Please extend the moratorium to the entire island of Maui. Otherwise, It feels like we are falling into the same rabbit hole we experienced before the pandemic.. i.e. overselling the island, Quantity of visitors over Quality, Residents impacted negatively by overcrowded roads and lack of goods and services.
I’ve asked ‘Ohana, friends, coworkers, neighbors, my keiki’s teachers and coaches, folks around town, at the beach/parks, and every single person supports the proposed moratorium. I’ve even spoken to several VISITORS who support a moratorium on building more hotels! I’m not saying people think it’s perfect- The most common complaint about the moratorium is that it’s too short. The second most common complaint is that it’s limited to South Maui and West Maui. For many years the community has been asking for action to stop overtourism; this measure will be a small step in the right direction. Please pass a moratorium and also find additional ways to reduce capacity for transient accommodations.
Aloha kakou, im a born and raised napili resident in support of the moratorium on visitor accommodations development. Jus look at what the tourism industry/development has really done in the past 2 decades. It's not hard to see
I’m a 17 year Maui resident and I reside in Makawao.
Just a quick observation: it's interesting to me that I have not seen ONE person testify as a private citizen who is in opposition to this moratorium. The only folks who have showed up in opposition so far are tourism industry accommodation lobbyists and hotel general managers testifying on behalf of their corporations. Regardless of what the corporate tourism sector says, we can clearly see that there is overwhelming support for the moratorium from our broader community. The people of Maui are fed up. Including me. While I used to enjoy regular time at the beach with my family on a weekend, now I worry that I won't be able to find a bit of sandy shoreline that isn't crowded with tourists and with overflowing parking. I keep asking myself lately, "what do we have left that is just for us, the citizens of Maui who are paying taxes and working hard to afford the higher and higher costs of living?" We need to have space outdoors to breathe and rest for our mental health–especially after the year we've had–and those spaces are becoming few and far between. Together, we must find a way to ensure that we can breathe and make room for wise decisions without being strong-armed by corporate hotel representatives backed by boatloads of money.
The lobbyists are purporting that this temporary moratorium will hurt industry, or is anti-hotel, but that is just not true. This moratorium does not shut down existing tourism related businesses, many of whom are currently seeing record numbers while paying their dedicated staff near-poverty wages. Existing workers will get to keep their jobs. Construction workers will take on other work. It’s the current multinational corporate hotel owners (who want to add capacity and enlarge their already enormous properties) and also the new hotel developers that will take the hit. The moratorium won’t affect local residents currently working in the industry. You’ll hear from the hotels about their sustainability initiatives and their “aloha pledges” that sounds great on paper, but the truth is that our local hotel workers are grossly underpaid, often needing to work two jobs to make ends meet, not to mention the fact hotels are being built on sacred ground and are grossly over-using our precious water resources. How is that aloha? What we are seeing here is an obvious and frankly disingenuous PR spin from the WAY too powerful hotel lobby, and honestly, that reveals their true values. The lobbyists are trying to inspire fear if they say that it will hurt Maui County to have a temporary moratorium. That is just not true. It will help us in SO MANY WAYS. I ask the members of this committee to make sure you hear the community equally to this lobbyist, even when we show up unattached to large powerful organizations.
The testimony I saw from the builder's union on Monday gave me pause: the kind gentleman that was testifying on the union's behalf admitted that they need continual, non-stop growth in the hotel sector so they can continue getting their "luxury high end jobs" to install marble tile and such. Well, I'm here to say that if we have continual growth like that, going unchecked and with no plan but to allow more, I don’t have to be a mathematician to add it up: more visitor accommodations equals more jet fuel, more shipping, more rental cars burning fossil fuels, more emissions and pollution, less fish in the reefs, water in our streams and wells, and less space for our families to enjoy the place that we love and support with our hard work and taxes. These are issues that this committee is dedicated to, are they not? Have we thought about all of these impacts? Do we need to study them more closely? The moratorium would create that opportunity for us to work together to get a clear picture, and put a pause on the potential for harm until we know more. It seems like a no-brainer, honestly.
The County Council unanimously approved a Sustainable Tourism resolution emphasizing quality over quantity, meaning that our focus should be on the quality of a visitor’s experience as opposed to focusing on the number of visitors. This gave me and many in this community tremendous hope. What has happened instead? We are hitting record numbers, we are already at capacity and we’re spending taxpayer money to promote Hawai‘i tourism nationally on "Good Morning America," just last week while our island is at or near capacity. What does the resolution mean if we’re not thinking about our sustainability commitments? If we’re not focused on real problem solving?
