I strongly support this moratorium on new visitor accommodations for the entire of Maui County. It is clear that the infrastructure on the island has not kept pace with the expansion that has already occurred. Quality of life for the residents has slowly deteriorated. The rush in visitors after the pause in tourism last year has certainly brought it to light. If the council truly wants to address the needs of the citizens, and believes in "Quality over quantity" for visitors, this pause in further accommodation development in all sectors is needed NOW. Maryetta Sciuto
I strongly support this pause and ask that you also extend it to the rest of Maui County. Tourism on Maui has long passed the point where it is serving residents, and is definitely negatively affecting our quality of life. Yet again, visitor arrivals have been breaking records, while local residents feel voiceless to their onslaught and lack of awareness. Overtourism is a problem that is continuing to grow, and the first step in solving this problem is to stop making it worse. Please do the right thing and extend this building moratorium island wide. Thank you!
With a daily visitor census of nearly 70,000 and residency population of under 150,00, Maui has dramatically exceeded the desired visitor-resident ration, which impacts quality of life on many fronts. Maui has few tools to control excessive tourism. The proposed moratorium on building permits for visitor accommodations is one of those tools. I support this moratorium.
I am writing in support of the moratorium and would like to see it extended to cover all of Maui County, not just South and West. I am 20 years old, born and raised in Wailuku, and have worked in the hospitality industry on Maui for many years. As I am heading off to the mainland for my senior year of college, I find myself wondering if I will ever return to Maui. Will ever afford to own a home here? By the time I have children, will they ever be able to experience Maui as I did growing up? Over development and a rampant, largely uncontrolled tourism industry has devastated this island and the lives and futures of residents. Maui is going to grow and change, that is inevitable, but a future for Maui is possible that priorities residents over outside corporations seeking profit. Welcoming more tourists to our islands and providing additional accommodations that slowly creep into local residential areas is unsustainable.
I strongly support a moratorium on new tourist accommodations on Maui. There are already enough hotels, condos and vacation rentals to accommodate the maximum number of visitors that the current infrastructure that our island can handle. Building more would overwhelm our island and negatively affect the quality of life for our residents.
It has been painfully obvious that there are too many tourists throughout the island since we have been open for travel. The problem is getting worse with every COVID restriction that is lifted. Every week it looks like a swarm of locusts has descended into the grocery stores stripping the shelves. Traffic is a nightmare. Trying to park near the beach is difficult and the road to Hana near impossible to drive for residents who just want to get home. It’s a fact of life that we need tourists to maintain our economy in its present state. What we DON’T need is more visitors than we already have. More and more accommodations translate to more and more tourists the island doesn’t need or want. It is the perfect storm as residents more and more are denied every day privileges just because of the sheer volume of people coming for vacation. The resulting strife from building more accommodations to facilitate more tourists will end in greater and greater polarization of residents and the island visitors.
Urgently needed to put moratorium on further development. Quality of life for Maui residents is seriously deteriorating due to over tourism. Only to put more profit from n the hands of large corporations!
I fully support the moratorium. The last thing we need is more hotels and visitor accommodations. We need to focus on quality tourism, not quantity. I work in the tourism industry and am very grateful for our visitors, but the county has prioritized tourists over residents for far too long. Let's also modify the moratorium to include all of Maui County, not just South and West Maui to avoid the same old patterns of tourism-based development shifting to other areas.
Mahalo,
Madelynne Nehl of Makawao, HI
I support the moratorium. I agree with Maui Hotel & Lodging Association that pausing development will not stop visitors from visiting. However, building additional hotels is not how we solve the issue of illegal short-term rentals. People seek out short-term rentals because they are cheap. How would more building more hotels and straining our already limited resources solve this problem? Claiming job loss as a reason for opposing the moratorium too is short sighted. If we build and build like Oahu is that something to be proud of? How does that improve quality of life for Hawaiians and its residents? Focus on building long-term and affordable housing. Research what happens to places when they are overrun with tourism. It is a sad state that many residents feel we are at this point and companies are still pushing for travel dollars. Change can only come when people are willing to step up and make the right decision for the future of Hawaii.
~ Abbey McPike
I SUPPORT the proposed "MORATORIUM ON BUILDING PERMITS FOR VISITOR ACCOMMODATIONS (IT-54)” Please take care of our local residents. There are plenty of Hotels and accommodations for the Tourists, PLEASE STOP giving Building Permits for Visitor accommodations.
