-01 - Policy Committee on Planning Land Use and Economic Development

01:06started.

01:08Aloha and good afternoon. Welcome to the

01:10policy committee on planning, land use,

01:12and economic development. We are meeting

01:14today at the Hawaii County Building,

01:16Hilo Council Chambers. Today is Tuesday,

01:19September 1st, 2026. It is the 30th

01:22session and we are convening today at

01:242:51 p.m. We apologize for the delay,

01:28heavy agenda schedule. Um, present for

01:31committee today are council members

01:33Heather Kimell, Rebecca Viegas, Haka

01:35Inaba, Fresh Onishi, James Hustus, and

01:39Jennifer Kagiada. Um, members Matt

01:42Canaly Eleinfielder, and Michelle Gimbo

01:44will be joining us shortly. My name is

01:46Ashley Kirkwoods, chair and presiding

01:48officer. At this time, we will be taking

01:50statements from the public on bill 147.

01:53Mr. Ariselli, if you could please kick

01:55that off. Thank you.

01:57>> Thank you so much, Madam Chair. Noting

01:59that we do have a couple testifiers here

02:00in the Hilo Chamber, a handful via Zoom.

02:03What we'll do is we'll start in Kona,

02:04take their testifier, then we'll

02:06transition to our testifiers here in

02:08Hilo before closing it out with our Zoom

02:09testifiers. So, Scott, if you could

02:12start us off, please.

02:14>> Thank you, Really.

02:17Today we've got John Pelliter to comment

02:21on bill 147. John, go ahead and state

02:24your name for the record and proceed.

02:25You'll have three minutes.

02:28Aloha, New Aloha, chair, vice chair,

02:31members of the committee. I'm John

02:32Peliter, resident of Kona testifying

02:34with comments on bill 147.

02:37I strongly support the proposed

02:39amendments to Bill 147 that would remove

02:42multifamily residential and neighborhood

02:44commercial zoning from the districts

02:46where unhosted short-term vacation

02:48rentals are permitted. The county and

02:51state have long identified housing

02:52affordability for residents as a top

02:54priority. While we have made progress in

02:57providing government subsidized

02:59affordable housing, we also need to make

03:01sure that market rate housing remains

03:02attainable for people who live and work

03:04here. Multifamily housing is the one is

03:08one of the few remaining pathways to

03:10home ownership for working residents. It

03:12represents the missing middle that is so

03:14desperately needed in our housing market

03:16today. Allowing these units to operate

03:19as unhosted STVRs makes them more

03:21attractive as investment properties than

03:23as homes. It puts additional pressure on

03:25housing prices and reduces the supply of

03:27housing availability to local residents.

03:30We all know that we need to build more

03:32housing on this island. But if the

03:34housing we build is primarily being used

03:35as investment properties rather than

03:37homes for people who actually live here,

03:40we will spend our limited resources

03:42without making much progress on the

03:44problem. Removing STVRs from RM zoning

03:47will not solve our housing affordability

03:49crisis by itself, but it is a necessary

03:51first step towards making sure the

03:53housing we build actually serves our

03:55residents.

03:57On the topic of neighborhood commercial,

03:59chapter 25 says the purposes of

04:01neighborhood commercial district is to

04:03accommodate a compact shopping center

04:05that provides goods and services to a

04:07residential or working population on a

04:09frequent need or convenience basis. It's

04:12specifically distinguished from a

04:14central commercial district that

04:15provides broader business and services

04:17to a city or region. There are CN

04:20districts in our urban areas, but

04:21they're also found in our rural

04:23communities, including Wayha, Kohala,

04:25and Kabaloa.

04:27An unhosted STVRs of visitor

04:29accommodation, not a resident serving

04:32use. So, the question before us is

04:34pretty straightforward. Should we expand

04:35a visitor oriented use into a zoning

04:38district that is specifically intended

04:39to serve local residents?

04:42The Kona CDP action committee has

04:44recommended removing STVRs from both RM

04:46and CN zoning. Both the Winward and

04:49Leeward planning commissions have now

04:50made the same recommendation and their

04:52letters to the council containing

04:54communication 806.002.

04:58And in their written testimony today,

05:00the Office of Hawaiian Affairs has

05:02similarly recommended removing STBRs

05:05from RM zoning and keeping them out as

05:08CN zoning.

05:09I believe the committee should give

05:11significant weight to this agreement

05:12among the community planning process,

05:15both planning commissions and the office

05:17of Hawaiian affairs.

05:19These are different bodies with

05:20different perspectives and areas of

05:22expertise, but they have reached the

05:24same conclusion on this issue. Mahalo

05:27for the opportunity to testify today.

05:29Thank you.

05:30>> Thank you for your testimony. That's it

05:32for Kona.

05:33>> Thank you so much, Scott. Chair, our

05:35next testifiers we'll take are coming

05:36from Hilo. The first of which is Joy

05:38Dylan to be followed by Richard

05:40Henderson II.

05:42Joy, when you're ready to begin, you can

05:44turn that mic on by hitting the green

05:46button at the base of the mic,

05:47introducing yourself, and you'll have

05:49three minutes.

06:00Hi everybody.

06:06Aloha, Chair Kirkowitz, Vice Chair Kima,

06:09and members of the committee. My name is

06:11Joy Dylan. I'm a Hilo resident, and I'm

06:13testifying today as an individual

06:16citizen opposed to Bill 147

06:20and the recent amendments put forth by

06:22the committee.

06:23The use of different terms and

06:25definitions in the bill under undermines

06:28the stated intent of aligning the

06:30county's TVR zoning regulations with the

06:33TVR registration regulations. The term

06:36bed and breakfast is confusing and is

06:39going to cause issues for homeowners

06:41regarding their mortgages, insurance

06:43premiums, and HOA regulations.

06:46The county may decide to use this term

06:48innocuously, but the term BNB has

06:51traditional meanings in general and will

06:53trigger red flags for insurance

06:55companies and lenders. Do you know that

06:58if a lender becomes aware of the

07:00existence of a BNB on a property that

07:03they that they have issued a mortgage on

07:05that they will require the homeowner to

07:07obtain a commercial mortgage at a much

07:10more string at much more stringent terms

07:12than a residential mortgage. The term

07:14BNB is not used in ordinance 2550. So to

07:19implement it now in bill 147 will

07:21confuse both the public and property

07:24owners who wish to rent a port portion

07:26of their homes as well as those who do

07:28utilize short-term rentals. The county

07:31should consider revising bill 147 terms

07:34to better align its terminology with

07:36ordinance 2550 and take out the term bed

07:39and breakfast unless the rental being

07:41offered is truly a bed and breakfast. My

07:45second strongest objection to the

07:46current bill is the proposed penalties

07:48for violations which are pre punitive.

07:51Did the county start with an amount for

07:54the STVR enforcement fund and then

07:56decide the fines needed to fund it? It

07:59is hard to know why such large amounts

08:01of fines were set. And to hold both the

08:04host as well as the property owner

08:06liable for such fines is overreach.

08:09Registration for short-term rentals

08:11starts today. And still the county and

08:13the public are at odds with terminology,

08:16zoning inclusions, and other issues with

08:18the bill. Not to mention Bill 173 not

08:22being heard today, but promised to the

08:24planning commissions, presented to the

08:26public, and then abruptly voted down.

08:29There are still many problems with bill

08:31147. Please listen to your constituents

08:33and make the appropriate revisions.

08:36Thank you for the opportunity to pro to

08:38present testimony.

08:40>> Oh, sorry. Thank you so much for your

08:42testimony. Chair, your next testifier is

08:44Richard Henderson II to be followed by

08:46Mary Beer.

08:49Richard, when you're ready to begin,

08:51please introduce yourself and you'll

08:52have three minutes.

08:59Thank you,

09:01chair, and members of the council. Thank

09:03you for the opportunity to testify on

09:05Bill 147. I submit this testimony as an

09:08individual resident concerned about the

09:10practical, legal, and economic impacts

09:13this bill will have on longestablished

09:15communities, property rights, and lawful

09:18visitor use projects across Hawaii

09:20Island. Bill 147 makes substantial

09:23changes to the regulation of transient

09:25vacation rentals, including new

09:27definitions, expanded enforcement

09:29authority, and revised zoning

09:31eligibility. While the intent to

09:33modernize chapter 25 is appreciated,

09:36several provisions create unintended

09:38consequences that warrant amendment.

09:40One, RM zoning and CPR restrictions. The

09:44amended bill continues to allow STBRs in

09:46RM zoning, but prohibits FTVRs in

09:50multifamily dwellings unless the

09:52building is a conominium property regime

09:54under HRS 514B.

09:57This change affects numerous RM projects

10:00that were legally developed and marketed

10:02for visitor use decades ago. The CPR

10:05only restriction creates inequitable

10:07outcomes within the same project and

10:09undermines long-standing vested rights.

10:12Two, resort and resort node

10:14designations. The bill continues to rely

10:16on general plan resort and resort node

10:19areas to determine STBR eligibility and

10:21residential districts. The general plan

10:24is a policy document, not a parcel level

10:27regulatory tool, and using it this way

10:30introduces inconsistencies and

10:32uncertainty.

10:34Three, CN zoning. The amended bill now

10:37correctly includes CN zoning as eligible

10:40for STVRs. This is appropriate and

10:43should be retained. Four, hosted rentals

10:45and bed and breakfastes. The bill

10:47redefineses BMBBS as hosted TVRS and

10:50requires the host to reside on the same

10:52building site during rental operations.

10:55Merging hosted rentals with B&Bs may

10:57trigger unintended consequences for

10:59mortgages, insurance, HOA compliance,

11:02and Department of Health requirements.

11:05Five, temporary workforce housing. The

11:07bill continues to classify all rentals

11:09under 180 days as TVRs unless exempted.

11:14Hawaii Island relies heavily on

11:15temporary housing for nurses,

11:17construction workers, teachers, and

11:19displaced families.

11:21>> Documentation based exemptions should be

11:23expanded.

11:24>> Temporary workforce housing

11:25>> operational requirements. The amended

11:27bill retains several operational

11:29standards including reachability

11:30requirements, gathering limits, and

11:32prohibitions on

11:34>> 30 seconds, please.

11:35>> on renting individual bedrooms to

11:37multiple groups that may be overly

11:39burdensome and impractical for

11:41responsible operators. recommendations.