A moratorium on visitor accommodations would give the Council an opportunity to further clarify how to alleviate the pressures and vulnerabilities created by over tourism, without allowing unchecked growth to continue. We need to pass this now, so we can address the issues immediately before everyone and their mother submits a building permit. Please do not delay, because it is already too late.
And finally, the moratorium on visitor accommodations must apply to the entire island, not just West and South Maui. Otherwise, visitor accommodations will be proposed in other communities outside of West and South Maui, which we do not want.
Mahalo for hearing our voices today, mahalo for thinking of what our community of hard working families truly needs, not just what the lobbyists and their industries want.
I enthusiastically SUPPORT the Visitor Accommodation Moratorium bill.
We need to rethink how Maui can allow tourism sustainably and at the same time develop jobs in other fields to support our local population.
Please Declare an Immediate Moratorium on ALL new Visitor Accommodations.
Thank you for all your hard work on this.
Susan Bradford
The residents of Maui County are calling for investment in the ʻĀina and future generations! How will that be possible if more and more hotel developments are to be built?! Maui county is overloaded with tourists every year, there needs to be more REGULATION rather than expansion.
The residents of Maui County are calling for investment in the ʻĀina and future generations! How will that be possible if more and more hotel developments are to be built?! Maui county is overloaded with tourists every year, there needs to be more REGULATION rather than expansion.
I support the Moratorium and would like to see it encompass the entire county of Maui . -Our island infrastructure, waste management, beaches, houses, open spaces, communities, and workforce cannot support this unrelenting drive to develop blindly . We are loosing the elements which make our island home so special and attracts visitors to come. The Hawaiian islands are not just another place with good weather and nice beaches to overdevelop. We have a culture ,the Hawaiian culture which has a language, a lifestyle, a way of living which is disappearing completely before our eyes. Our island Maui is being turned into another place with warm weather and nice beaches to frolic with crowds ,traffic, and pavement and private areas restricting access and making it impossible for us . The beaches are filled with hotel umbrellas stacked four to five layers wide and across half the beach or more.. At Makapua beach the new homes going in are putting a palm hedge along the rock wall which will completely block the view of Makena and the ocean. Look at West Maui -look what has become of those areas. We are so much more that that. Please stop- we had an opportunity during the pandemic to catch a breathe and remember the possibilities of what Maui can be . Diversify -loose the laser focus on tourism and developing. We are now importing so many people to come work at the hotels and come build them as well, they are taking away the housing and raising the prices for the local population. -there is not enough housing for the local families for the generations coming up-and at the rate things are going no one from here will be able to afford to stay here. The "workforce" housing in Kihei is stacking people in densely built apartment buildings with no open space - no regard for quality of life- so sad. nly the and most of those homes are selling to The quality of life for the average family is disappearing quickly. We do not need to continue on this path - but to take some more time to breathe and re-direct and find other opportunities for our islands resources -aquaculture, farming, technology ,alternative energy sources and on and on. Funny during the pandemic -we ere able to buy lots of local produce my favorites-baby romaine lettuce and baby cucumbers-cannot buy anymore anywhere-why all the produce is going to the hotels again - what about the residents? We need to produce enough food for the residents . If anythings are being built in association with tourism it should be cultural centers ,where visitors can talk story , see films , listen , learn experience what the Neative Hawaiian Culture is in this place they are visiting. Education about the sea life where they are swimming. Visitors cannot appreciate and respect the island if they are not able to learn about it . Stop -breathe- we are not a destination, we are a culture. Let's move forward with care for preserving all that is important and not be lead by greed alone.
Yes, please halt the development! We all agreed during the pandemic--our leaders as well as residents--that tourism has gotten out of hand. We have enough. Already the streets and roads feel mobbed. Please keep perspective. Anne Pierce, 31 year resident, Haiku.
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. Please vote yes on the moratorium, as it is in the best interest of the local community and environment.
Ua mau ke ea o'ka aina i ka pono. (The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness)
Please heed the words on the state seal of Hawaii and its motto. Tourism is out of control. I support this moratorium on visitor accommodations on Maui. There is too much of it already and not enough homes for locals. Please focus on the community first.
There are ways for the state to make money that's not tourism related. All you have to do is ask. The community has plenty of ideas to contribute and help take action on these ideas.
Please extend the moratorium to the entire island of Maui. Otherwise, It feels like we are falling into the same rabbit hole we experienced before the pandemic.. i.e. overselling the island, Quantity of visitors over Quality, Residents impacted negatively by overcrowded roads and lack of goods and services.
Please stop further tourism development. This is an island with limited space and resources.
