HLU-4 Bill 9 (2025) BILL 9 (2025), AMENDING CHAPTERS 19.12, 19.32, AND 19.37, MAUI COUNTY CODE, RELATING TO TRANSIENT VACATION RENTALS IN APARTMENT DISTRICTS (HLU-4)
Re: Opposition to Bill 9 (2025) – Proposed HLU‑4 Ordinance
I urge you to reconsider Bill 9 (2025), which seeks to phase out transient vacation rentals (TVRs) in Apartment zoning districts. While well-intentioned, this proposal threatens severe economic harm to Maui without guaranteeing the housing affordability gains its supporters expect. The University of Hawai‘i Economic Research Organization (UHERO) study published on March 31, 2025 offers crucial insights that warrant a more cautious and balanced approach.
Key concerns based on UHERO’s findings:
1. Massive Loss in Visitor Spending, Jobs & Economic Output
Eliminating TVRs in Apartment zones would reduce visitor accommodations by 25% and visitor days by 32%, causing an annual decline in visitor spending of $900 million—a 15% drop. This loss translates into approximately 1,900 jobs, or 3% of Maui’s payroll jobs, in tourism and related industries.
Real GDP is projected to contract by 4%, risking a broader downturn that could directly harm local families relying on these jobs.
2. Housing Supply Gains vs. Affordability & Wealth Loss
Yes, the policy could convert up to 6,127 units—a 13% expansion in long-term housing stock, equivalent to 10 years of new construction. However, UHERO estimates a 20–40% drop in condo prices. While this may improve affordability for some, it also erodes household wealth and generates significant budgetary consequences.
3. Decline in Public Revenues
Property tax revenues could fall by up to $60 million annually by 2029, reflecting lower property valuations and reclassification. General Excise Tax (GET) and Transient Accommodations Tax (TAT) would also drop—GET by 10% and TAT by 8%—resulting in an additional revenue shortfall of around $15 million per year. Total fiscal impact: roughly $75 million annually in reduced revenue by 2029.
4. Unprecedented Intervention with High Risk
UHERO notes this is the most extensive TVR restriction globally—TVRs make up 21% of Maui’s housing stock, far surpassing limits in LA (~1%), Barcelona (~2.6%), and Boston (~1.1%). The scale of disruption makes precise outcomes highly uncertain.
Conclusion & Recommendations:
Bill 9’s one-size-fits-all elimination of TVRs in Apartment zones risks devastating Maui’s tourism-driven economy, putting nearly 2,000 jobs at risk, reducing county revenues by tens of millions, and delivering only modest housing gains. Comparable benefits—perhaps better—could be achieved through targeted, flexible policies that sustain local employment and fiscal stability.
I strongly urge you to:
Reject or amend Bill 9 to avoid widespread economic harm.
Adopt UHERO-recommended strategies, such as TVR tax increases, limited permit auctions, and gradual phase-outs.
Seek further community input, especially from tourism-dependent workers and local housing advocates, to create a more nuanced policy.
Thank you for your consideration. I hope the Council will rely on balanced, evidence-based approaches to address both housing affordability and economic sustainability in Maui.
I strongly oppose Bill 9 and any other future bills restricting property rights. I have been visiting Maui since the age of 10. I have stayed at the Maui Surf, eaten at the Rusty Harpoon and Crab Catcher, danced at the Banana Moon. Had an unfortunate accident and spent time at Maui Memorial, before Kaiser. I have seen things come and go. I remember when hotels tried to illuminate pidgin. I remember flying to airport beach and the airport bar. When the drinking age was 18. I have never witnessed this rise of blatant racism that seems to have been encouraged by this mayor and LS. Who is the “Our people”? Only native more than 50 percent blood or all citizens who may have been born on Maui but may not be Hawaian. One could only imagine, if Nevada had similar concerns regarding property and some how tried to differentiate between locals and visitors regarding private property, how that would be received. Try being more like Malibu, the Palisades, and Santa Rosa. Try rebuilding, planning, stream lining permitting. Those cities are not taking people’s domains. The majority of these condos such as Papakea were never used to house work forces, have operated legally, provide a tax base far greater then locals, and provided many high paying jobs.
Perhaps a field trip to Lower Honoapiilani Rd would be in order? Look at the food trucks who feed visitors. Java Jazz or the Gazebo. The Budget Avis car rental. Times market. The ABC store who shares a back gate with direct access from Papakea. The 5 AAAAAA rental storage. The business that provides cribs and roller beds for rent next to Miso Phat Sushi. Let’s go towards Safeway. Who goes to Mala and Star Noodle and Honu? Visitors in hotels eat at the Whalers Village and don’t rent cars. All these businesses benefit from the visitors who stay in condos. I believe the 3 LS paid lobbyist all have worked at these places. The leader at Merrimans, the Caucasian transplant at Kimos, the local at Dukes and Old Lahaina Luna. Tourist who stay in condos all visit these very establishments. Not to mention the gyms, clothing stores, grocery stores, medical clinics, beaches, snorkeling companies, etc.
Oppose this Bill 9 and find other solutions. Have not heard a single comment on how this bill if passed will be enforced, monitored, etc. There is no way to force long term renting after the Bill is passed. If know guarantee that an owner will rent long term, then the bill has no teeth and the stated goal of housing will not even be achieved. Rather, a future of endless law suits, county deficits, declining job market, less revenue, and more burned out cars along the highway as people leave Maui.
My name is Mike Eilers and I’ve been a licensed contractor on Maui for over 25 years. The majority of my work has come from remodeling and maintaining short-term rental units here on the island. I’ve worked in nearly every part of Maui, helping owners keep their properties safe, updated, and in good condition—not just for visitors, but for neighbors and the community.
This bill threatens to wipe out the backbone of my business. If thousands of these units are forced to shut down, I will lose most of my clients. Without that income, I don’t know what I’ll do. I’m not a big company. I’m just a local guy trying to earn an honest living and take care of my family.
I’ve paid my taxes, followed the rules, and served this community for decades. The people who hire me are not corporations—they’re often long-time local residents who depend on short-term rental income just to stay afloat. And like me, they’re doing everything they can to keep up with the cost of living here.
I respectfully ask you to consider the impact this bill will have on working people like me. This isn’t just about property owners—it’s about contractors, cleaners, painters, handymen, landscapers, and so many others who make a living supporting this part of our economy.
Please don’t take away our livelihoods. Mahalo for your time.