11:44I respectfully urge the council to amend

11:46bill 147 to preserve STVR eligibility to

11:50legally established RM visitor use

11:52projects to provide a clear pathway for

11:55retention. That was or provide provide a

11:58clear pathway to for retention. Uh

12:00remove reliance on general plan resort

12:02nodes, retain CN zoning eligibility,

12:06maintain a distinction between hosted

12:07rentals and traditional B&B.

12:09>> Thank you so much for your testimony.

12:11Unfortunately, the time is up, so we're

12:12going to have to move on.

12:14>> Cherry, your next testifiers are Mary

12:16Beer to be followed by Caitlyn Miller.

12:19>> Mary, when you're ready to begin, please

12:20hit that green button to turn the mic

12:22on, introduce yourself, and you'll have

12:23three minutes.

12:26>> Good afternoon. Mary Basher, speaking as

12:28an individual taxpaying citizen in the

12:30community, I think that the bed and

12:32breakfast situation has been well

12:34vetted, well established. Leave it

12:36alone. It's not broken. Thank you.

12:42Thank you so much, chair. Our next

12:44testifiers are Caitlyn Miller here in

12:46the Hilo Chamber to be followed by Sher

12:49Rockwood via Zoom. Caitlyn, when you're

12:51ready to begin, please introduce

12:52yourself and you'll have three minutes.

12:59Aloha, Chair Kirkowitz, and members of

13:01the committee. My name is Caitlyn

13:02Miller. I'm the executive director for

13:04the Hawaii Mid and Short-Term Rental

13:06Alliance. First, I want to thank the

13:07committee, the planning department, and

13:09staff for the continued work on Bill 147

13:11in responding to many of the concerns

13:13that have been raised throughout the

13:14process. We appreciate the opportunity

13:17to re review the amendments before you

13:19today, including changes addressing the

13:21existing midterm rental operators and

13:23residency requirements on agricultural

13:25properties. These are meaningful changes

13:27to bill 147, and we appreciate the

13:29committee's continued willingness to

13:30work through the concerns that have been

13:32raised throughout the process. The

13:34definitions are another area where we

13:35believe additional refinement is still

13:37needed, particularly around B&B host and

13:40hosted TVR. While changes have been made

13:42to these definitions, we believe there

13:44is still an opportunity to provide

13:45greater clarity and better distinguish

13:47between these different types of uses.

13:50We believe the code should clearly

13:51distinguish between a B&B where the host

13:53resides on the same building site or

13:55lot, a host who is a reachable person

13:57responsible for operating the TVR, and a

13:59hosted TVR where the owner or operator

14:01actually resides within the same

14:03dwelling as the rental. The those

14:05distinctions matter. They recognize the

14:07different ways these uses operate and

14:10provide clearer standards for operators,

14:12the county, and the public. We have

14:14provided proposed language for those

14:15definitions in our written testimony and

14:17encourage the committee to continue

14:19working on them. More broadly, there are

14:21a number of sub substantive amendments

14:23before you today, many of which respond

14:25to concerns raised throughout the

14:27process. Because these amendments are

14:28significant, we encourage the committee

14:30to take time necessary to fully review

14:33them, consider the testimony you

14:34received today, and understand how

14:36provisions will work together in

14:38practice. It is important to look beyond

14:40what the language says on paper and

14:41understand what compliance will actually

14:43look like for the people affected by it.

14:45Whether the processes and timelines

14:47established by the bill are workable and

14:49where the whether there may be

14:50unintended consequences when these

14:52provisions are implemented together. We

14:55should understand the practical outcomes

14:56of these changes rather than after

14:59before one bill 147 becomes law. Highass

15:02supports clear and workable regulation

15:04and we appreciate the committee's

15:05continued willingness to engage with

15:07stakeholders and respond to concerns. We

15:09ask that you take the time necessary to

15:11carefully review these amendments and

15:13testimony and make additional

15:14refinements necessary before moving bill

15:16147 forward. Mahalo for the opportunity

15:18to testify today.

15:22>> Thank you so much for your testimony.

15:24Chair, our next testifiers will all be

15:26via Zoom. The first of which is Sher

15:28Rockwood to be followed by Maline Ross.

15:31Sherry, if you're ready to begin, you

15:33can unmute your mic, introduce yourself,

15:35and you'll have three minutes.

15:40>> Aloha, chair and council members. My

15:42name is Sher Rockwood, and I am a

15:43full-time resident of White Cloa

15:45Village. I'm asking you to please

15:47consider the difference between an

15:49owneroccupied hosted rental and an

15:52investorowned vacation rental when

15:55considering Bill 147. My husband David

15:58and I live here full-time in our home.

16:01We didn't we never bought this house as

16:03an investment property. We rent only a

16:06small portion of the home where we live.

16:09That addition

16:11income helps us afford to remain in our

16:13home and continue living on the island

16:15we live. Because we rent part of our

16:18home shortterm, our property taxes

16:21increased from about 1,900 a year to

16:24nearly 9,000 a year. That additional

16:277,000 annual burden directly reduces the

16:30income that helps us stay in our home

16:34and makes remaining here increasingly

16:37difficult.

16:39What is difficult for me to understand

16:42is why an owner who earns income from a

16:45small short-term rental in their home

16:48can be treated so differently from other

16:51people who earn income from their homes.

16:53For example, if I were licensed to

16:56provide in-home child care, I would

16:58still be operating

17:01and earning income, producing business

17:03from my home. If I rented the same

17:06portion of my house long-term, it would

17:09also be producing income. So, why should

17:11a homeowner who lives on their property

17:14and rents a small portion to visitors be

17:17treated the same as an absentee investor

17:21operating an entire house as an

17:23investment property? I understand the

17:25need for reasonable regulations, but

17:28please don't make it difficult or so

17:31expensive that reasonable resident hosts

17:34can no longer continue. For some local

17:38homeowners, this additional income is

17:40what allows us to stay in our home

17:43rather than eventually leaving and

17:45selling and go moving off the island.

17:48Please reconsider and protect owner

17:51occupied hosted rentals in Bill 147.

17:55Mahalo for listening for and considering

17:58um us who actually live in their homes

18:02that we're sharing. Thank you.

18:04>> Thank you for your testimony. Chair,

18:06your next testifier is Mattaline Ross to

18:08be followed by Jesse Rubendall. Maline,

18:11when you're ready to begin, you can

18:12unmute, introduce yourself, and you'll

18:14have three minutes.

18:16>> Aloha, chair and council members. My

18:19name is Maline Ross, and my husband and

18:21I live in North Kala, where we farm the

18:24land we steward and feed our community

18:26through the local food hub. I also work

18:29as an Airbnb co-host and property

18:31caretaker. And before my daughter was

18:33born two years ago, I served as the

18:36president of the Hawaii Farmers Union

18:38United Kohala chapter. Feeding the

18:41community here isn't just a talking

18:42point for me. It's my daily life. And

18:45living here allows me to do that. I'm

18:48sitting here just weeks after 6 days

18:50without power and water from the

18:52hurricane. We got through that and now

18:54this council is considering a bill that

18:56threatens our income and our housing. On

18:58top of that, this is what bill 147 147

19:02represents for my family.

19:05We live on the same property as the

19:07rentals we managed, but not in the same

19:09building, which is how most hosted

19:11rentals on this island actually operate.

19:15Also, we are the property we manage has

19:18more than five bedrooms on the TMK. As

19:22written, B bill 147 would prohibit

19:24existing hosted rentals with more than

19:26five bedrooms from continuing with no

19:29grandfather clause for people like us

19:32who have built and invested under the

19:34rules that have existed here for

19:36decades.

19:38It also needs to clearly define hosted

19:40as living on the same parcel or tax map

19:42key, not the same building. We can only

19:45afford to live here in Kohala as

19:48co-hosts.

19:50This council's own 2025 economic impact

19:53study found hosted rentals generate

19:55nearly 1 billion a year

19:58and support thousands of local families

20:01like us. That regulations

20:04the regulations like this could cost the

20:06island over 12,000 full-time jobs and

20:0830,000 part-time jobs. It also found

20:11that only 4% of owners would convert to

20:14long-term housing if forced to stop. If

20:1796%

20:19of rentals aren't going to become

20:21long-term housing, what does this

20:23provision actually solve? And it's not

20:26just my family. Every hosted rental

20:29supports its own small economies of

20:32cleaners, landscapers, contractors,

20:35window cleaners, farmers, and other

20:37local businesses.

20:39Shutting one down ripples through KA

20:41families across this community, not just

20:43the owners and managers. I want housing

20:47solutions, too, but not ones that cost

20:49livelihoods without creating housing in

20:51return. At minimum, I'm asking this

20:53council to add a grandfather clause for

20:55existing legally operating hosted

20:58rentals and define the TMK residency as

21:01meeting the host requirement. People

21:03should not be punished for following the

21:04rules that were in place when we built

21:06our lives here. Thank you very much.

21:09>> Thank you for your testimony. Chair,

21:11your next testifiers are Jesse Rubendel

21:13to be followed by Martino Wing. Jesse,

21:15when you're ready to begin, please

21:16introduce yourself and you'll have three

21:18minutes.

21:24>> Uh, chair and council members. My name

21:27is Jesse Rubenol. I've lived here in

21:29North Kohala for 6 years, and I'm a

21:32property manager, maintenance manager,

21:34farmer, and landscaper for a hosted

21:36short-term rental here in our community.

21:38A seven-bedroom property that has

21:39operated this way for decades. I'm here

21:42today because this business doesn't just

21:43support my family. It's the reason we're

21:46able to live here at all. My wife

21:49Meline, who you just heard from, and I

21:51work for a full-time work for full-time

21:53running this property, and we also farm

21:55the land as part of that work, doing our

21:57part to help provide local healthy food

21:59access here in Kohala. In exchange, the

22:02property owners provide us with

22:04affordable housing on site. Without that

22:06arrangement, we simply could not afford

22:08to live in this community. This business

22:11hasn't taken away affordable housing for

22:13our community. It's actually given my

22:15family affordable housing. It's how

22:17Meline and I and are able to raise our

22:192-year-old daughter, Gemma, here in

22:22beautiful Kohala, the place we now call

22:24home.