I support this!
I’ve asked ‘Ohana, friends, coworkers, neighbors, my keiki’s teachers and coaches, folks around town, at the beach/parks, and every single person supports the proposed moratorium. I’ve even spoken to several VISITORS who support a moratorium on building more hotels! I’m not saying people think it’s perfect- The most common complaint about the moratorium is that it’s too short. The second most common complaint is that it’s limited to South Maui and West Maui. For many years the community has been asking for action to stop overtourism; this measure will be a small step in the right direction. Please pass a moratorium and also find additional ways to reduce capacity for transient accommodations.
Aloha kakou, im a born and raised napili resident in support of the moratorium on visitor accommodations development. Jus look at what the tourism industry/development has really done in the past 2 decades. It's not hard to see
Enough already! We need housing for our residents!!!
Aloha mai kākou,
I’m a 17 year Maui resident and I reside in Makawao.
Just a quick observation: it's interesting to me that I have not seen ONE person testify as a private citizen who is in opposition to this moratorium. The only folks who have showed up in opposition so far are tourism industry accommodation lobbyists and hotel general managers testifying on behalf of their corporations. Regardless of what the corporate tourism sector says, we can clearly see that there is overwhelming support for the moratorium from our broader community. The people of Maui are fed up. Including me. While I used to enjoy regular time at the beach with my family on a weekend, now I worry that I won't be able to find a bit of sandy shoreline that isn't crowded with tourists and with overflowing parking. I keep asking myself lately, "what do we have left that is just for us, the citizens of Maui who are paying taxes and working hard to afford the higher and higher costs of living?" We need to have space outdoors to breathe and rest for our mental health–especially after the year we've had–and those spaces are becoming few and far between. Together, we must find a way to ensure that we can breathe and make room for wise decisions without being strong-armed by corporate hotel representatives backed by boatloads of money.
The lobbyists are purporting that this temporary moratorium will hurt industry, or is anti-hotel, but that is just not true. This moratorium does not shut down existing tourism related businesses, many of whom are currently seeing record numbers while paying their dedicated staff near-poverty wages. Existing workers will get to keep their jobs. Construction workers will take on other work. It’s the current multinational corporate hotel owners (who want to add capacity and enlarge their already enormous properties) and also the new hotel developers that will take the hit. The moratorium won’t affect local residents currently working in the industry. You’ll hear from the hotels about their sustainability initiatives and their “aloha pledges” that sounds great on paper, but the truth is that our local hotel workers are grossly underpaid, often needing to work two jobs to make ends meet, not to mention the fact hotels are being built on sacred ground and are grossly over-using our precious water resources. How is that aloha? What we are seeing here is an obvious and frankly disingenuous PR spin from the WAY too powerful hotel lobby, and honestly, that reveals their true values. The lobbyists are trying to inspire fear if they say that it will hurt Maui County to have a temporary moratorium. That is just not true. It will help us in SO MANY WAYS. I ask the members of this committee to make sure you hear the community equally to this lobbyist, even when we show up unattached to large powerful organizations.
The testimony I saw from the builder's union on Monday gave me pause: the kind gentleman that was testifying on the union's behalf admitted that they need continual, non-stop growth in the hotel sector so they can continue getting their "luxury high end jobs" to install marble tile and such. Well, I'm here to say that if we have continual growth like that, going unchecked and with no plan but to allow more, I don’t have to be a mathematician to add it up: more visitor accommodations equals more jet fuel, more shipping, more rental cars burning fossil fuels, more emissions and pollution, less fish in the reefs, water in our streams and wells, and less space for our families to enjoy the place that we love and support with our hard work and taxes. These are issues that this committee is dedicated to, are they not? Have we thought about all of these impacts? Do we need to study them more closely? The moratorium would create that opportunity for us to work together to get a clear picture, and put a pause on the potential for harm until we know more. It seems like a no-brainer, honestly.
The County Council unanimously approved a Sustainable Tourism resolution emphasizing quality over quantity, meaning that our focus should be on the quality of a visitor’s experience as opposed to focusing on the number of visitors. This gave me and many in this community tremendous hope. What has happened instead? We are hitting record numbers, we are already at capacity and we’re spending taxpayer money to promote Hawai‘i tourism nationally on "Good Morning America," just last week while our island is at or near capacity. What does the resolution mean if we’re not thinking about our sustainability commitments? If we’re not focused on real problem solving?
A moratorium on visitor accommodations would give the Council an opportunity to further clarify how to alleviate the pressures and vulnerabilities created by over tourism, without allowing unchecked growth to continue. We need to pass this now, so we can address the issues immediately before everyone and their mother submits a building permit. Please do not delay, because it is already too late.