Please do your due-diligence before thinking converting all Minatoya condos will solve Maui's housing issue. I am a Board member at Polynesian Shores, and owning a 50+ year old property comes with steep costs. For 2025-2026, the AOAO dues for a one-bedroom condo is $1881 per month! We also expect there may be a special assessment in a couple years to address issues we do not have sufficient reserves to cover. This is after as a community we took out a 3 million dollar load in 2020 to cover major renovations. How many of those you think these units will house can afford just the AOAO and special assessments? Add a mortgage and this is all cost-prohibitive. Instead of targeting these legally permitted STRs, follow through on your in-progress and planned affordable housing projects that these STRs have helped subsidized with their high taxes over many decades.
Aloha. I oppose this bill as written. I do support of regulating and phase out of all residential homes and neighborhoods. However I oppose the minatoya list phase out as these are units built mostly in the 1970’s and 1980’s and are legally being used as they they were intended. This bill is a reactive and eminent threat to not only owners and legally operating vacation rentals.
We are owners of a legally and deeded 4 week timeshare property for over almost 40 years. This single bedroom unit has only has been used immediate family and friends and have never used as a source of income or rental property.
I am aware as written the bill has a timeshare amendment, however the bill if passed poses and eminent threat to future amendments and bills aimed out phasing out timeshares.
If this bill passes, it will directly and severely damage the property rights of operation and many employees livelihood. Many of the employees have worked at the property for over 39 years, have lost their homes in the fire, and also completely oppose this bill as written. These are real locals of Maui that will be impacted greater than myself. They have already lost their homes and have an eminent threat of losing employment because the property cannot operate as it has since it was built in the 1970’s. It’s a double gut punch since many are still living on the property since losing their homes in the fire.
I applaud th le activism for change but there are smaller steps that can be taken. I feel this is a land grab and not a solution to the real housing problem. Maui county has not updated their water treatment facilities in over 50 years and I deal this is the largest investment hindering any addition development on west Maui. I feel the real focus should be investing in water and building housing for working families, not reactively rezoning of legal businesses most of them being small studio condominiums.
Thank you for your time
I can’t imagine that any low or middle income residents would be able to afford living in Wailea Ekahi, where we own a rental condo. We use it for two months a year, then rent it out during the rest of the time to visitors who pay substantial TAT and GET taxes to state and county. Directly after the Lahaina fire we offered it to victims but it failed to meet their needs. Maui would be better served if we can continue short term rentals which offer not only income from required taxes but also substantial tourist spending which supports a wide range of local businesses.
Aloha Chair and Council Members,
My name is Susan Ramos, and I’ve lived on Maui for over 30 years. I came here as a single mom with young kids and worked hard to build a life. In 2007, I was finally able to buy a small condo. I lived there for 15 years, but after my granddaughter was born, we needed more space. I now live in a house, and I use that condo as a short-term rental to help cover my expenses.
This income allows me to pay my mortgage, high HOA fees, and support local workers. I have a cleaning crew, a regular window cleaner, and I do everything I can to keep my unit in good shape. My building is older — it was built in the '70s — and we've had expensive assessments. Just installing emergency shut-off valves cost us over $1,200 per unit, and years ago, we had to pay $20,000 each for the cesspool conversion. We might also have an assessment coming up for our cast iron pipes that are over 50 years old.
If this bill passes, I could lose the ability to rent legally — something I’ve relied on to survive. It feels unfair, especially after following all the rules.
My cleaning lady wanted to be here today, but she doesn’t speak English well and was too nervous to testify. She and many others who clean these units are scared to speak up, but they depend on this work to support their families.
Please understand that this doesn’t just affect owners like me — it affects the whole community. If this passes, I believe it will lead to legal battles, lost tax revenue, and real harm to local workers.
I ask you to slow this down and consider a more balanced approach. Mahalo.
To the Members of the Housing and Land Use Committee
Aloha,
I am a Maui county resident, I opposed to the ban of short term rentals. Our condos provide jobs for locals, cleaners, air conditioning maintenance, carpet cleaners, handymen, pest control, among other service providers. Our guests also support local businesses, restaurants and tour companies. It would be a great loss to Maui’s economy, including a large loss of tax dollars from our accommodation taxes collected.
Testimony Opposing Bill 9 – Short-Term Rental Phase-Out
Aloha Chair, Vice Chair, and Committee Members,
My name is Mark, and I am both a part-time Maui resident and the owner of a permitted short-term rental property here in Maui County. I’m writing today to express my deep concern and strong opposition to Bill 9, which seeks to phase out more than 7,000 legal vacation rentals in apartment-zoned areas.
We have owned and operated our STR for over eight years, and in that time, we’ve established a loyal clientele with a significant percentage of repeat guests who return every year. Many of them come to participate in cultural events, surf contests, music festivals, and whale-watching tours. Others volunteer their time to local nonprofits and community cleanups, reflecting the kind of responsible tourism we should be encouraging.
I’ve worked hard to be a responsible, community-minded owner. My welcome guide highlights local restaurants and activity providers. I contract directly with local cleaning crews, electricians, and tradespeople who rely on STRs like mine for steady, year-round work. Over the years, these workers have become like family. My guests consistently tell me that staying in a rental like mine gave them a more personal, authentic connection to the island. Many say they wouldn’t have visited at all if not for this kind of lodging option.
But this issue is much bigger than just my unit.
Independent studies from UHERO, TravelTech, and others paint a stark picture of what this bill would do to Maui’s economy:
• Visitor spending would fall by approximately $900 million per year, according to UHERO. That is about 15 percent of the island’s tourism economy.
• That drop would shrink Maui County’s GDP by roughly 4 percent.
• At least 1,900 jobs would be lost, many of them held by the exact workers and small business owners this bill claims to protect.
• County tax revenue could decline by $60 million annually in property taxes alone. Add in GET and TAT losses, and the total impact could reach $281 million in lost annual county revenue.
• State tax losses could exceed $137 million.
• Realtor.com estimates that eliminating legal STRs would reduce vacation lodging capacity by up to 47 percent, driving tourists elsewhere and concentrating demand into already stressed resort zones.
Meanwhile, a 2024 SMS Research poll found that only 12 percent of Maui residents support eliminating all legal vacation rentals. In that same survey, 77 percent expressed concern that removing STRs would significantly reduce the tax revenue used for essential public services.
I understand that housing availability is a crisis on this island, but removing thousands of legal units that are not zoned for residential living and cannot easily or affordably be converted will not solve the problem. What it will do is damage the livelihoods of working people, reduce public revenue, and push visitor dollars toward other islands or out of the state entirely.
There are smarter solutions:
• Allow all codified legal STRs to continue operating as originally intended
• Cap total legal STRs at current levels
• Enforce the shutdown of illegal STRs
• Continue building affordable housing units using STR tax dollars, and ensure those funds are used only for housing
In addition, the County of Maui has the ability to build its way out of the housing shortage if it chooses to. The county already collects substantial revenue through the General Excise Tax and the Transient Accommodations Tax. These funds can be used to incentivize and subsidize affordable housing development. The tools are in place. The county has the authority to fast-track permitting, ease zoning restrictions, and prioritize housing construction. What is missing is not the ability, but the political will.