22:25I'm also an active member of our local

22:27farming community. I work with local

22:29nonprofits, including Kohala Food Hub,

22:31to help strengthen local food systems

22:33and improve food access for our

22:35neighbors. None of that would be

22:37possible without the stability of my

22:39income generated by the short-term

22:41rental business that we run here. I want

22:44to be clear. I'm not opposed to this

22:46bill outright. I support registration,

22:48paying taxes, and being a good neighbor,

22:51of course. But bill 147, as it's

22:54currently written, would prohibit

22:55existed hosted rentals with more than

22:57five bedrooms, like the one that has let

22:59my family build a life here, from

23:01continuing to operate with no

23:03grandfather clause for properties that

23:05have complied with these rules for

23:06decades. North Khala also has very few

23:10lodging options, and these hosted

23:12rentals are essential to our tourism

23:14economy and to the community members who

23:16depend on them for work. cleaners,

23:18maintenance professionals, landscapers,

23:21many of whom rely heavily or if not

23:23solely on this income. I'm asking this

23:26council for a clear path forward.

23:29Grandfather in existed hosted rentals

23:31with five or more bedrooms. Let new

23:33rules apply to new businesses moving

23:35forward, but don't take away the ability

23:36of families or farmers like ourselves

23:38who are raising kids, farming the land,

23:41and investing in this community to keep

23:43doing what we do. Please don't pass Bill

23:46147 without addressing this. My family's

23:48home and our place in this community

23:50depends on it. Mahalo for your time and

23:53consideration.

23:55>> Thank you for your testimony, chair. Our

23:57next testifier is Martino Wing to be

23:59followed by Anna Ruth Piper. Martino,

24:02when you're ready to begin, please

24:03introduce yourself and you'll have three

24:04minutes.

24:07>> Thank you. Aloha chair and committee

24:09members. My name is Martina Wing, a Big

24:11Island resident for over 25 years. I'm

24:14testifying today on bill 147. I'm here

24:18again today outraged that we are still

24:21fighting the same battle over hosted

24:23rentals. I live in Kyua Kona where I own

24:26a home and I live there offering a

24:28short-term vacation rental within it.

24:30This is our retirement. My husband and I

24:33have hosted for several years. We pay

24:35our taxes on time and we run a

24:37legitimate business. Bill 147 threatens

24:40to take away um through a permitting

24:43process so cumbersome um and I want to

24:45bold that cumbersome and confusing that

24:49ordinary people cannot get through it.

24:52Four years of one bill after another.

24:54Each one adding more hurdles, more

24:56uncertainty, more cost for the people

24:58actually doing the work responsibly.

25:01Look at what just happened in Caou.

25:03Homes swept away, family dispatched, an

25:05entire district was still recovering

25:07from Hurricane Lala. That disaster

25:10showed us how fragile this island

25:11economy already is. One storm and

25:14hundreds of families needed emergency

25:15assistance just to keep going. Yet, here

25:18we are weeks later, still pushing a bill

25:20that adds more bureaucratic weight onto

25:22small operators who are the backbone of

25:25that same fragile economy. This is not

25:28the moment to make it harder for working

25:29families to earn a living on this

25:31island. It is the moment to protect the

25:33income that keeps us standing when

25:34disaster hits. America is in a class war

25:38and this bill is part of it. The large

25:40operators can absorb delay and cost the

25:43rest of us cannot. Leaders like Mandami

25:46in New York are showing what it looks

25:47like

25:49to put working people at the center of

25:50policy instead of leaving them behind.

25:53This committee has the same choice in

25:55front of it right now. I started

25:57watching the two-hour webinar the county

25:59held a few weeks ago on this process and

26:00I stopped pathway uh partway through. I

26:03felt overwhelmed and I'm someone who's

26:05fast on my feet and generally good with

26:07paperwork.

26:09If I cannot get through it without

26:10feeling defeated, imagine what this

26:12looks like for someone without the

26:13background. These are scary times to

26:16live in and our local government should

26:18be protecting us, not stripping away any

26:20more of our security. I'm opposed to

26:23bill 47 as um proposed. The pressure on

26:26on us is too much. I concur with

26:29everything Mlin Ross and Jesse Ruben

26:31stated earlier. Four years in and

26:34everything this island has has been

26:36through. Give us a real pathway, not

26:38another round of limbo. Mahalo.

26:41>> Thank you so much for your testimony.

26:43Chair, your next [clears throat]

26:44testifiers are Anna Ruth Piper to be

26:46followed by John Moss. Anna, when you're

26:48ready to begin, please introduce

26:49yourself and you'll have three minutes.

26:53My name is Anna Ruth Piper. My husband

26:55and I own a small hosted rental in North

26:57Kohala. Our property fills several needs

26:59in our small community. A big one being

27:01jobs. Short-term rentals provide

27:04employment that is critical to

27:06sustaining communities. The notion that

27:08short-term rentals are developers who

27:10buy Airbnbs and make a bunch of cash is

27:13false. Entirely false. Here's the truth.

27:16Our annual profit margin is less than 5%

27:19and some years we're in the red. In

27:21part, that's because what's required to

27:23run a hosted rental in a climate like

27:25the Kohala Coast requires people. Lots

27:28of people. Let me give you an idea of

27:30who we employ on a monthly basis.

27:32Someone who pulls weeds, a team of

27:34gutter cleaners, a team of window screen

27:36cleaners, a guy who does maintenance on

27:38our property truck, a guy who trims the

27:40coconut trees, a guy who trims all the

27:42other trees, a cleaner, a pest control

27:44guy, a plumber, an electrician, and of

27:45course, two full-time hosts who we pay

27:47living wages to and provide affordable

27:50on-site housing for. Any regulation that

27:53curbs the amount of revenue that our

27:54family business can make directly

27:57impacts all those community members. So,

28:00let's get to a piece of bill 147 that

28:02would negatively affect our ability to

28:04pay local workers, and that is the

28:06strict five-bedroom rule. My property

28:09has seven bedrooms. It has operated as a

28:11sevenbedroom property for over 20 years,

28:14way longer than my husband and I have

28:16owned it. We've never had a single

28:18complaint from a neighbor or a

28:19commission about the fact that we have

28:21seven bedrooms. No one thinks it's odd

28:23that our over 2 acre parcel would have

28:26seven guest rooms. And certainly the

28:29department of taxation hasn't complained

28:31about the transient accommodation taxes

28:33I pay each month for seven bedrooms of

28:36occupancy. But this council somehow

28:38thinks that five is the magic number. So

28:40using the magic number five, I'm going

28:42to do some simple math. Let's say that

28:44we charge $5 per bedroom per night.

28:47Seven bedrooms times $5 is $35 a night.

28:51But if the council forced us to close

28:53two rooms and only book five rooms per

28:56night, we would make $25 per night,

28:59which is 40% less. That nearly 40%

29:03reduction in revenue would trickle down,

29:06cutting our on-site host wages and

29:08lessening what we can afford to pay all

29:09our other local vendors. It would also

29:12lessen what the state and this county

29:14receive in TAT and get revenue. And

29:16since we charge much more than a simple

29:18$5 per night, that's actually tens of

29:21thousands of dollars in tax revenue that

29:23Havi and Havi County will lose from my

29:25hosted rental alone.

29:28>> In conclusion, I encourage this council

29:31to increase the number of bedrooms to 10

29:33for all properties that have operated in

29:35compliance hereto for especially

29:37properties that sit on parcels of land

29:39over half an acre. Any new hosted

29:42rentals could be capped at five, but

29:43enforcing this arbitrary rule on my

29:45small business and other longstanding

29:47hosted rentals is going to hurt the very

29:49thing you're trying to save, the local

29:51economy. Thank you for your time.

29:54>> Thank you for your testimony. Chair,

29:56your next testifier is John Moss to be

29:58followed by Julia Elias. John, when

30:00you're ready to begin, please introduce

30:01yourself and you'll have three minutes.

30:09Hello, my name is uh John Moss. I

30:12operate a vacation rental in the Waloa

30:16area and have for

30:1916 years, no complaints, five-star

30:23reviews.

30:26And when I started,

30:29I would have bookings all summer long,

30:33completely full. And then Hawaii started

30:37increasing the transient tax. Then they

30:40increased

30:42the

30:44car rental tax. Then they increased the

30:47transient tax again. And then Hawaii

30:50counted county wanted in their own tax.

30:54And all these little taxes start to add

30:56up.

30:59Two years ago,

31:01instead of full bookings, I had nine

31:03bookings.

31:05Last year I had four bookings.

31:09This year in June, no bookings.

31:14No one came to pay for a luau, to go on

31:18a snorkel tour. In July, I had no

31:22bookings.

31:23No one came to rent a car, eat a

31:26restaurant,

31:27pay to see a Kaka Falls. In August, no

31:33bookings.

31:35No one came to eat lunch at Hilo on

31:37their way to the volcano.

31:43No one rode a zipline. No one rented a

31:46kayak. Add up all these fees we have to

31:50pass on to our guests. Hawaii gets more

31:54and more and more expensive.

31:58My neighbors on the mainland, the family

32:01used to come every year to Hawaii.

32:05Last year, they went to Costa Rica

32:08because it was cheaper than coming to

32:11Hawaii. I ask you to consider

32:15$250. It doesn't sound like much every

32:18year, but it's an increase. It's a drip

32:22drip drip and guests are not coming. And

32:27it's not a short-term problem. It's not

32:30because of COVID. It's not because the

32:33economy. It's because Hawaii is getting

32:36far too expensive.

32:39Thank you for your consideration.

32:42>> Thank you for your testimony, chair.

32:44Your next testifier

32:47is

32:48Julie Elias to be followed by Gina

32:51Googlamelli.

32:52Julie, when you're ready to begin,

32:54please introduce yourself and you'll

32:55have three minutes.

33:02Sorry, Julie. It seems like you're still

33:04muted. If you could unmute first and

33:06then introduce yourself, you'll have

33:07three minutes.

33:12Let me send you a request.

33:16>> Okay,

33:16>> there you go.

33:17>> Now you can hear me. Yes, you can.

33:19>> All right. I'm Julia Lias testifying on

33:22Bill 147. Um, my husband and I live at

33:26Kohala Ranch, which is owned

33:27agriculture. We have operated a hosted

33:30transient vacation rental since 2017. We

33:34live at our residence full-time and rent

33:36out a portion of our primary residence.