Patricia Gardner
PO Box 624
HAIKU, HI 96708
(808)572-7950
love@lightweavingjoy.com
Too much is too much! We had the shut down during the pandemic which reminded us of what life was like before the tourist floodgates were open. Responsible growth should be the answer. We need more roads not more tourists. Our quality of life is suffering…
I am not a resident of Hawaii, but I have been a visitor to Hawaii and Maui for the past 40 years. Please please do not allow over development of the island. Maui is for Hawaii, and Hawaiians
Council of the County of Maui
The Committee on Infrastructure and Transportation
RE: MORATORIUM ON BUILDING PERMITS FOR VISITOR ACCOMMODATIONS (IT-54)
Hearing date and time: Monday, May 17, 2021 at 9:00 a.m.
Dear Chair Sugimura and members of the Committee,
Mahalo for the opportunity to submit testimony on behalf of the Maui Hotel & Lodging Association.
The Maui Hotel & Lodging Association (MHLA) is the legislative arm of the visitor industry. Our membership includes 195 property and allied business members in Maui County – all of whom have an interest in the visitor industry. Collectively, MHLA’s membership employs over 25,000 residents and represents over 19,000 rooms. The visitor industry is the economic driver for Maui County. We are the largest employer of residents on the Island - directly employing approximately 40% of all residents (indirectly, the percentage increases to 75%).
It should be noted that the findings of this proposed measure cite tourism statistics from 2019 that do not take into account the pandemic. The industry will continue to face challenges to recover after a year-long depression in visitor arrival numbers.
Restricting construction, expansion, or renovation would only harm other sectors of our economy like construction and other trades that have survived the pandemic. Building permits of all types ultimately mean more projects and, by extension, more jobs for Maui residents. It would seem self-destructive to enact such limiting constraints on both the travel industry and the trades in Maui which is historically the county most reliant upon tourism for its economic well-being. This fact was made especially clear during and throughout a pandemic that has left Hawai‘i with the highest unemployment rate in the nation.
The moratorium as proposed will stifle our industry’s ability to continue efforts towards the development of more sustainable infrastructure. Most importantly to note, pausing visitor accommodation development will not stop visitors from traveling. It is our position that visitors should be encouraged to stay in Maui's purposely constructed and zoned resort areas. If development is paused in these resort areas, the already extensive proliferation of illegal short-term rentals in our residential communities will likely increase to fill the void. This must not be allowed to continue.
For all these reasons, MHLA strongly opposes this bill and its proposed measures.
On behalf of the MHLA Board of Directors, thank you for the opportunity to offer this testimony.
I support the visitor accommodation moratorium. In the past year Marriott has built two new hotels in Wailea, Hyatt is building their new timeshare on the old Maui Lu site. Surely we do not need additional hotel rooms at the Maui Coast Hotel or elsewhere on Maui, especially when politicians insist they want 'quality visitors' over 'quantity visitors'.
It is simply unfathomable to understand how Maui County continues to push for “sustainable and managed tourism” while approving additional building of hotels and other visitor accommodations!!
I wholly support a moratorium on building and / or permitting ANY new hotels, bed & breakfast, STV rentals for a minimum of one year in ALL OF MAUI COUNTY.
We had a whole year to figure out how to manage tourism- what happened???
FINALLY! this tourism driven county is finally able to try to exert itʻs power over the all important dollar that has been the excuse for all development in the past 40 years. it wonʻt be easy, because the deep pocket developers will fight you tooth and nail - threatening litigation etc. You, my council members have the power...do not be afraid to use it! PLEASE stand up for me and so many others. IT IS TIME! Kū Kiaʻi ʻĀina - Kū Kiaʻi Maui - Mahalo - mary drayer - 557 imi dr, wailuku 808-244-5646
The pandemic has opened our eyes a bit to the future of our islands, Maui County. We do not need more buildings and we do not need more tourism. We need to be focused on sustaining the integrity of this beloved land and do everything in our power to cultivate the natural ecosystem to sustain a better livelihood for the people of Hawaii. The Hawaiian culture has been abused and commercialized for economic gain. The atmosphere of the Islands has changed so dramatically that the main intent of the government and land owners is simply to capitalize on the Islands beauty. Looks don't last forever! Time to get back to basics of humanity. We do not need anything more for the Islands except natural healing!
It's clear the visitor industry is growing too large, and our island cannot accommodate such a large volume of tourists without sacrificing our environment and quality of life for residents. Please support a balanced and sustainable visitor volume and pass this legislation.
I’n a native hawaiian blue collar worker travelling around the island servicing the community and I see my community’s infrastructure burdened by the overcrowding tourist industry. Pali traffic has returned. South Kihei road is backed up constantly. Even a theme park has a capacity, yet we let our precious places be trampled with the promise of economy. Enough already. Enough selling our people short in favor of the foreign dollar.