Finally, this bill sets a dangerous precedent. The Mayor and County Council are actively picking winners and losers in the economy. Legal STR owners who have followed the rules and invested in their properties will suffer serious financial harm, and the effects will ripple across the entire Maui economy. From workers and small businesses to public services, this bill risks creating more harm than it claims to prevent.
This bill feels rushed, punitive, and based more on politics than data. I respectfully urge the Council to stop this bill and review the economic consequences carefully, and work with owners like me and the community to find a balanced path forward that protects our economy, supports the workforce, and ensures STRs meet high community standards.
Mahalo for your time and consideration.
Mark Welpman
STR Owner and Part-Time Maui Resident
Aloha Chair, Vice Chair, and Committee Members,
We are Robert and Susan Crowson and we own a short-term rental property in the resort of Kapalua Ridge Villas in Maui County. We are writing today to express our deep concern and strong opposition to the proposed legislation to phase out more than 7,000 vacation rentals.
After visiting beautiful Maui about a dozen times, in 2018 we decided that we needed to be a part of Maui and bought into the community of Kapalua Ridge Villas. Between calendar year 2023 up to the present day, we have hosted 92 guests in our villa. In order make our villa a warm, welcoming environment that emphasizes the beauty of the island of Maui as well as its rich culture, we engaged a local interior designer as well as a local contractor. Both worked their magic to turn our condo into a place that receives rave reviews. In updating our condo, we employed numerous local trades people including plumbers, electricians, drywallers, painters, flooring installers, among others. With the help of our Wailuku-based designer, we furnished the place through Hamai Appliances, Life Style Maui, Mind’s Eye, Nina’s Consignment, Outdoor Living, along with other local businesses. We have replaced windows and sliding doors through Gabe at Rainbow Glass and his great crew.
Now that the construction and design phase has been completed, we still interact with various businesses on island to maintain our villa. While we use the services of Maui Paradise Properties to keep our condo in excellent condition, we have interactions with many of the local Maui residents who work to keep our condo in wonderful condition. We are constantly using the services of local cleaners, window washers, laundry services, as well as handymen and various trades folk who periodically come in to repair damages to our place guests may have left. In addition to the local people from Maui Paradise Properties, we rely upon all the gardeners, painters and maintenance personnel who keep our property so inviting through the management of Kapalua Ridge and the Kapalua Resort. We always enjoy visiting our favorite restaurants such as The Pour House and Sea House. We have gotten to know the people who own and work at these establishments, and encourage our guests to visit these great places to dine. We are concerned that all these wonderful people we have continuing interactions with would be adversely affected by the proposed legislation to eliminate all short term rentals on Maui.
Owning in this complex has not been easy. We’ve faced huge maintenance costs, special assessments, and massive increases in insurance after the fires. These aren’t luxuries — they’re costs that ensure the property remains safe, functional, and appealing. STR income helps cover those costs while supporting local workers.
This legislation feels rushed and one-sided. I urge the Council to work with owners like me to find a fair and balanced path forward — one that protects local jobs, supports the economy, and holds STR owners to high standards, instead of phasing us out completely.
Mahalo for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Robert and Susan Crowson
quilink@gmail.com
949-291-6576
To the Members of the Housing and Land Use Committee
Aloha,
My name is Melinda Sweany, and I serve as the Chief Philanthropy Officer at Maui Health Foundation. My husband and I are full-time residents who deeply love this island and have committed our lives and resources to serving this community. I am writing to respectfully oppose the proposal to phase out short-term rentals (STRs) in apartment-zoned buildings on Maui.
When we purchased our two vacation rental condos, it was with the clear understanding that STRs were permitted under existing County guidelines. These investments were not made lightly—they represent an essential source of supplemental income that allows us to continue living here, contributing meaningfully to our local economy, and giving back to the place we call home.
Like many others, our use of short-term rentals does more than support our livelihood. It supports local jobs—cleaners, maintenance staff, and service providers who depend on these rentals for steady work. We refer guests to local restaurants, small businesses, and tour operators, and we regularly reinvest in our properties to ensure they are welcoming and well-maintained.
We are not absentee owners—we live here, work here, worship here, and serve here. Through my work at Maui Health Foundation, I’ve had the privilege of helping raise millions of dollars to ensure that our hospital can continue providing high-quality care to our island’s residents and visitors. That is part of our story of giving back. Owning and responsibly operating short-term rentals has made that possible for our family.
I understand and deeply empathize with the very real challenges around housing availability on Maui. But I urge the Council to consider more balanced, data-informed solutions that do not harm residents who have abided by the rules and invested in good faith. Policies that punish long-standing, community-minded homeowners like us will not solve the housing crisis but may instead deepen the economic challenges we all face.
Please, let’s find a way forward that protects both housing needs and the ability of local residents to remain here and thrive. I ask that you reconsider this phase-out proposal and work with all stakeholders toward solutions that honor the diversity and complexity of our community’s needs.
I am opposed to the ban of short term rentals. Our condos provide jobs for locals, cleaners, air conditioning maintenance, carpet cleaners, handymen, pest control, among other service providers. Our guests also support local businesses, restaurants and tour companies. It would be a great loss to Maui’s economy, including a large loss of tax dollars from our accommodation taxes collected.
Aloha Chair, Vice Chair, and Committee members,
My name is Darrell Walker and I own a short term rental property in Maui County. I am writing today to express my strong opposition to the proposed legislation to phase out more than 7000 vacation rentals.
I have been coming to Maui for over 25 years, have made many wonderful relationships with locals, and have been the beneficiary of the wonderful hospitality extended by Maui residents. We have come to know employees of restaurants, maintenance workers, contractors, house cleaners, those we employ through our complex HOA, and many others. I believe this legislation would have a very negative effect on their livelihood and we would hate to see that.
My wife and I are in the insurance business and when the tragic fire of 2023 happened we immediately reached out to local insurance agents who are part of a major insurer we work with to see what we could do to help. We removed our rental from any marketing sources and offered to help the local employees of those agents. In addition, before there was a formal way of helping, we went to our national insurer to let them know our place would be available for any short term stays needed for employees or others while they look for a more long term solution. After seeing what the pandemic did to the local economy we were very concerned how this would affect our friends and those who have provided many needed services to us over time.
We have many repeat guests who come to Maui to enjoy the same beauty and hospitality my family and I have enjoyed over the years. Many have told us they would not come if a hotel was the only option, that is something that matters to all the small businesses they support during their stay.