33:38When we first started renting, we

33:40registered our business as an LLC and

33:42have paid the county get and tit

33:46taxes faithfully every year. The income

33:49generated from our rental is critical

33:52for assisting us to pay for our mortgage

33:54and our monthly expenses. We have seen

33:56our operation costs increase

33:58significantly over the years between the

34:00increase in get and tat taxes, the loss

34:04of our homeowners exemption for property

34:06taxes, expenses for cleaning and

34:08landscaping services, and the cost of

34:11supplies. In addition, the tourism

34:14industry has declined in Hawaii.

34:16Therefore, our expenses have

34:18dramatically increased and our income

34:20has significantly decreased, making it

34:23even more difficult to make ends meet.

34:25We will now be required to get a special

34:28use permit to operate a bed and

34:30breakfast, which requires a registration

34:32fee, annual renewal fee, and to schedule

34:35a public hearing to obtain approval to

34:38continue to operate. It's becoming more

34:40and more expensive and more complicated

34:42to operate this business.

34:45We do not seek to be exempted from

34:47regulation, but want clarification on

34:50how to navigate the registration process

34:52and on compliance with the new

34:54regulations, as well as the cost to

34:56register for a special use permit to

34:59operate the bed and breakfast. We also

35:02wish to be treated fairly for tax

35:04purposes and not have significant

35:06increases in the amount of fees we are

35:08required to pay or have an unwieldly

35:10register registration and compliance

35:13process.

35:14In addition, it is unclear to us if we

35:17obtain a use permit to operate if we

35:20would still be required to rent for a

35:22minimum of 31 days or if the the special

35:26use permit also allows us to rent for a

35:29shorter period of time or requires us to

35:31do that. We believe that the fines that

35:34would be established by these bills are

35:36excessive and unreasonable. They are

35:38not. We are not large out ofstate cor

35:41corporation that rents out multiple

35:43properties, but instead are local

35:45homeowners just trying to make ends

35:47meet. We suggest the county consider

35:49lowering the fine amounts. We hope that

35:52the county considers these

35:53recommendations and provides

35:55clarification regarding our registration

35:58and compliance questions. Thank you for

36:00your consideration.

36:02>> Thank you so much for your testimony.

36:04share. Your next testifiers are Gina

36:05Googlameli to be followed by Linda

36:07Halbertter. Gina, when you're ready to

36:09begin, please unmute your mic, introduce

36:11yourself, and you'll have three minutes.

36:20Oops. Gina, I've sent you a request to

36:23please unmute your mic. You can

36:24introduce yourself and this is your

36:25chance to provide your testimony.

36:32Okay. Hearing no response, we'll move on

36:34to Linda Halbertter to be followed by

36:37Jamie Humphrey. Linda, when you're ready

36:38to begin, you can unmute your mic,

36:41introduce yourself, and you'll have

36:42three minutes.

36:51Linda, I've just sent you a request to

36:53unmute your mic. If you'd like to unmute

36:55at this time and provide your testimony,

36:56this is your chance.

36:59Oh, hold on, Linda. If you could just

37:01hit that notification, you'll unmute.

37:08>> There you go.

37:08>> Okay. Thank you. My name is Linda

37:11Halbritter and I lived in I live out in

37:14the country in Javi in North Kohala more

37:16than 45 years. I'm testifying against

37:19bill 147. It would be a huge burden on

37:23me as a 79 year old capuna. My home is

37:27on a small ad lot less than an acre and

37:31a half.

37:33From what I've read, adots are being

37:36targeted for some short sort of new

37:39rules and permits. I don't know what a

37:42special permit is. I don't know how to

37:44get one, what or what the rules are.

37:48It's overwhelming, a real burden for me.

37:54I have so many questions that are not

37:57answered here. When do I apply for a

37:59permit? How do I do it? How much does it

38:02cost? How long does it take? Can I keep

38:05hosting my guests while I'm trying to

38:07get one?

38:09If we have to have a permit, then the

38:13permit should be guaranteed for anyone

38:15with a legal house that has been

38:18operating and pay their taxes already,

38:20which we do.

38:22You can't take away our property rights

38:25with a housekeeping bill. This bill is

38:28not housekeeping at it. As it is,

38:30probably going to make us impossible for

38:33my husband and I to continue to keep

38:38to keep our home

38:40and pay our taxes. My rental is my only

38:43income other than my husband's

38:45disability veterans

38:48pension which does not cover our housing

38:50costs. Without our guests, we will not

38:53be able to afford our home

38:55[clears throat] of 40 years anymore. The

38:58county should just let people register

39:00and not deny them if they have paid

39:02their taxes and keep it simple. Please

39:06keep your word. These rules are written

39:08[snorts] mostly for the city problems.

39:11We only have two neighbors on this total

39:14road and it's just

39:18and Java is not the same as out here as

39:22it is in Kona and Hilo. We are always

39:24here hosting. Thank you.

39:30>> Thank you so much chair. Our next

39:31testifier is Jamie Humphrey and then we

39:33will try with Gina again. Jamie, when

39:36you're ready to begin, please unmute,

39:37introduce yourself, and you'll have

39:39three minutes.

39:42>> Aloha, council members. My name is Jamie

39:45Humphrey. I live in North Kohala. I'm a

39:47single mom, and I clean houses for

39:49several Airbnb owners for my job. I'm

39:52asking you to please vote no on bill

39:55147, the way it is written. Now, these

39:57cleaning jobs matter a lot to me because

39:59I work close to home for these owners. I

40:02can be there for my daughter Sydney. If

40:04there is an emergency at her school, I

40:07can pick her up right away and go back

40:08to finish the job when I'm able to. Not

40:11many jobs let me do that.

40:14Some of the owners and the guests also

40:17leave behind food, which also helps to

40:20feed me and my daughter as well. I also

40:22suffer from social anxiety and I'm

40:24unable to comfortably work around

40:26others, so this job allows me to work by

40:29myself. If this bill passes and shuts

40:32down these rentals, I could lose my

40:34clients and lose this kind of flexible

40:36work. Five of the homes I clean have

40:39more than five bedrooms. And these

40:40owners have been running their

40:41businesses here for 5 to 15 years or

40:45more, paying taxes and putting money

40:47into this island the whole time. It

40:49isn't right to shut them down now after

40:51everything they've spent and

40:53contributed.

40:54I also don't think this bill makes

40:56sense. Even if these homes got turned

40:58into long-term rentals, they would not

41:00bring in nearly as much money as they do

41:02now to the local economies. And if they

41:05did rent them out long term, the prices

41:07would be so high that locals like me

41:09couldn't even afford to live there

41:10anyways. The only reason most of us

41:13locals even are able to afford the

41:16housing we have now is because of these

41:18jobs. Please do not pass this bill as

41:20written. Please protect the jobs of

41:22hardworking parents like me who are just

41:24trying to take care of their families.

41:26Thank you for your time.

41:27>> Thank you so much for your testimony.

41:29With that, we'll [clears throat] go back

41:31to Thank you. With that, we'll go back

41:33to checking with Gina at this time.

41:35Gina, if you'd like to provide your

41:36testimony, this is your opportunity. You

41:39can unmute, introduce yourself, and

41:40you'll have three minutes.

41:43I've just sent you a request to unmute.

41:45If you could click on that,

41:48you'll have your chance to provide your

41:49testimony. If not, we will be moving on.

41:55Chair hearing no response from Gina.

41:59I believe those are all the testifiers

42:01you have for this meeting.

42:04>> Thank you, Mr. RSelli. Seeing as we have

42:07concluded public testimony at this time,

42:09we will move on to business of the day.

42:12U Mr. Clerk, Bill 147.

42:14>> Last chance. If anyone like to testify

42:16in bill 147, please speak up now.

42:22hearing. Seeing none, Bill 147 amends

42:24chapter 2 and chapter 25 of the Hawaii

42:26County Code 1983 2016 edition as amended

42:29relating to transient accommodations.

42:32Establishes operational standards and

42:34use regulations for transient vacation

42:36rentals which include hosted bed and be

42:38bed and breakfasts BNBs and unhost

42:42unhosted short-term vacation rentals

42:44STVRs allows BNBs as a permitted use in

42:47the single family residential zoning

42:49district. allows BNBs as a permitted use

42:52in areas at the residential agriculture,

42:54family agriculture and agriculture

42:56zoning districts that are also

42:57classified as state land use, urban or

42:59rural allows STVRs as a permitted use in

43:02the entire multiple flam family

43:04residential district and in certain

43:06coastal areas adjacent to general plan

43:08designated resort or resort node areas

43:11and other residential zoning districts.

43:13allows STVRs as a permitted use in the

43:15downtown Hilo commercial zoning district

43:17and makes various conforming

43:19housekeeping amendments introduced by

43:21council member Kimble.

43:24This was referred to on planning

43:25commissions on April 10th, 2026 and

43:28communication 8006.2 for managing

43:31director William V. Brahonte Jr. dated

43:33July 23, 2026. Transmitting for

43:36council's consideration and action, a

43:38letter from the Winward and Leeward

43:39Planning Commissions and communication

43:42806.3 from planning director Jeffrey W.

43:45Darl dated July 28, 2026, transmitting a

43:49PowerPoint presentation for bill 147 and

43:52communication 8006.4

43:54from Council Member Heather El Kimble

43:56dated August 19, 2026, transmitting a

43:59PowerPoint presentation for bill 147.

44:03Thank you, chair. Council member Kimble.

44:05>> Yes. Motion to approve bill 147 and

44:07forward to council with a favorable

44:09recommendation.

44:12>> Thank you. There is a motion by council

44:13member Kimble and a second by council

44:15member Kagiada to forward bill 147 to

44:18the council with a favorable

44:19recommendation.

44:20>> Thank you, chair. Um I'm just going to

44:24you you guys were provided with the um

44:27slides from the planning department and

44:29from myself that were provided to the

44:31planning commissions. I am not going to

44:33suggest that we go through all of these

44:35today. Um you can peruse them on your

44:37own time. I also recommend the webinar

44:39that we put up on Hawaii County uh

44:42tar.com.

44:44But to

44:46just start the discussion first, the

44:48first thing I want to do is kind of

44:49acknowledge that we understand and

44:53appreciate that this is an emotional

44:55issue for some folks because we're

44:57talking about livelihoods and being able

44:59to make ends meet and all of that. And I

45:01think when we have these issues that are

45:04evoke these emotional feelings,

45:05sometimes misinformation can get out

45:07there and it takes on a life of its own.