And finally, the moratorium on visitor accommodations must apply to the entire island, not just West and South Maui. Otherwise, visitor accommodations will be proposed in other communities outside of West and South Maui, which we do not want.
Mahalo for hearing our voices today, mahalo for thinking of what our community of hard working families truly needs, not just what the lobbyists and their industries want.
Sara Tekula
Makawao, HI
I enthusiastically SUPPORT the Visitor Accommodation Moratorium bill.
We need to rethink how Maui can allow tourism sustainably and at the same time develop jobs in other fields to support our local population.
Please Declare an Immediate Moratorium on ALL new Visitor Accommodations.
Thank you for all your hard work on this.
Susan Bradford
The residents of Maui County are calling for investment in the ʻĀina and future generations! How will that be possible if more and more hotel developments are to be built?! Maui county is overloaded with tourists every year, there needs to be more REGULATION rather than expansion.
The residents of Maui County are calling for investment in the ʻĀina and future generations! How will that be possible if more and more hotel developments are to be built?! Maui county is overloaded with tourists every year, there needs to be more REGULATION rather than expansion.
We cannot sustain our MauiCounty Community life, aina, schools, needs with unaccountability of Overload of Tourist running out of control NOW!
Stop building take it easy be grateful for what you’ve already gotten away with or you’ll be sorry.
We are in support
I support the Moratorium and would like to see it encompass the entire county of Maui . -Our island infrastructure, waste management, beaches, houses, open spaces, communities, and workforce cannot support this unrelenting drive to develop blindly . We are loosing the elements which make our island home so special and attracts visitors to come. The Hawaiian islands are not just another place with good weather and nice beaches to overdevelop. We have a culture ,the Hawaiian culture which has a language, a lifestyle, a way of living which is disappearing completely before our eyes. Our island Maui is being turned into another place with warm weather and nice beaches to frolic with crowds ,traffic, and pavement and private areas restricting access and making it impossible for us . The beaches are filled with hotel umbrellas stacked four to five layers wide and across half the beach or more.. At Makapua beach the new homes going in are putting a palm hedge along the rock wall which will completely block the view of Makena and the ocean. Look at West Maui -look what has become of those areas. We are so much more that that. Please stop- we had an opportunity during the pandemic to catch a breathe and remember the possibilities of what Maui can be . Diversify -loose the laser focus on tourism and developing. We are now importing so many people to come work at the hotels and come build them as well, they are taking away the housing and raising the prices for the local population. -there is not enough housing for the local families for the generations coming up-and at the rate things are going no one from here will be able to afford to stay here. The "workforce" housing in Kihei is stacking people in densely built apartment buildings with no open space - no regard for quality of life- so sad. nly the and most of those homes are selling to The quality of life for the average family is disappearing quickly. We do not need to continue on this path - but to take some more time to breathe and re-direct and find other opportunities for our islands resources -aquaculture, farming, technology ,alternative energy sources and on and on. Funny during the pandemic -we ere able to buy lots of local produce my favorites-baby romaine lettuce and baby cucumbers-cannot buy anymore anywhere-why all the produce is going to the hotels again - what about the residents? We need to produce enough food for the residents . If anythings are being built in association with tourism it should be cultural centers ,where visitors can talk story , see films , listen , learn experience what the Neative Hawaiian Culture is in this place they are visiting. Education about the sea life where they are swimming. Visitors cannot appreciate and respect the island if they are not able to learn about it . Stop -breathe- we are not a destination, we are a culture. Let's move forward with care for preserving all that is important and not be lead by greed alone.
Yes, please halt the development! We all agreed during the pandemic--our leaders as well as residents--that tourism has gotten out of hand. We have enough. Already the streets and roads feel mobbed. Please keep perspective. Anne Pierce, 31 year resident, Haiku.
I support the Moratorium on building
I support the moratorium on building/creating new tourist accommodations for all of Maui County.
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. Please vote yes on the moratorium, as it is in the best interest of the local community and environment.
Lily Katz, Wailuku
Ua mau ke ea o'ka aina i ka pono. (The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness)
Please heed the words on the state seal of Hawaii and its motto. Tourism is out of control. I support this moratorium on visitor accommodations on Maui. There is too much of it already and not enough homes for locals. Please focus on the community first.
There are ways for the state to make money that's not tourism related. All you have to do is ask. The community has plenty of ideas to contribute and help take action on these ideas.
Please enact this moratorium. Tourism is way out of hand! We don’t need more tourist units in Maui County.