We love being part of Kapalua Bay Villas but owning in the complex has not been easy. We have faced huge maintenance costs that have caused HOA dues to increase almost 100% in just the last 5 years as well as massive increases to the cost of insurance. These are costs that keep the property safe and appealing, they are not luxuries. Short term rental income helps to cover some of those costs while supporting many local workers.
This legislation feels rushed and one -sided. I urge the council to work with owners like me to find a fair and balanced path forward. A path that will protect local jobs, support the local economy, and holds the short term rental owners to high standards instead of phasing out what is a vital part of that economy.
Thank you for your consideration
Sincerely,
Darrell Walker
I’ve spent a large part of my life in Maui. Through the pandemic, Maalalea was my home and will continue to be unless the ban on short term rentals goes through. My family cannot live in Maui all the time, despite me going to online school, it is too difficult to stay long term sustainably. Short term rentals provide me with the option to visit my home on Maui, visit my friends, and see my favorite places. I also want to protect our island, with the sea level rising, funding and action are necessary to maintain the sacred balance we have had. We are at the tipping point of losing the most wonderful place I know, and I truly believe that banning short term rentals will only serve to undo the balance and lower the quality of lives for the community that Maui is fundamentally built on.
I hope this message finds you well. My husband (Joseph Pault) and Myself (Melissa Triber) have been proud owners of a condominium at the Kapalua Bay Villas for the past four years. The proposed Bill 9 short-term rental ban would affect our livelihood and the entire community. I am writing to express our strong opposition to this ban and urge you to recommend its denial.
Banning short-term rentals would have severe economic repercussions for Maui and its residents. Numerous economic studies indicate that such a ban could lead to the loss of thousands of local jobs, result in an estimated annual tax revenue reduction of $91.8 million, and eliminate over a billion dollars in economic activity (source: Maui News). Our community heavily relies on tourism to sustain local businesses and support livelihoods.
Short-term rentals significantly contribute to our local economy by supporting small businesses such as restaurants, shops, maintenance workers (cleaning teams, handypersons, etc), and tour operators in Kapalua Bay and neighboring areas. Many homeowners, including myself and my husband, depend on rental income to maintain our homes, support our families, and contribute to community initiatives and charities. The potential loss of this source of additional income would not only impact our personal finances but also the ability of our community to support important initiatives and charities.
Moreover, properties designated for short-term rentals often undergo continuous upgrades and maintenance, enhancing our neighborhood’s overall quality and appeal. Responsible hosts, a significant portion of the short-term rental community, also play a crucial role in promoting environmental stewardship among visitors, fostering a culture of sustainability that aligns with the Commission’s goals.
It is crucial to recognize that resort communities like the Kapalua Resort, including the Bay, Ridge, and Golf Villas, were explicitly planned and approved for transient rental use (Kapalua Maui Hawaii (uli.org). The historical context and documentation indicate their intended purpose as short-term accommodations within a destination resort setting. A 1975 Hawaii Real Estate Commission report for the Kapalua Bay Villas states that the units will be used for “permanent or temporary residences, lodgings or rental.” https://hawaii.gov/dcca_condo/reports/0820P.pdf.
These properties were never intended for long-term residential use, and attempting to reclassify them as such would not only be contrary to their original design but also could have significant negative economic and social consequences. Mayor Bissen’s proposed draft ordinance states: “The purpose of this ordinance is to revert all Apartment District properties to their intended long-term residential use.” Properties like the Kapalua Bay, Ridge, and Golf Villas were never intended for long-term residential use and are configured for resort use, not affordable family housing. For example, the Bay Villas are oceanside, lack covered parking and storage, prohibit pets, ban working trucks and are high-maintenance 47-year-old buildings. Annual Association dues and special assessments alone in these properties can exceed over $32,000.
The Maui County Housing and Land Use Committee should reject the proposed bill as it lacks careful support and analysis. The Honolulu Civil Beat recently reported that the County Council approved $300,000 for the Office of Council Services to investigate the economic impact of Mayor Bissen’s proposed short-term rental ban. Maui Council Budgets $300,000 To Study Impacts Of Eliminating 7,000 Vacation Rentals - Honolulu Civil Beat. This type of analysis should precede the current proposal to ban short-term rentals better to understand the potential effects of such a decision.
In conclusion, we urge the Maui County Housing and Land Use Commission to carefully consider the positive impacts of allowing short-term rentals in Kapalua Bay. By supporting this accommodation option, you will not only bolster tourism and economic growth but also uphold the sustainability and prosperity of our community. Thank you for considering my perspective and the welfare of our community’s future.
Warm regards,
Melissa Triber + Joseph Pault
500 Bay Drive
Unit 38G1-2
Lahaina, HI 96761
c 509.990.5773
e melissatriber@gmail.com
e jdpault@hotmail.com
Testimony Opposing Bill 152
From a Maui STR Owner and Immigrant from Macao and Hong Kong
Dear Council Members,
My name is Jenny Yeung, and I strongly oppose Bill 152. I am an immigrant from Macao and Hong Kong and a responsible short-term rental (STR) owner in Maui. My family has invested in this community not just through ownership but by directly supporting wildfire victims and promoting local businesses through every guest we host.
We also experienced the Eaton Fire in Los Angeles—our home was just one mile from the burn zone. That experience underscored the importance of meaningful, coordinated recovery. This bill offers the opposite: it strips rights from compliant owners while failing to deliver solutions for those in need.
The justification behind this legislation does not match the facts. Despite condo prices falling by up to 40% and inventory quadrupling in two years, sales remain low. Over 800 condos are now sitting on the market. That is clear evidence there is no surge of demand waiting to claim these units. Eliminating STRs will not result in housing conversions—it will result in vacant properties, declining tax revenues, and economic loss.
UHERO’s analysis forecasts up to $900 million in lost visitor spending and nearly 2,000 job losses. The bill also risks cutting tens of millions in county tax revenue—money that could be used for actual housing programs.
Contrast this with how Los Angeles responded to wildfires: immediate shelter, coordinated private-public relief, and long-term rebuilding programs. Maui’s fire survivors still lack adequate options, yet this Council is targeting law-abiding owners instead of providing concrete recovery support.
I urge you to reject Bill 152. It is economically destructive, legally questionable, and based on assumptions already contradicted by market data. Maui needs real housing solutions—not scapegoats.
Tim Smokoff
3543 Lower Honoapiilani Rd, L401
Lahina, HI 96761
smokoff@hotmail.com
206-369-2322
June 8, 2025
Maui County Council
200 South High Street
Wailuku, HI 96793
Dear Council Members,
I am writing to express my strong opposition to Bill 9, which proposes to outlaw short-term rentals in apartment-zoned areas on Maui. As a long-standing property owner at Papakea Resort, I urge you to reconsider this measure or provide an exemption for properties like Papakea that have historically operated as resort accommodations.