45:09And I will say that I believe that that

45:11has happened to a great extent in this

45:13case. In my conversations with both both

45:16of the planning commissions, one of the

45:17commissioners actually brought up bill

45:20147 is essentially a housekeeping bill

45:22and that's what it is. Um it does not

45:25change any existing policies. It just

45:30clarifies them. And so for example, with

45:34respect to what is permitted on

45:35agricultural land, that is all dictated

45:38by Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter

45:41205-4.5

45:43and the definition of of the farm

45:44dwelling. And that is the finding that

45:47came through with the Rose Hill

45:49decision. Now, I will note that through

45:51act 34 from 2026, the definition of farm

45:54dwelling has changed a little bit, but I

45:56don't think it actually affects our

45:58understanding and interpretation of a

46:00farm dwelling. Um, I do want to note

46:02that you were provided with this very

46:05cool graphic.

46:07This was created by Maya at the Maya

46:09Jackson at the planning department. This

46:11shows all the different permutations of

46:14what can happen on agricultural land.

46:17Um, the key difference is the

46:19understanding of what happens on a

46:20pre-1976 versus a post 1976 lot.

46:24Pre-1976 is before the current land law

46:27land use law took effect in the state.

46:30And so on state land use egg um the

46:33first dwelling is a single family

46:34dwelling and so you don't have the same

46:36constrictions that you have on farm

46:39dwellings for single family dwellings in

46:41terms of having somebody there that is

46:43tied to agriculture and that's why you

46:45have all of these different

46:46permutations. I'm willing to go into

46:48that in more detail. Um but to just so

46:52so that's one part of it aligning with

46:53the state uh code state law with respect

46:56to farm dwellings on state land use egg.

46:59Um this also aligns us with the

47:02registration program which taped off

47:04today and folks are currently using. Um

47:08but more importantly this kind of aligns

47:10um the code with the historical

47:13practices of the planning department.

47:15I'm going to ask council member

47:16Krookwitz to go in the way back machine

47:18with me. And remember when we started

47:20these initial conversations with the

47:22planning department about short-term

47:24vacation rental regulation. We said, you

47:26know, shouldn't all of these hosted be

47:29under the bed and breakfast code? And so

47:31if you look at the language now as it

47:33reads un amended in our code, a bed and

47:35breakfast establishment means any single

47:38family dwelling and or guest houses

47:40which have been permitted on a building

47:42site in which overnight accommodations

47:44and only breakfastes breakfast meals are

47:47provided to a maximum of 10 guests for a

47:49compensation for periods of less than 30

47:52days.

47:55going through this process and kind of

47:56going back to that initial thing.

47:58Basically, all hosted rentals should

48:00have been regulated under this

48:03regulation of a bed breakfast. It's less

48:05than 30-day rentals. They should have

48:07been follow that that should have been

48:10followed which requires in state land

48:12use urban and rural that homeowners get

48:15a use permit in order to operate and on

48:18state land use a they get a special use

48:21permit. So what we do in bill 147 since

48:24that has not been the way that the

48:26department has be you know enforced it

48:29up to date is we've actually removed the

48:32requirement to get a use permit in state

48:35land use egg and state land use urban or

48:38sorry state land use rural and state

48:40land use uh urban. So I want to make

48:43clear that this is a big change with 147

48:46is we actually are removing

48:48administrative requirements and burdens

48:50for hosted rentals by saying that they

48:52no longer need a use permit in state

48:55land use rural state land use urban. Now

48:57I know that there's some conversation

48:59about the five-bedroom rule. That's why

49:00I've asked our building um division

49:02chief to be here. The five bedrooms has

49:05to do first of all with the land use

49:07code. If you have more than five

49:09bedrooms to rent, then you should be in

49:12applying for a lodge or an inn or a

49:14hotel per our code. And that has been

49:17the law all this time. That has not

49:19changed. There's also changes that

49:21happen with the building code with

49:22respect to fire prevention and other

49:24things when you go from five bedrooms to

49:27more than five bedrooms for rent in

49:30terms of health and safety requirements.

49:31So questions regarding that can can go

49:34to um Mr. Spiel. Um, the other

49:40item that I just wanted to highlight is,

49:42you know, we're aligning this also with

49:45the tax code. And that was brought up

49:48obviously as a concern for folks. Again,

49:51commercial activity causes you to lose

49:54the homeowners tax class, which we've

49:56talked about with Bill 173, and that has

49:58been part of the law since the

50:00beginning, since since the 80s, right?

50:02And that is not something that changes.

50:04Um, so that's that's kind of the basics.

50:07I do have some amendments here that

50:10incorporate the changes that were

50:12recommended by the planning department

50:14per their background report for the

50:16planning commissions as well as some

50:18that are more um

50:20policy like in nature um and that I've

50:24pulled out to be separate amendments for

50:25the body to consider. So with that, I

50:28will ask Director Darrow and the

50:31department if there's anything you want

50:32to add in terms of this bill as far as

50:35introduction before I let my colleagues

50:38ask questions. Thanks.

50:42>> The chair recognizes Director Darl.

50:45>> Thank you, Chair Kirkowitz and members

50:48of the Hawaii County Council. Jeff Daryl

50:50with the planning department. Uh this

50:53has been a long road and we're finally

50:56here. Um it started back in 2018

51:01with the introduction of Bill 108 and uh

51:05the regulation of unhosted short-term

51:08vacation rentals. Um we've been

51:11operating uh for the past eight years

51:15under that program and it's been

51:17successful. Uh at this point it's just

51:21daily routine. Um at first it was very

51:25very contentious. There was a lot of

51:27opposition. Uh but once the program

51:31launched it relatively went very smooth.

51:35Um during that particular uh process

51:39there was a fund that was created. It

51:41was called the SDVR enforcement fund.

51:44And that fund was established to pretty

51:49much run the program. All of its needs,

51:52all of its employees, that program is

51:55run through that fund. Uh it was

51:59intended back then to come back pretty

52:02quickly and regulate un I mean hosted

52:06rentals. Unfortunately, that didn't

52:08happen quite as fast.

52:11uh in 2023 I believe bill 121 came about

52:16bill 122 and also bill 123 with

52:20accessory dwelling units. Uh bill 121

52:24was proposing hosted rentals. Uh bill

52:27122 was to try to um to remove bed and

52:32breakfast from the zoning code and focus

52:34on hosted rentals. Uh we went through

52:37six I believe six drafts. Uh finally it

52:41it got shelved to work on it uh some

52:44more because of all the testimony. And

52:47now we're here with bill 147 again

52:50taking that all into account and coming

52:53back to uh the council for uh this

52:56proposed bill. As council member Kimbo

53:00mentioned, this bill does a significant

53:03change in the land use process for bed

53:08and breakfast or hosted rentals.

53:11Typically, anybody operating a bed and

53:13breakfast or hosted rental in a

53:16residential zone would require a use

53:18permit. In the agricultural zoning,

53:21state land use agricultural zoning, it

53:24would require a special permit. This

53:27allows them to continue as permitted uh

53:31through a registration process without

53:34having to go through a use permit. It

53:36would allow um um the ones the

53:40operations on pre76 lots to be permitted

53:44within a single family dwelling and on

53:46the post76

53:48uh there's no way we can get past that

53:50based on state law and they would need

53:52to come in for a special permit. We have

53:55worked diligently to make the

53:58registration pro process uh much simpler

54:02than it it could be. Uh we've heard from

54:06people that it is a relatively simple

54:09process. Um we have really refined our

54:13special permit process for bed and

54:15breakfast. Uh anticipating uh the

54:18increase of bed and breakfast coming in

54:21that would need a special permit. And as

54:24part of the amendments that council

54:27member uh Kimble is is bringing forth,

54:31there is some grace period to allow time

54:35for people to be able to go through that

54:38process and we will work with them.

54:41I'm here to answer any questions that

54:44you may have. Thank you.

54:46>> Thank you, director. Council member

54:48Hustus.

54:49>> Thanks, Chair. [clears throat] Thanks,

54:50director. Thanks, Council Member. Um

54:53before we kind of dive into the

54:54amendments, just some questions here.

54:58You know, director, would it be would it

54:59not be clear to just have TVR as the

55:02overarching sort of descriptor

55:04definition and have hosted unhosted

55:07subsidiary

55:09um and based upon more duration versus

55:12kind of like this class we're

55:13establishing?

55:15I particularly mean like we have some

55:17testimony about ones that are over the

55:1930 days, but we're but the regulation is

55:22also talking about this under 180 days.

55:24So there's this there's this midterm

55:26rental period we're not really

55:28classifying or considering, right? So

55:30would it not make more sense? Would it

55:33not be clearer to then just establish it

55:35based upon the length and the duration

55:38of stay versus um those those

55:40intricacies there?

55:43Thank you for the question, Council

55:44Member Hust. The allowance uh or the

55:49introduction of what we call a midterm

55:52rental, which is this rental that has

55:56been operating

55:57um beyond 30 days and less than 180

56:01days, is being introduced in one of the

56:04amendments. Um so you'll see it in one

56:07of there. It's the reason why it's not

56:11as easy to deal with is because it's an

56:14unhosted rental. And so we run into the

56:17same issue that it may be on a property

56:22that is um not allowed uh in the sense

56:27of a post76 lot where based on what we

56:31went through with the Rose Hill decision

56:34um it is allowed in pre76

56:37in um residential zonings but it is

56:41prohibited on the post76 lots. So

56:44therefore, it's hard to lump it into um

56:48one particular

56:50uh basket. It it it pretty much needs to

56:54be dealt with separately. Correct me if

56:57I'm wrong, Council Member Kimble.

57:00>> Yes, that's correct. So, one of the

57:01amendments that I have for you today

57:03addresses the midtone rentals, which is

57:04the 31 to um 79 days that's coming

57:09through. Um I I don't want to get out of

57:13order here, but yeah, there's there's a

57:14com we can have conversation about

57:16terminology. I'm completely

57:18>> Yeah, I don't care what we call things

57:20>> and I just trying to you know with the

57:21with the testimony we're receiving the

57:23conversations it it it just would make

57:25clearer sense to have TVR as the

57:27umbrella name and you have short-term

57:30rental whether hosted or unhosted and

57:32then BNB just a subsidiary of the hosted

57:35one. more of a specialized terminology

57:37of the hosted TVRS of the short-term

57:41hosted TVRS.