I strongly support this moratorium on new visitor accommodations for the entire of Maui County. It is clear that the infrastructure on the island has not kept pace with the expansion that has already occurred. Quality of life for the residents has slowly deteriorated. The rush in visitors after the pause in tourism last year has certainly brought it to light. If the council truly wants to address the needs of the citizens, and believes in "Quality over quantity" for visitors, this pause in further accommodation development in all sectors is needed NOW. Maryetta Sciuto
I strongly support this pause and ask that you also extend it to the rest of Maui County. Tourism on Maui has long passed the point where it is serving residents, and is definitely negatively affecting our quality of life. Yet again, visitor arrivals have been breaking records, while local residents feel voiceless to their onslaught and lack of awareness. Overtourism is a problem that is continuing to grow, and the first step in solving this problem is to stop making it worse. Please do the right thing and extend this building moratorium island wide. Thank you!
With a daily visitor census of nearly 70,000 and residency population of under 150,00, Maui has dramatically exceeded the desired visitor-resident ration, which impacts quality of life on many fronts. Maui has few tools to control excessive tourism. The proposed moratorium on building permits for visitor accommodations is one of those tools. I support this moratorium.
I am writing in support of the moratorium and would like to see it extended to cover all of Maui County, not just South and West. I am 20 years old, born and raised in Wailuku, and have worked in the hospitality industry on Maui for many years. As I am heading off to the mainland for my senior year of college, I find myself wondering if I will ever return to Maui. Will ever afford to own a home here? By the time I have children, will they ever be able to experience Maui as I did growing up? Over development and a rampant, largely uncontrolled tourism industry has devastated this island and the lives and futures of residents. Maui is going to grow and change, that is inevitable, but a future for Maui is possible that priorities residents over outside corporations seeking profit. Welcoming more tourists to our islands and providing additional accommodations that slowly creep into local residential areas is unsustainable.
Lily Katz, Wailuku
I strongly support a moratorium on new tourist accommodations on Maui. There are already enough hotels, condos and vacation rentals to accommodate the maximum number of visitors that the current infrastructure that our island can handle. Building more would overwhelm our island and negatively affect the quality of life for our residents.
It has been painfully obvious that there are too many tourists throughout the island since we have been open for travel. The problem is getting worse with every COVID restriction that is lifted. Every week it looks like a swarm of locusts has descended into the grocery stores stripping the shelves. Traffic is a nightmare. Trying to park near the beach is difficult and the road to Hana near impossible to drive for residents who just want to get home. It’s a fact of life that we need tourists to maintain our economy in its present state. What we DON’T need is more visitors than we already have. More and more accommodations translate to more and more tourists the island doesn’t need or want. It is the perfect storm as residents more and more are denied every day privileges just because of the sheer volume of people coming for vacation. The resulting strife from building more accommodations to facilitate more tourists will end in greater and greater polarization of residents and the island visitors.
Urgently needed to put moratorium on further development. Quality of life for Maui residents is seriously deteriorating due to over tourism. Only to put more profit from n the hands of large corporations!
I fully support the moratorium. The last thing we need is more hotels and visitor accommodations. We need to focus on quality tourism, not quantity. I work in the tourism industry and am very grateful for our visitors, but the county has prioritized tourists over residents for far too long. Let's also modify the moratorium to include all of Maui County, not just South and West Maui to avoid the same old patterns of tourism-based development shifting to other areas.
Mahalo,
Madelynne Nehl of Makawao, HI
I support the moratorium. I agree with Maui Hotel & Lodging Association that pausing development will not stop visitors from visiting. However, building additional hotels is not how we solve the issue of illegal short-term rentals. People seek out short-term rentals because they are cheap. How would more building more hotels and straining our already limited resources solve this problem? Claiming job loss as a reason for opposing the moratorium too is short sighted. If we build and build like Oahu is that something to be proud of? How does that improve quality of life for Hawaiians and its residents? Focus on building long-term and affordable housing. Research what happens to places when they are overrun with tourism. It is a sad state that many residents feel we are at this point and companies are still pushing for travel dollars. Change can only come when people are willing to step up and make the right decision for the future of Hawaii.
~ Abbey McPike
I SUPPORT the proposed "MORATORIUM ON BUILDING PERMITS FOR VISITOR ACCOMMODATIONS (IT-54)” Please take care of our local residents. There are plenty of Hotels and accommodations for the Tourists, PLEASE STOP giving Building Permits for Visitor accommodations.