My family has been time interval owners at Papakea for over forty years, accumulating twelve weeks throughout the year that we use for family visits. When we are not able to use our time, we offer our unit as a short-term rental to other visitors. This arrangement brings several important benefits:
Economic Contribution: Short-term rentals contribute significant tax revenue to the County through TAT and GET collections, and visiting guests support local businesses, restaurants, and services across the island.
Cost-Effective Accommodations: Papakea offers a more affordable and flexible lodging option compared to traditional hotels, appealing to families and repeat visitors who support the island economy.
Property Maintenance: Income from rentals helps owners defray the increasing costs of property upkeep, ensuring the resort remains a well-maintained and desirable destination.
When we purchased our interval ownership, we did so with the full expectation that short-term rentals were permitted under County ordinances. Papakea has always operated as a resort, with a central check-in desk, concierge services, and shared amenities such as pools, tennis courts, and barbecue areas—features typically found at traditional resorts.
Importantly, Papakea is located in a commercial district and is directly adjacent to other full-scale resorts. It is clearly distinct from residential neighborhoods and should not be grouped with properties in areas where short-term rentals may indeed be incompatible with community goals.
For these reasons, I respectfully ask the Council to exempt Papakea from Bill 9 or reconsider the bill’s broad reach. It is unfair to penalize owners who have acted in good faith and whose properties have long operated as part of Maui’s tourism infrastructure.
Thank you for your time and for considering the views of property owners like myself who care deeply about Maui’s future.
Bill 9 has illuminated a disturbing trend: paid "organizers" feigning care for the community and instead using the process to create new income-generating opportunities that keep the local community in a constant state of division and stress.
California-native, Stacey Alapai, would never go work for a big hotel in a dead-end, low-paying, oppressive job. But, she is quick to sell local residents down the river from her million-dollar house that is not even located in an area relevant to the STR discussion.
The fact that hillbilly transplant, Katie Austin, feels comfortable telling long-time residents that have been running small businesses for longer than she has been alive that it’s time to “pivot” is a wild take.
Lahaina Strong talks a big game about how much of a benefit it is to work for hotels because there are unions. They of course leave out the fact that the unions are necessary because of how predatory the big hotels are and that workers have to pay hefty dues to be part of the unions.
Let’s also not forget what happens about every six months with the big hotels in Hawaii: massive strikes due to mistreatment of workers. It seems that, due to the County allowing hotels to proliferate while not paying living wages or considering where these poorly paid people would live, we are here today. Owners of STRs that have been legally operating for almost 50 years are now being asked to clean up the mess from the modern slavery that is extractive hotels. Meanwhile, Lahaina Strong is leading the hunt to track down local residents that have escaped the oppression and formed small businesses that they own and control to be returned to shackles of big hotel’s oppression.
In September of 2024, Over 4,000 workers went on a 40-day strike regarding mistreatment of workers by 8 hotels. The large mob of local union members Lahaina Strong is gathering to provide in-person testimony is ridiculous. Given how badly hotels treat their employees, maybe ask them to state their name and to blink twice if they were threatened to be there. Or was it a spot bonus that got them to show up? Some sort of Stockholm Syndrome? Or maybe sweaty pig Jerry Gibson just isn’t quite as compelling and the hotels needed a more “local” voice to do their bidding.
Rest assured that the hotels are cataloging all this testimony and taking attendance for workers that advance the big hotel’s interests in taking out the STR competition. This will all be evidence used by management in the next collective bargaining negotiation to refute any claims of mistreatment of workers. The more mistreatment, the more workers the unions can recruit to pay dues. While front-line workers are left to endure the abuse from big hotels and limited competition in the labor market, Lahaina Strong lobbyists will continue collecting checks to keep doing this important work preparing propaganda videos and honoring their warrior heritage by fighting in social media comment threads.
Dear Chair Kama, Vice Chair Uʻu-Hodgins and Members of the Housing and Land Use Committee:
I oppose Bill 9 as drafted and propose that the Council amend Bill 9 to exclude Papakea Oceanfront Resort which the County has historically identified as having A2-H2 zoning.
Background on Papakea
Papakea was initially marketed and sold as a legal vacation rental property before any zoning restrictions limited transient vacation rentals in apartment zoned properties.
Papakea owners have been operating legal vacation rentals for almost fifty years.
Papakea has never been workforce housing so Papakea is not an example of a property that converted from workforce housing to transient vacation rental use.
The majority of units at Papakea are under 600 square feet and the property has limited parking.
Papakea is not in a residential neighborhood and is located alongside a long stretch of hotel-zoned properties and directly adjacent to multiple commercially-zoned properties.
Unlike apartment buildings designed for long-term residential use, Papakea has a front desk, an activity concierge, shared activity space, and numerous other common resort amenities.
Owners purchased condos at Papakea with the reasonable expectation that short-term rentals were legal based on ordinances as far back as 1989, and as recent as 2022.
In reliance on the Maui County ordinances and published documents, Hawaii state law, and constitutional protections, owners invested in costly renovations, furnishings, and long-term financial commitments such as mortgages that make any phase out of short-term rental right offensive of each buyer’s investment-backed expectations.
Papakea’s Contributions to the Community
Papakea’s resort operations provide full-time, benefited, employment for 35 local resident employees; some have worked at the property for over 17 years; some started in entry-level positions and worked into supervisory roles.
Papakea supports a wide variety of local trade professionals including pest control, HVAC, painting, plumbing, electrical, general contracting, masonry, tile and flooring, fitness instructors, entertainers, and tree trimming.
Individual Owner Contributions to the Community
Many small businesses owned and operated by local residents from the Maui community rely on Papakea short-term rentals including housekeepers, handymen, on-island agents, and contractors. These service providers set their own rates, work hours, select their own clients, work conditions and standard operating procedures. Shutting down short-term rentals at Papakea means telling local entrepreneurs that worked hard to build a small business that they need to just go get a job somewhere else to make less money, have less flexibility, and be subject to oppressive corporate policies.
Papakea STRs support the State of Hawaii and County of Maui through payment of property taxes (many at the short-term rental rate), Transient Accommodations Tax, General Excise Tax, and Maui County Transient Accommodations Tax.
Papakea guests support many small businesses on the island including restaurants, food trucks, tour operators, activities, state parks, the national park, and shops.
Papakea owners and guests regularly participate in community activities including volunteering at beach cleanups, Maui Humane Society, the hospital, and many other local organizations, and contribute to local philanthropic nd cultural efforts.
I would like to thank the committee for the opportunity to comment.