57:44>> I hear you.

57:45>> Okay.

57:45>> It's Thank you.

57:46>> Well, it's just to bring it as I

57:49mentioned.

57:49>> Sure.

57:50>> When we had gone through bill 121, it

57:53was for hosted rentals and we were

57:55trying to remove bed and breakfast.

57:57>> Um there was

57:58>> that's causing it's causing kind of

58:00quite a stir with the whole B&B because

58:01it's already established BNBs. So trying

58:03to find some sort of work that they are

58:05already established and are recognized

58:08as a hosted short-term TVR

58:11>> rather than trying to lump everything

58:12into BNB. It seems to be some of the

58:15crux of some of the issue for sure.

58:17>> Um I'm going to pivot just for a second.

58:19If I have a building chief, I just want

58:21to kind of dive into that. Um and

58:24director, you might want to stay up as

58:25well because it's it relates to, you

58:28know, Council Member Kimmel talked about

58:29the lodge piece. Why haven't some people

58:32transitioned into that lodge piece or at

58:34least known about okay we have multiple

58:38bedrooms beyond this number why haven't

58:41they been informed to yet move in that

58:43direction and so we can we can start

58:46there director if you want but I want to

58:47yeah talk to Bill and chief as well

58:50>> sure so as mentioned um the definition

58:54of a in the zoning code of a hotel in

58:59motel lodge is a group of a building or

59:03group of buildings with six or more

59:05rooms. So that's why B&Bs are limited up

59:10to five and they're typically uh

59:12situated within a single family

59:14dwelling. Um once we we've had

59:18applicants come in that have applied for

59:20a B&B and they've done successful,

59:23they've come back in and they've

59:25requested to change their B&B to a

59:27lodge. And so they come in, they receive

59:31approval from the planning commission

59:33and they increase the amount of rooms

59:35that they have.

59:36>> Okay. Thanks, director. Building chief's

59:39building, if you could just kind of

59:41speak a little bit broadly about some of

59:43those additional layers and requirements

59:46for for a lodge sort of situation and

59:48what what you kind of see through the

59:49building code side.

59:51>> Sure. Um I guess a nuance here is that

59:54planning uh department uses the zoning

59:56code chapter 25 which has different

59:58definitions than the building division

1:00:00which uses chapter 5 and its

1:00:03subchapters. Um so our definitions in

1:00:06the building code do not include B&B.

1:00:08They do include lodging housing. So, as

1:00:11it stands, over five bedrooms, a lodging

1:00:14house would be the thing that we're

1:00:17calling

1:00:19the not the use, the structure.

1:00:23>> Like this is a commercial building. You

1:00:25would have a lodging house.

1:00:27>> Um, a lodging house has certain code

1:00:29requirements. Uh, because effectively

1:00:31you're going you're increasing the risk,

1:00:34not you. the owner is increasing the

1:00:37risk to the people renting the rooms uh

1:00:39who may not be familiar with the

1:00:41location like you or I might be at our

1:00:43own homes. So that's why there's a

1:00:45heightened risk uh a lodging house. Um

1:00:49I'm sorry I do have a brief and I can

1:00:50share more detail with this with you

1:00:52later.

1:00:52>> Yeah, thank you.

1:00:53>> Um but that's basically there's more

1:00:54requirements in including what could be

1:00:57a requirement for uh fire sprinklers.

1:00:59>> Right. Right. Okay.

1:01:00>> Egress, everything else.

1:01:02>> Absolutely. Okay. Absolutely. Thank you,

1:01:03Chief. Appreciate that.

1:01:05Um going director Daryl kind of going to

1:01:09the kind of the a side of things um and

1:01:12the kind of the multi-dwelling

1:01:14properties that's kind of coming up here

1:01:15and there. How does how do we read it as

1:01:19you know there's right now it's one TVR

1:01:21per building site limitation. Is that

1:01:23correct?

1:01:24It's it's one TVR, but uh unless if if

1:01:29you recall that when the accessory

1:01:31dwelling unit um code came out, that

1:01:36section specifically said if there was

1:01:38an ADU on the property, it would only

1:01:40allow one TVR in a building, one

1:01:43building. But you could have a TVR with

1:01:48say, you know, um you have two

1:01:51structures, you could have two bedrooms

1:01:53in one and three in the other. Uh one of

1:01:56the testifiers

1:01:57um had said that they wished that it was

1:02:02uh allowed on the TMK and and that's the

1:02:06definition. It's allowed on the building

1:02:08site. It's not in that particular

1:02:10dwelling. You could live in this

1:02:12dwelling and operate in that dwelling

1:02:15depending on the circumstances.

1:02:17>> Do do we do you have a broad sense of

1:02:20you know how many of our either hosted

1:02:22egg or farm stays could be impacted by

1:02:25sort of changes?

1:02:28The the hope is that we have um in in

1:02:33hearing from the Hunden study from

1:02:35hearing um from our rental scape uh uh

1:02:40platform that has been hired to help us.

1:02:43Uh we see quite a number of unlicensed

1:02:47activity that's happening around the

1:02:49island. And so this would our goal is to

1:02:53try to bring them to a place that they

1:02:56are operating legally. Um, I've heard

1:03:00many times in the testimony, we've

1:03:02operated legally all this time that that

1:03:07may not be they may be legal in the

1:03:10sense that they paid their taxes or but

1:03:13there's a good chance that they probably

1:03:16needed a a land use permit, whether it's

1:03:19a use permit or a special permit to be

1:03:21able to operate.

1:03:22>> Okay.

1:03:24Uh shifting to kind of the the fines

1:03:28because in the testimony, you know,

1:03:30people are kind of confusing fees and

1:03:31fines. There's no fee schedule in this

1:03:33bill. Correct.

1:03:37>> There the fee schedule is within chapter

1:03:40six,

1:03:41>> right? So, but not in 147. There's no

1:03:44fee schedule in 147.

1:03:46>> Correct.

1:03:46>> There's a fine schedule though.

1:03:48>> Correct.

1:03:48>> Okay. In the fine schedule, we have

1:03:52penalty levels 55, 100, 75, 10,000. What

1:03:56What is the basis for some of those

1:03:58penalty fines?

1:04:00>> It was taken in relationship to the

1:04:02other counties and how they operate. We

1:04:05basically originally

1:04:08uh through Bill 108 um tried to um

1:04:12propose uh higher fines that was shot

1:04:16down. So basically we relied on our

1:04:19typical fines which is $100 or um yeah

1:04:23it's very minimal. And so um we looked

1:04:27at the other counties through bill 121

1:04:30and these were the same numbers that we

1:04:32came up through uh that process.

1:04:35the the one concern I have about in the

1:04:37the fine the fine section area and the

1:04:41enforcement the prima fascia

1:04:44there really isn't a place for rebuttal

1:04:48or opportunity for individuals to kind

1:04:51of contest the situation. So I think

1:04:53that's missing in that in that piece

1:04:55there. If I'm not if I'm not reading it

1:04:56correctly there please let me know. But

1:04:58in terms of um that ultimate just

1:05:01basically putting that that burden

1:05:03solely on the the homeowner when we

1:05:06haven't really done our due diligence

1:05:07about using the registration process and

1:05:10using planning department to actually

1:05:11vet that that that violation did occur

1:05:13and happen. So I think there might be

1:05:15something missing in there in terms of

1:05:16just dumping it all on the homeowner

1:05:19that they're at fault. They'll always be

1:05:21at fault and we're not really going to

1:05:23you know kind of yeah vet that what

1:05:25happened there or anything like that. So

1:05:26it might be something missing in that in

1:05:27that burden of proof um side of things.

1:05:30>> Council member, so

1:05:32>> whenever the planning director issues um

1:05:35a decision whether it's a uh

1:05:38determination,

1:05:39>> we're going to go through the board of

1:05:40appeals to you though.

1:05:41>> Correct.

1:05:41>> Okay.

1:05:41>> So they would be able if a dis if a

1:05:44notice of violation was issued, it would

1:05:47provide all the information they need to

1:05:50appeal that particular decision.

1:05:52>> And maybe that just needs to be clear in

1:05:53here. I'm not sure. or maybe that's

1:05:55unnecessary. Yeah. Okay, that's fair.

1:05:58Okay, I'll I'll leave it there for now,

1:06:00chair. Thank you.

1:06:02>> Thank you.

1:06:04Anyone else

1:06:06on this main motion before we dive into

1:06:09amendments on 147?

1:06:14>> Are we diving?

1:06:16>> Deep breath. Let's dive. Oh, council

1:06:19member Viegas.

1:06:20>> Yeah. Um, just a quick question. Uh, you

1:06:24know, I have deep respect for John

1:06:27Pelier and uh Nancy Pacio and our um

1:06:33action committee um in Kona and

1:06:38they had a number of amendments that

1:06:42they've talked about continuously and I

1:06:44will humbly admit all the acronyms and

1:06:47the perpetual complexities with all of

1:06:50these it makes me miss when it was

1:06:53hosted and unhosted. Um, I also like

1:06:57actually Council Member Hustus' concept

1:07:00of BNB still existing, but going under

1:07:04the hosted part because I've stayed in

1:07:07B&Bs and getting a breakfast is very

1:07:10different um, and interacting than being

1:07:12in a hosted property. They are a

1:07:15different experience. Um, and I have

1:07:18some concerns about eliminating

1:07:22that

1:07:24uh as an option. But sorry, going back

1:07:28to my question for you, um, Council

1:07:30Member Kimble, is

1:07:33as we dig as we dig into the amendments

1:07:38here, have you addressed the

1:07:41recommendations from the action

1:07:44committee when it comes to uh, multi-

1:07:47family residential and I believe it was

1:07:49commercial.

1:07:51>> Yeah, those will be coming as additional

1:07:53amendments. I pulled them out separately

1:07:55so that because they they do represent a

1:07:57policy change and so I felt like they

1:08:00should be deliberated deliberated

1:08:02separately but they are here as part of

1:08:04our

1:08:04>> Okay, great. I wanted to check on that.

1:08:06Um yeah, thanks for your guidance going

1:08:09through making as we said a lot eight

1:08:12years ago clear as mud.

1:08:15So with that I yield at this time.

1:08:18>> Thank you council member. Um vice chair.