Patricia Gardner
PO Box 624
HAIKU, HI 96708
(808)572-7950
love@lightweavingjoy.com
Too much is too much! We had the shut down during the pandemic which reminded us of what life was like before the tourist floodgates were open. Responsible growth should be the answer. We need more roads not more tourists. Our quality of life is suffering…
I am not a resident of Hawaii, but I have been a visitor to Hawaii and Maui for the past 40 years. Please please do not allow over development of the island. Maui is for Hawaii, and Hawaiians
Council of the County of Maui
The Committee on Infrastructure and Transportation
RE: MORATORIUM ON BUILDING PERMITS FOR VISITOR ACCOMMODATIONS (IT-54)
Hearing date and time: Monday, May 17, 2021 at 9:00 a.m.
Dear Chair Sugimura and members of the Committee,
Mahalo for the opportunity to submit testimony on behalf of the Maui Hotel & Lodging Association.
The Maui Hotel & Lodging Association (MHLA) is the legislative arm of the visitor industry. Our membership includes 195 property and allied business members in Maui County – all of whom have an interest in the visitor industry. Collectively, MHLA’s membership employs over 25,000 residents and represents over 19,000 rooms. The visitor industry is the economic driver for Maui County. We are the largest employer of residents on the Island - directly employing approximately 40% of all residents (indirectly, the percentage increases to 75%).
It should be noted that the findings of this proposed measure cite tourism statistics from 2019 that do not take into account the pandemic. The industry will continue to face challenges to recover after a year-long depression in visitor arrival numbers.
Restricting construction, expansion, or renovation would only harm other sectors of our economy like construction and other trades that have survived the pandemic. Building permits of all types ultimately mean more projects and, by extension, more jobs for Maui residents. It would seem self-destructive to enact such limiting constraints on both the travel industry and the trades in Maui which is historically the county most reliant upon tourism for its economic well-being. This fact was made especially clear during and throughout a pandemic that has left Hawai‘i with the highest unemployment rate in the nation.
The moratorium as proposed will stifle our industry’s ability to continue efforts towards the development of more sustainable infrastructure. Most importantly to note, pausing visitor accommodation development will not stop visitors from traveling. It is our position that visitors should be encouraged to stay in Maui's purposely constructed and zoned resort areas. If development is paused in these resort areas, the already extensive proliferation of illegal short-term rentals in our residential communities will likely increase to fill the void. This must not be allowed to continue.
For all these reasons, MHLA strongly opposes this bill and its proposed measures.
On behalf of the MHLA Board of Directors, thank you for the opportunity to offer this testimony.
I support the visitor accommodation moratorium. In the past year Marriott has built two new hotels in Wailea, Hyatt is building their new timeshare on the old Maui Lu site. Surely we do not need additional hotel rooms at the Maui Coast Hotel or elsewhere on Maui, especially when politicians insist they want 'quality visitors' over 'quantity visitors'.
Cara Birkholz
It is simply unfathomable to understand how Maui County continues to push for “sustainable and managed tourism” while approving additional building of hotels and other visitor accommodations!!
I wholly support a moratorium on building and / or permitting ANY new hotels, bed & breakfast, STV rentals for a minimum of one year in ALL OF MAUI COUNTY.
We had a whole year to figure out how to manage tourism- what happened???
FINALLY! this tourism driven county is finally able to try to exert itʻs power over the all important dollar that has been the excuse for all development in the past 40 years. it wonʻt be easy, because the deep pocket developers will fight you tooth and nail - threatening litigation etc. You, my council members have the power...do not be afraid to use it! PLEASE stand up for me and so many others. IT IS TIME! Kū Kiaʻi ʻĀina - Kū Kiaʻi Maui - Mahalo - mary drayer - 557 imi dr, wailuku 808-244-5646
The pandemic has opened our eyes a bit to the future of our islands, Maui County. We do not need more buildings and we do not need more tourism. We need to be focused on sustaining the integrity of this beloved land and do everything in our power to cultivate the natural ecosystem to sustain a better livelihood for the people of Hawaii. The Hawaiian culture has been abused and commercialized for economic gain. The atmosphere of the Islands has changed so dramatically that the main intent of the government and land owners is simply to capitalize on the Islands beauty. Looks don't last forever! Time to get back to basics of humanity. We do not need anything more for the Islands except natural healing!
It's clear the visitor industry is growing too large, and our island cannot accommodate such a large volume of tourists without sacrificing our environment and quality of life for residents. Please support a balanced and sustainable visitor volume and pass this legislation.
Support!
I’n a native hawaiian blue collar worker travelling around the island servicing the community and I see my community’s infrastructure burdened by the overcrowding tourist industry. Pali traffic has returned. South Kihei road is backed up constantly. Even a theme park has a capacity, yet we let our precious places be trampled with the promise of economy. Enough already. Enough selling our people short in favor of the foreign dollar.