Please review my attached testimony. Mahalo, Lynn Britton
Aloha Councilmembers,
Re: Opposition to Bill 9 (2025) – Proposed HLU‑4 Ordinance
I urge you to reconsider Bill 9 (2025), which seeks to phase out transient vacation rentals (TVRs) in Apartment zoning districts. While well-intentioned, this proposal threatens severe economic harm to Maui without guaranteeing the housing affordability gains its supporters expect. The University of Hawai‘i Economic Research Organization (UHERO) study published on March 31, 2025 offers crucial insights that warrant a more cautious and balanced approach.
Key concerns based on UHERO’s findings:
1. Massive Loss in Visitor Spending, Jobs & Economic Output
Eliminating TVRs in Apartment zones would reduce visitor accommodations by 25% and visitor days by 32%, causing an annual decline in visitor spending of $900 million—a 15% drop. This loss translates into approximately 1,900 jobs, or 3% of Maui’s payroll jobs, in tourism and related industries.
Real GDP is projected to contract by 4%, risking a broader downturn that could directly harm local families relying on these jobs.
2. Housing Supply Gains vs. Affordability & Wealth Loss
Yes, the policy could convert up to 6,127 units—a 13% expansion in long-term housing stock, equivalent to 10 years of new construction. However, UHERO estimates a 20–40% drop in condo prices. While this may improve affordability for some, it also erodes household wealth and generates significant budgetary consequences.
3. Decline in Public Revenues
Property tax revenues could fall by up to $60 million annually by 2029, reflecting lower property valuations and reclassification. General Excise Tax (GET) and Transient Accommodations Tax (TAT) would also drop—GET by 10% and TAT by 8%—resulting in an additional revenue shortfall of around $15 million per year. Total fiscal impact: roughly $75 million annually in reduced revenue by 2029.
4. Unprecedented Intervention with High Risk
UHERO notes this is the most extensive TVR restriction globally—TVRs make up 21% of Maui’s housing stock, far surpassing limits in LA (~1%), Barcelona (~2.6%), and Boston (~1.1%). The scale of disruption makes precise outcomes highly uncertain.
Conclusion & Recommendations:
Bill 9’s one-size-fits-all elimination of TVRs in Apartment zones risks devastating Maui’s tourism-driven economy, putting nearly 2,000 jobs at risk, reducing county revenues by tens of millions, and delivering only modest housing gains. Comparable benefits—perhaps better—could be achieved through targeted, flexible policies that sustain local employment and fiscal stability.
I strongly urge you to:
Reject or amend Bill 9 to avoid widespread economic harm.
Adopt UHERO-recommended strategies, such as TVR tax increases, limited permit auctions, and gradual phase-outs.
Seek further community input, especially from tourism-dependent workers and local housing advocates, to create a more nuanced policy.
Thank you for your consideration. I hope the Council will rely on balanced, evidence-based approaches to address both housing affordability and economic sustainability in Maui.
Respectfully,
Don E. "Trey" Page
To All the Council Members,
I strongly oppose Bill 9 and any other future bills restricting property rights. I have been visiting Maui since the age of 10. I have stayed at the Maui Surf, eaten at the Rusty Harpoon and Crab Catcher, danced at the Banana Moon. Had an unfortunate accident and spent time at Maui Memorial, before Kaiser. I have seen things come and go. I remember when hotels tried to illuminate pidgin. I remember flying to airport beach and the airport bar. When the drinking age was 18. I have never witnessed this rise of blatant racism that seems to have been encouraged by this mayor and LS. Who is the “Our people”? Only native more than 50 percent blood or all citizens who may have been born on Maui but may not be Hawaian. One could only imagine, if Nevada had similar concerns regarding property and some how tried to differentiate between locals and visitors regarding private property, how that would be received. Try being more like Malibu, the Palisades, and Santa Rosa. Try rebuilding, planning, stream lining permitting. Those cities are not taking people’s domains. The majority of these condos such as Papakea were never used to house work forces, have operated legally, provide a tax base far greater then locals, and provided many high paying jobs.
Perhaps a field trip to Lower Honoapiilani Rd would be in order? Look at the food trucks who feed visitors. Java Jazz or the Gazebo. The Budget Avis car rental. Times market. The ABC store who shares a back gate with direct access from Papakea. The 5 AAAAAA rental storage. The business that provides cribs and roller beds for rent next to Miso Phat Sushi. Let’s go towards Safeway. Who goes to Mala and Star Noodle and Honu? Visitors in hotels eat at the Whalers Village and don’t rent cars. All these businesses benefit from the visitors who stay in condos. I believe the 3 LS paid lobbyist all have worked at these places. The leader at Merrimans, the Caucasian transplant at Kimos, the local at Dukes and Old Lahaina Luna. Tourist who stay in condos all visit these very establishments. Not to mention the gyms, clothing stores, grocery stores, medical clinics, beaches, snorkeling companies, etc.
Oppose this Bill 9 and find other solutions. Have not heard a single comment on how this bill if passed will be enforced, monitored, etc. There is no way to force long term renting after the Bill is passed. If know guarantee that an owner will rent long term, then the bill has no teeth and the stated goal of housing will not even be achieved. Rather, a future of endless law suits, county deficits, declining job market, less revenue, and more burned out cars along the highway as people leave Maui.
Vote No on Bill 9
Thank you.
Aloha Chair and Council Members,
My name is Mike Eilers and I’ve been a licensed contractor on Maui for over 25 years. The majority of my work has come from remodeling and maintaining short-term rental units here on the island. I’ve worked in nearly every part of Maui, helping owners keep their properties safe, updated, and in good condition—not just for visitors, but for neighbors and the community.
This bill threatens to wipe out the backbone of my business. If thousands of these units are forced to shut down, I will lose most of my clients. Without that income, I don’t know what I’ll do. I’m not a big company. I’m just a local guy trying to earn an honest living and take care of my family.
I’ve paid my taxes, followed the rules, and served this community for decades. The people who hire me are not corporations—they’re often long-time local residents who depend on short-term rental income just to stay afloat. And like me, they’re doing everything they can to keep up with the cost of living here.
I respectfully ask you to consider the impact this bill will have on working people like me. This isn’t just about property owners—it’s about contractors, cleaners, painters, handymen, landscapers, and so many others who make a living supporting this part of our economy.
Please don’t take away our livelihoods. Mahalo for your time.
Mike Eilers
Chair and Council Members,
Please do your due-diligence before thinking converting all Minatoya condos will solve Maui's housing issue. I am a Board member at Polynesian Shores, and owning a 50+ year old property comes with steep costs. For 2025-2026, the AOAO dues for a one-bedroom condo is $1881 per month! We also expect there may be a special assessment in a couple years to address issues we do not have sufficient reserves to cover. This is after as a community we took out a 3 million dollar load in 2020 to cover major renovations. How many of those you think these units will house can afford just the AOAO and special assessments? Add a mortgage and this is all cost-prohibitive. Instead of targeting these legally permitted STRs, follow through on your in-progress and planned affordable housing projects that these STRs have helped subsidized with their high taxes over many decades.