1:08:21>> Thank you madam chair. Question to

1:08:23director. So you mentioned earlier that

1:08:25there were previous bills then it went

1:08:28to like draft five or six and then

1:08:31listening to all the testimony and then

1:08:34it kind of stopped. Right now this comes

1:08:37back and we still have you know this

1:08:38testimony. So

1:08:42why I mean if you folks listen to all

1:08:44the testimonies in the past when this

1:08:48comes out now it should be kind of uh

1:08:51understandable that everybody's on the

1:08:53same page but it seems it's not. So if

1:08:57you can help explain I guess to the

1:08:59public like what's going on or what

1:09:03happened or

1:09:06because I'm getting confused of

1:09:08>> Yeah. As as mentioned uh the path that

1:09:11we were going down before was to um

1:09:15simply call uh hosted hosted unhosted

1:09:19unhosted

1:09:20>> um or STVRs.

1:09:22>> Um

1:09:24BNBs were going to be eliminated uh

1:09:27because it, you know, it just seemed the

1:09:30hostage met that criteria of a B&B.

1:09:34Whether you wanted to serve breakfast or

1:09:36not, it was up to you. you you still

1:09:38could as a hosted rental and we tried to

1:09:42make that clear but uh people just were

1:09:45very attached to the term bed and

1:09:48breakfast. And so that was just one

1:09:51thing. There were other things you know

1:09:53that um have been adjusted from that

1:09:56time to this bill. Um and again council

1:10:00member Kimell is the one that did a

1:10:02majority of the work. we assisted uh but

1:10:05I would say that her and council member

1:10:08Kirkowitz did a tremendous amount of

1:10:10work on doing bill 121, 122 and 123. Um

1:10:16there seems to be a lot less opposition

1:10:19this time than there was back then. Uh

1:10:23that that I can

1:10:25>> but then there is still some concerns

1:10:27that I think it could be tweaked to 147.

1:10:31>> This is draft one. And I'm

1:10:32>> I know, but I don't want to be going

1:10:34through five drops again. You know what

1:10:35I mean? It's like, let's get this thing

1:10:38>> right.

1:10:39>> Yeah. [laughter]

1:10:42>> I don't have that much time to live, you

1:10:44know? [laughter]

1:10:47>> But you know what I mean? It's like

1:10:49completely agree.

1:10:50>> Yes.

1:10:52I you know the one thing that is hard is

1:10:56um people have been doing this for a

1:10:59long time and we operate mainly on

1:11:03complaints. When people operate normally

1:11:07and they're not making a fuss, we don't

1:11:09get a complaint. So we don't know

1:11:11they're out there operating.

1:11:13>> Um and we don't want to be proactive

1:11:16where we're going out and trying to um

1:11:18find everything. But then don't you have

1:11:20this company that does all the research

1:11:23now on

1:11:24>> right?

1:11:25>> But the goal is not I mean again

1:11:30when it comes to enforcement if if the

1:11:33council feels like these are these fines

1:11:36are too high. Let's bring them down. Not

1:11:38a problem. Our goal isn't enforcement.

1:11:40Our goal is to help people

1:11:42>> wanting to you don't have enforcement

1:11:44personnel now

1:11:45>> on the east side. [laughter] We will.

1:11:48>> We're working on it.

1:11:49>> Um

1:11:51>> uh but what what our goal is is to help

1:11:55them get registered and get into the

1:11:57process. That's what our goal is to make

1:12:00sure they are legal.

1:12:02>> Okay. That's what we passed last year.

1:12:04>> Chapter six, correct? And that has

1:12:07launched.

1:12:07>> And so now, how has that been coming

1:12:10along?

1:12:11>> It just started today. So it's coming

1:12:14along. I've been here so I'm not can't

1:12:16answer how.

1:12:17>> So okay so somebody brought up about

1:12:19that so now that comes up the

1:12:21registration that's now required right

1:12:24and prior to that they could just come

1:12:26in voluntary

1:12:28>> to go and register right

1:12:30>> no they couldn't register they would

1:12:32have to come in and I mean they could

1:12:34for an STVR because we have a

1:12:36registration process

1:12:38>> but if you came in for a B&B you would

1:12:42need to go through a special permit. So

1:12:44before this launch, we got we got

1:12:47inundated with uh a whole bunch of

1:12:50applications trying to meet this when

1:12:53we're thinking it's easier to go this

1:12:56way than it is to go that way.

1:12:58>> But then I guess people not

1:13:01>> like totally paying attention to all

1:13:03this meetings that's happening in front

1:13:05of the council. Right.

1:13:06>> Right.

1:13:06>> And all these different drafts that was

1:13:08going on and they they conf they they

1:13:10get confused.

1:13:12>> Yeah. Yeah. And that's why I think at

1:13:13one of the meetings, Miss Kirkowitz

1:13:15mentioned about

1:13:18I guess having a certain like I guess

1:13:21reaching out to the public. You

1:13:23mentioned like a web

1:13:24>> we did

1:13:24>> how Yeah,

1:13:25>> we did a webinar.

1:13:26>> Yeah. Webinar. Yeah. Great. Yeah.

1:13:28>> And it was very successful. We got a lot

1:13:30of uh great questions, a lot of input,

1:13:34uh a lot of people responsive uh to the

1:13:37webinar. It's on it's on our website now

1:13:40so people can still access it. Um

1:13:43>> and then I think she also mentioned

1:13:44about how were you folks reaching out to

1:13:47all those out there

1:13:49>> right?

1:13:50>> How

1:13:50>> yeah how

1:13:51>> so we have it on our website.

1:13:53>> No I understand but

1:13:54>> not everyone might be watching this the

1:13:58newspapers might not be publishing

1:13:59everything. So how will they know? So um

1:14:03to take the next step, we've asked uh

1:14:06the administration if they could do a

1:14:08public uh media announcement as well as

1:14:12put it on social media so that it can

1:14:14get out more than it is just in the

1:14:17websites. Okay. And then the last thing

1:14:19I have, okay, is have you folks looked

1:14:21at at because as it was mentioned about

1:14:26I guess from what we have where if

1:14:30someone has a loan

1:14:32on the property right now, it could

1:14:35convert to I guess commercial or it

1:14:38could something could trigger

1:14:40their loan. Have you folks looked into

1:14:42that? And I see division chief kind of

1:14:47kind of like saying yeah right

1:14:49>> I I'm not familiar with that. Maybe

1:14:51council member Kimbo. So but then so my

1:14:54question and chief you want to

1:14:57>> I was just nodding that I understood

1:14:59what you were getting at. I did hear the

1:15:01testimony as well.

1:15:02>> Yeah. Okay.

1:15:02>> I don't I'm not an expert in that field.

1:15:04>> Yeah. Okay. I mean, but wouldn't the

1:15:06department be also looking at that like

1:15:10on the like I guess what would trigger

1:15:15the property owner in case this kinds of

1:15:18legislation would come into play? So,

1:15:21typically uh I mean BNBs have been

1:15:25around for I mean decades, right?

1:15:29>> This hasn't been an issue up to the now.

1:15:33We've never heard about it being an

1:15:35issue. Um, if it is an issue, then

1:15:38something's changed and that we're not

1:15:40aware of. Um, it could be that they're

1:15:43talking about taxes, but I'm not sure

1:15:46because taxes are definitely affected

1:15:49when you start doing rentals,

1:15:51>> right? And we had that when um,

1:15:54Administrator Mera mentioned to us about

1:15:57the taxes on the BMBB.

1:15:59>> Yeah.

1:15:59>> Right. they it's a homeowner. They get

1:16:02the exemptions or something, but they

1:16:04get the residential rates.

1:16:06>> Yeah.

1:16:06>> Because of the business. And that's why

1:16:08I think one testifier was also kind of

1:16:10making a complaint about why I guess

1:16:14certain businesses I guess were not

1:16:16being taxed like the others. But I think

1:16:18across the board, everybody's the same.

1:16:21>> I I again I couldn't answer. I just know

1:16:23that in our definition of a bed and

1:16:26breakfast, it's incidental and

1:16:28subordinate to the single family

1:16:31dwelling to the dwelling itself.

1:16:33>> Okay. But I think it would be good to

1:16:35kind of get all that idea of how much of

1:16:37an impact you would

1:16:40>> burden.

1:16:42I just real quickly is is that

1:16:46>> they're doing it now, right?

1:16:49So, if they're doing it now, if they're

1:16:53renting it out now and they just

1:16:56>> Huh.

1:16:57>> as a B&B

1:16:58>> as whatever they're doing. I don't know

1:17:00what how they're renting it, but it it

1:17:02sounds like they're not regulated and

1:17:05then they get regulated and something

1:17:07happens. It It should have happened

1:17:10because they're doing the same exact

1:17:12thing that they're doing when they come

1:17:13in and get this. And that's why you push

1:17:16for the registration part, right?

1:17:18>> Yeah. Yeah. Right. Okay. Okay. I'll give

1:17:22you

1:17:23>> You're welcome. Council member Canal

1:17:25Kleinfolder.

1:17:31>> In true Heather fashion,

1:17:35we have brought in a very complex bill

1:17:38that people have their concerns about.

1:17:40But again, now I have four amendments in

1:17:44front of me

1:17:46that play with each other.

1:17:50It's like I think what I'm going to ask

1:17:52is before you dive into

1:17:55amendments

1:17:58because the amendments are amending bill

1:18:01147.

1:18:04Maybe you walk us through all these

1:18:10because some play with each other and

1:18:11some overwrite each other and I can see

1:18:14there's a structure to that. But I'm I'm

1:18:15wanting to understand the structure of

1:18:19what you're about to walk in with the

1:18:20four amendments before we just say yes

1:18:23to one and then realize that the next

1:18:26one is coupled with it or not with it or

1:18:31undoing something that we just did.

1:18:34because it gets complex really fast and

1:18:36I know you know this inside and out but

1:18:38the public and maybe some of us don't

1:18:40you know and I'm going to claim I'm one

1:18:41of the people who's just trying to

1:18:42follow this but I want to make a good

1:18:44decision at the end of the day.

1:18:47>> Chair if I if I may.

1:18:48>> Yes. Go ahead.

1:18:49>> Um so the first amendment in the set of

1:18:51amendments is largely clerical in

1:18:54nature. It's adopting some of the

1:18:55amendments proposed by the planning

1:18:58department as part of their background

1:19:00report. Um and so it's it's it is not in

1:19:04in most case it's it's not substantative

1:19:07in nature. It doesn't change policy.

1:19:10It's really clarification, editorial,

1:19:12and adding some grace periods. The

1:19:15following three amendments all deal with

1:19:19um permitted areas and where STBRs are

1:19:23permitted and they do overlay on each

1:19:26other, but they're independent from the

1:19:28standpoint of they change things in

1:19:30different zoning districts or during

1:19:32different durations because they each

1:19:34represent a policy shift that is

1:19:37different than something we're doing

1:19:38already. I wanted to um separate them as

1:19:41independent things. So, you have one

1:19:43that deals with midterm rentals, which

1:19:45is the 31 to 179, one that deals with

1:19:48neighborhood commercial or CN, and then

1:19:51you have one that deals with RM. And

1:19:53those are all um they do all overlap

1:19:56because they address the same section,

1:19:58but um that'll be solved. They're

1:20:01written as if none of them overlap, but

1:20:04they will overlap when they when LRB

1:20:06gets a hold of them after we decide

1:20:08which we're going to approve and which

1:20:09ones we're not.

1:20:14Clear as mud, council member can cler.

1:20:17>> Uh, it is. It isn't. It It is and it

1:20:19isn't. I see some like

1:20:22if I just took one of them. One of them

1:20:24is discussing

1:20:27two is it one two

1:20:31two address section C section 7C

1:20:38but one touches on

1:20:41the pre-1976 rule.

1:20:47Yeah, there's there's

1:20:53>> Okay, on the main motion, I I just want

1:20:56to say

1:20:59>> on the main motion, here's my concerns.

1:21:01Okay, nice. I'm thinking about this as a

1:21:03whole.

1:21:05I think about some of the areas in Puno

1:21:07where we're seeing increased building,

1:21:10mainly having multiple homes on one lot.

1:21:14Pre76

1:21:19And I'm thinking about density. ADUs

1:21:23and pre76 buildouts allow for density

1:21:27that I don't think the county is ready

1:21:28for. That's it. Period. I mean, that

1:21:31just summarizes my thoughts for last

1:21:33month.

1:21:35When we start to allow accessory

1:21:36dwelling units to a maximum of four in

1:21:41urban areas and we start to allow almost

1:21:45all the Puna and even parts of Caou and

1:21:48huge subdivisions to have up to two

1:21:50units some which can be vacation

1:21:52rentals.

1:21:54I don't think the county is ready for

1:21:56that density build out when it comes to

1:21:59roads, water and sewer.

1:22:01even help telkcom. I just

1:22:05so I I understand we're walking through

1:22:07this and it's a housekeeping bill, but

1:22:10the result of this is an amazing amount

1:22:13of density increase that some folks are

1:22:16going to love and some folks are going

1:22:18to hate. I see both.

1:22:20I see the perks,

1:22:23but I also see the cons. and just

1:22:25sitting in the seat for eight years. I

1:22:26see people complain about our wastewater

1:22:28system failing, the state of our roads

1:22:31in and out of our different areas. When

1:22:33we allow density like this

1:22:36and we're not putting money into

1:22:38infrastructure,

1:22:41then we're creating a problem. And

1:22:43that's just that's the long and short of

1:22:45it for me. So

1:22:48interested to see where we go with the

1:22:49bill today. But I mean that's I'm not

1:22:51even looking for a comment. If you want

1:22:52to say comments, you can. That's best my

1:22:54thoughts

1:22:56>> if I could just briefly. So what we're

1:22:59trying to do is

1:23:02each one of these that are existing and

1:23:05operating uh need a permit, right? We're

1:23:10trying to make it so that they can come

1:23:12in without needing a permit. Some

1:23:15there's no way we can get out of it. um

1:23:18they they're just in an area we can't

1:23:20get past state law on that particular uh

1:23:23aspect of it.

1:23:25>> That's the other that's big.

1:23:27>> That's that's that's not a small

1:23:29statement. That's a big statement if you

1:23:30understand how many of those there are.

1:23:33>> It is. But they would still be coming

1:23:36all of them would be coming in for

1:23:38permits. That's that's quite big as

1:23:42well. So, we're trying to make it so

1:23:44they can come in, register through this

1:23:47process, not have to go through a land

1:23:50use permit that they've got to go

1:23:52through the uh planning commissions to

1:23:54get an approval. That's our main goal.

1:23:57Um, so that's the main thrust of this

1:24:01bill. It's to work in coordination with

1:24:04Chapter 6, which is already requiring

1:24:07people to come in and register. If they

1:24:10come in now and register without us

1:24:13amending this, every single one of them

1:24:16are going to trigger trigger some sort

1:24:19of land use permit.

1:24:22So that's the that's going to be a huge

1:24:25burden on them as well as the planning

1:24:28department.

1:24:33>> Thank you. Thank you, chair.

1:24:37>> Thank you. Um, I'm looking at the hour.

1:24:40It's 4:15.

1:24:42We've been here since 9:00 a.m.

1:24:45discussing a variety of issues and it

1:24:48takes a lot of brain power and energy to

1:24:50be engaged and have robust discussion.

1:24:53Um, this is a very complicated issue.

1:24:57There are a lot of impacts on community

1:25:01with whatever kinds of decisions are

1:25:03made on this bill. I would like to post

1:25:06I would like to propose postponing. Um I

1:25:09know it's not a popular idea and that

1:25:11you really wanted to just kind of dive

1:25:14through all of this today, council

1:25:15member. Um but I I would like to propose

1:25:19fresh minds tackling this at the next

1:25:21committee meeting, preferably in the

1:25:23morning. Um [laughter]

1:25:27not in the afternoon. Um, if if I'm just

1:25:31taking a look at I'm trying to read the

1:25:32room right now and I think folks would

1:25:34just like a little bit of a brain break

1:25:36to digest all of the information that's

1:25:39been shared today to hear how the

1:25:41registration process is going to dive

1:25:43into each of these amendments, engage in

1:25:45their constituents a bit further. And so

1:25:47I'm going to suggest postponing this

1:25:50measure so that we can have um robust

1:25:53discussion at our next committee

1:25:55hearing.

1:26:02Um, I I would prefer to have move

1:26:04forward, but I I appreciate the the

1:26:07recommendation and so we'll go with what

1:26:09the body obviously I don't have a

1:26:10choice. We'll go with what the body

1:26:11decides. We'll happy to make the motion

1:26:13to postpone. I did want to address a

1:26:15couple of comments. Um, first with

1:26:18respect to um your comments, council

1:26:20member Connie Clamper, there's nothing

1:26:22about this bill that increases density

1:26:24in any way. Um, bill 123 made it clear

1:26:28that if you had an ADU, you could only

1:26:31do one SDVR on the property. Regardless

1:26:34of whether it's in the ADU or in the

1:26:36main house, you can only do one. So,

1:26:39that doesn't that that doesn't come into

1:26:41play here. The other thing with respect

1:26:43to pre and post 1976,

1:26:47in pre-1976, the first dwelling is a

1:26:50single family dwelling. it can be used

1:26:52in a in whole as a short-term vacation

1:26:54rental, a hosted rental, sorry. Um, the

1:26:58second dwelling on a fir a post 1976 lot

1:27:01is a now a first farm dwelling. And so

1:27:03it has all the restrictions for HRS

1:27:06205-4.5

1:27:08in terms of what a farm dwelling does.

1:27:10And I I'll I'll hand you this sheet of

1:27:12paper that shows the limitations on

1:27:14that. Um, so that that's one thing that

1:27:17I wanted to make a comment on. The

1:27:18second thing that I wanted to to just

1:27:20comment on is the terminology like we

1:27:24have yes in in chapter 6 TVR is the main

1:27:28umbrella. You have hosted and you have

1:27:30unhosted. Um in chapter 25 we have STVR

1:27:35embedded breakfast. That's the

1:27:36terminology that's just been in there

1:27:38forever. I really don't care what we

1:27:40call these things. I really don't. But

1:27:42what I what I want you to just think

1:27:43about is it's just they're just terms.

1:27:45They're just terms of art to describe

1:27:47these things. And with respect to the

1:27:50bed and breakfast, like I don't think

1:27:53there's anybody that goes to Airbnb and

1:27:54says, "Oh, I wonder if they got their

1:27:56permit for the bed and breakfast." I'm I

1:27:58prefer to go to place that has that

1:28:00permit. That doesn't happen, right? This

1:28:02is just how we define it within the

1:28:04code. So, if you guys want me to change

1:28:05the names, I'll change the names, but I

1:28:07wouldn't make a decision for against

1:28:09this bill on that alone. Um, you know,

1:28:13finally, I will say that this has been

1:28:15it's a heavy lift. It we've been working

1:28:18on it for years. Um, we have seen a

1:28:21considerable amount of folks reaching

1:28:25out, watching the videos, asking

1:28:27questions that we've been able to

1:28:29respond to. And so, if you have

1:28:30constituents that still have concerns,

1:28:32hawaiiount.com

1:28:34is the website. We have the bill. We

1:28:36have all the amendments. We have a

1:28:38description of what it does. We have the

1:28:40webinar. We have frequently asked

1:28:42questions. There is a ton of information

1:28:44out there. You don't need to answer it

1:28:46yourselves. Just direct people to that

1:28:47website. It's all there and easily

1:28:49accessible. And I will say that we did

1:28:52we have been partnering with Airbnb,

1:28:53Expedia, and some of the the our

1:28:56partners to make sure that they let all

1:28:58their hosts know that this is happening

1:29:00and when those webinars are. And so

1:29:02there has been a significant amount of

1:29:05communication to make sure everybody

1:29:06aware is is aware what's going on. Um,

1:29:09with that in mind, I guess I'll put the

1:29:11motion forward to postpone to I'm sorry,

1:29:13September 15th. 15. Yeah. Um, September

1:29:1615th. Thank you. Motion by Council

1:29:19Member Kimell, second by Council Member

1:29:21Enava to postpone bill 147 to the

1:29:23September 15th, 2026 committee hearings.

1:29:27Any discussion? Seeing none, all those

1:29:30in favor, please say I.

1:29:31>> Any opposed? Motion carries with nine

1:29:34eyes. Bill 147 is postponed. We are at

1:29:37the end of our agenda. Meeting is

1:29:39adjourned at 4:19 p.m. Thank you.

1:29:44>> We will begin the policy um the

1:29:47legislative approvals and acquisitions

1:29:49committee shortly.

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