Mahalo,
Mary Gross
Aloha. I oppose this bill as written. I do support of regulating and phase out of all residential homes and neighborhoods. However I oppose the minatoya list phase out as these are units built mostly in the 1970’s and 1980’s and are legally being used as they they were intended. This bill is a reactive and eminent threat to not only owners and legally operating vacation rentals.
We are owners of a legally and deeded 4 week timeshare property for over almost 40 years. This single bedroom unit has only has been used immediate family and friends and have never used as a source of income or rental property.
I am aware as written the bill has a timeshare amendment, however the bill if passed poses and eminent threat to future amendments and bills aimed out phasing out timeshares.
If this bill passes, it will directly and severely damage the property rights of operation and many employees livelihood. Many of the employees have worked at the property for over 39 years, have lost their homes in the fire, and also completely oppose this bill as written. These are real locals of Maui that will be impacted greater than myself. They have already lost their homes and have an eminent threat of losing employment because the property cannot operate as it has since it was built in the 1970’s. It’s a double gut punch since many are still living on the property since losing their homes in the fire.
I applaud th le activism for change but there are smaller steps that can be taken. I feel this is a land grab and not a solution to the real housing problem. Maui county has not updated their water treatment facilities in over 50 years and I deal this is the largest investment hindering any addition development on west Maui. I feel the real focus should be investing in water and building housing for working families, not reactively rezoning of legal businesses most of them being small studio condominiums.
Thank you for your time
I can’t imagine that any low or middle income residents would be able to afford living in Wailea Ekahi, where we own a rental condo. We use it for two months a year, then rent it out during the rest of the time to visitors who pay substantial TAT and GET taxes to state and county. Directly after the Lahaina fire we offered it to victims but it failed to meet their needs. Maui would be better served if we can continue short term rentals which offer not only income from required taxes but also substantial tourist spending which supports a wide range of local businesses.
Aloha Chair and Council Members,
My name is Susan Ramos, and I’ve lived on Maui for over 30 years. I came here as a single mom with young kids and worked hard to build a life. In 2007, I was finally able to buy a small condo. I lived there for 15 years, but after my granddaughter was born, we needed more space. I now live in a house, and I use that condo as a short-term rental to help cover my expenses.
This income allows me to pay my mortgage, high HOA fees, and support local workers. I have a cleaning crew, a regular window cleaner, and I do everything I can to keep my unit in good shape. My building is older — it was built in the '70s — and we've had expensive assessments. Just installing emergency shut-off valves cost us over $1,200 per unit, and years ago, we had to pay $20,000 each for the cesspool conversion. We might also have an assessment coming up for our cast iron pipes that are over 50 years old.
If this bill passes, I could lose the ability to rent legally — something I’ve relied on to survive. It feels unfair, especially after following all the rules.
My cleaning lady wanted to be here today, but she doesn’t speak English well and was too nervous to testify. She and many others who clean these units are scared to speak up, but they depend on this work to support their families.
Please understand that this doesn’t just affect owners like me — it affects the whole community. If this passes, I believe it will lead to legal battles, lost tax revenue, and real harm to local workers.
I ask you to slow this down and consider a more balanced approach. Mahalo.
— Susan Ramos
Susan Ramos
809-280-9999
To the Members of the Housing and Land Use Committee
Aloha,
I am a Maui county resident, I opposed to the ban of short term rentals. Our condos provide jobs for locals, cleaners, air conditioning maintenance, carpet cleaners, handymen, pest control, among other service providers. Our guests also support local businesses, restaurants and tour companies. It would be a great loss to Maui’s economy, including a large loss of tax dollars from our accommodation taxes collected.
Sincerely
Paolo Crociara
Testimony Opposing Bill 9 – Short-Term Rental Phase-Out
Aloha Chair, Vice Chair, and Committee Members,
My name is Mark, and I am both a part-time Maui resident and the owner of a permitted short-term rental property here in Maui County. I’m writing today to express my deep concern and strong opposition to Bill 9, which seeks to phase out more than 7,000 legal vacation rentals in apartment-zoned areas.
We have owned and operated our STR for over eight years, and in that time, we’ve established a loyal clientele with a significant percentage of repeat guests who return every year. Many of them come to participate in cultural events, surf contests, music festivals, and whale-watching tours. Others volunteer their time to local nonprofits and community cleanups, reflecting the kind of responsible tourism we should be encouraging.
I’ve worked hard to be a responsible, community-minded owner. My welcome guide highlights local restaurants and activity providers. I contract directly with local cleaning crews, electricians, and tradespeople who rely on STRs like mine for steady, year-round work. Over the years, these workers have become like family. My guests consistently tell me that staying in a rental like mine gave them a more personal, authentic connection to the island. Many say they wouldn’t have visited at all if not for this kind of lodging option.
But this issue is much bigger than just my unit.
Independent studies from UHERO, TravelTech, and others paint a stark picture of what this bill would do to Maui’s economy:
• Visitor spending would fall by approximately $900 million per year, according to UHERO. That is about 15 percent of the island’s tourism economy.
• That drop would shrink Maui County’s GDP by roughly 4 percent.
• At least 1,900 jobs would be lost, many of them held by the exact workers and small business owners this bill claims to protect.
• County tax revenue could decline by $60 million annually in property taxes alone. Add in GET and TAT losses, and the total impact could reach $281 million in lost annual county revenue.
• State tax losses could exceed $137 million.
• Realtor.com estimates that eliminating legal STRs would reduce vacation lodging capacity by up to 47 percent, driving tourists elsewhere and concentrating demand into already stressed resort zones.
Meanwhile, a 2024 SMS Research poll found that only 12 percent of Maui residents support eliminating all legal vacation rentals. In that same survey, 77 percent expressed concern that removing STRs would significantly reduce the tax revenue used for essential public services.
I understand that housing availability is a crisis on this island, but removing thousands of legal units that are not zoned for residential living and cannot easily or affordably be converted will not solve the problem. What it will do is damage the livelihoods of working people, reduce public revenue, and push visitor dollars toward other islands or out of the state entirely.
There are smarter solutions:
• Allow all codified legal STRs to continue operating as originally intended
• Cap total legal STRs at current levels
• Enforce the shutdown of illegal STRs
• Continue building affordable housing units using STR tax dollars, and ensure those funds are used only for housing
In addition, the County of Maui has the ability to build its way out of the housing shortage if it chooses to. The county already collects substantial revenue through the General Excise Tax and the Transient Accommodations Tax. These funds can be used to incentivize and subsidize affordable housing development. The tools are in place. The county has the authority to fast-track permitting, ease zoning restrictions, and prioritize housing construction. What is missing is not the ability, but the political will.
Finally, this bill sets a dangerous precedent. The Mayor and County Council are actively picking winners and losers in the economy. Legal STR owners who have followed the rules and invested in their properties will suffer serious financial harm, and the effects will ripple across the entire Maui economy. From workers and small businesses to public services, this bill risks creating more harm than it claims to prevent.
This bill feels rushed, punitive, and based more on politics than data. I respectfully urge the Council to stop this bill and review the economic consequences carefully, and work with owners like me and the community to find a balanced path forward that protects our economy, supports the workforce, and ensures STRs meet high community standards.
Mahalo for your time and consideration.
Mark Welpman
STR Owner and Part-Time Maui Resident
Aloha Chair, Vice Chair, and Committee Members,
We are Robert and Susan Crowson and we own a short-term rental property in the resort of Kapalua Ridge Villas in Maui County. We are writing today to express our deep concern and strong opposition to the proposed legislation to phase out more than 7,000 vacation rentals.
After visiting beautiful Maui about a dozen times, in 2018 we decided that we needed to be a part of Maui and bought into the community of Kapalua Ridge Villas. Between calendar year 2023 up to the present day, we have hosted 92 guests in our villa. In order make our villa a warm, welcoming environment that emphasizes the beauty of the island of Maui as well as its rich culture, we engaged a local interior designer as well as a local contractor. Both worked their magic to turn our condo into a place that receives rave reviews. In updating our condo, we employed numerous local trades people including plumbers, electricians, drywallers, painters, flooring installers, among others. With the help of our Wailuku-based designer, we furnished the place through Hamai Appliances, Life Style Maui, Mind’s Eye, Nina’s Consignment, Outdoor Living, along with other local businesses. We have replaced windows and sliding doors through Gabe at Rainbow Glass and his great crew.
Now that the construction and design phase has been completed, we still interact with various businesses on island to maintain our villa. While we use the services of Maui Paradise Properties to keep our condo in excellent condition, we have interactions with many of the local Maui residents who work to keep our condo in wonderful condition. We are constantly using the services of local cleaners, window washers, laundry services, as well as handymen and various trades folk who periodically come in to repair damages to our place guests may have left. In addition to the local people from Maui Paradise Properties, we rely upon all the gardeners, painters and maintenance personnel who keep our property so inviting through the management of Kapalua Ridge and the Kapalua Resort. We always enjoy visiting our favorite restaurants such as The Pour House and Sea House. We have gotten to know the people who own and work at these establishments, and encourage our guests to visit these great places to dine. We are concerned that all these wonderful people we have continuing interactions with would be adversely affected by the proposed legislation to eliminate all short term rentals on Maui.
Owning in this complex has not been easy. We’ve faced huge maintenance costs, special assessments, and massive increases in insurance after the fires. These aren’t luxuries — they’re costs that ensure the property remains safe, functional, and appealing. STR income helps cover those costs while supporting local workers.
This legislation feels rushed and one-sided. I urge the Council to work with owners like me to find a fair and balanced path forward — one that protects local jobs, supports the economy, and holds STR owners to high standards, instead of phasing us out completely.
Mahalo for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Robert and Susan Crowson
quilink@gmail.com
949-291-6576
To the Members of the Housing and Land Use Committee
Aloha,
My name is Melinda Sweany, and I serve as the Chief Philanthropy Officer at Maui Health Foundation. My husband and I are full-time residents who deeply love this island and have committed our lives and resources to serving this community. I am writing to respectfully oppose the proposal to phase out short-term rentals (STRs) in apartment-zoned buildings on Maui.
When we purchased our two vacation rental condos, it was with the clear understanding that STRs were permitted under existing County guidelines. These investments were not made lightly—they represent an essential source of supplemental income that allows us to continue living here, contributing meaningfully to our local economy, and giving back to the place we call home.
Like many others, our use of short-term rentals does more than support our livelihood. It supports local jobs—cleaners, maintenance staff, and service providers who depend on these rentals for steady work. We refer guests to local restaurants, small businesses, and tour operators, and we regularly reinvest in our properties to ensure they are welcoming and well-maintained.
We are not absentee owners—we live here, work here, worship here, and serve here. Through my work at Maui Health Foundation, I’ve had the privilege of helping raise millions of dollars to ensure that our hospital can continue providing high-quality care to our island’s residents and visitors. That is part of our story of giving back. Owning and responsibly operating short-term rentals has made that possible for our family.
I understand and deeply empathize with the very real challenges around housing availability on Maui. But I urge the Council to consider more balanced, data-informed solutions that do not harm residents who have abided by the rules and invested in good faith. Policies that punish long-standing, community-minded homeowners like us will not solve the housing crisis but may instead deepen the economic challenges we all face.
Please, let’s find a way forward that protects both housing needs and the ability of local residents to remain here and thrive. I ask that you reconsider this phase-out proposal and work with all stakeholders toward solutions that honor the diversity and complexity of our community’s needs.
Mahalo for your time and service to our County.
With respect and aloha,
Melinda Sweany
I am opposed to the ban of short term rentals. Our condos provide jobs for locals, cleaners, air conditioning maintenance, carpet cleaners, handymen, pest control, among other service providers. Our guests also support local businesses, restaurants and tour companies. It would be a great loss to Maui’s economy, including a large loss of tax dollars from our accommodation taxes collected.
Aloha Chair, Vice Chair, and Committee members,
My name is Darrell Walker and I own a short term rental property in Maui County. I am writing today to express my strong opposition to the proposed legislation to phase out more than 7000 vacation rentals.
I have been coming to Maui for over 25 years, have made many wonderful relationships with locals, and have been the beneficiary of the wonderful hospitality extended by Maui residents. We have come to know employees of restaurants, maintenance workers, contractors, house cleaners, those we employ through our complex HOA, and many others. I believe this legislation would have a very negative effect on their livelihood and we would hate to see that.
My wife and I are in the insurance business and when the tragic fire of 2023 happened we immediately reached out to local insurance agents who are part of a major insurer we work with to see what we could do to help. We removed our rental from any marketing sources and offered to help the local employees of those agents. In addition, before there was a formal way of helping, we went to our national insurer to let them know our place would be available for any short term stays needed for employees or others while they look for a more long term solution. After seeing what the pandemic did to the local economy we were very concerned how this would affect our friends and those who have provided many needed services to us over time.
We have many repeat guests who come to Maui to enjoy the same beauty and hospitality my family and I have enjoyed over the years. Many have told us they would not come if a hotel was the only option, that is something that matters to all the small businesses they support during their stay.
We love being part of Kapalua Bay Villas but owning in the complex has not been easy. We have faced huge maintenance costs that have caused HOA dues to increase almost 100% in just the last 5 years as well as massive increases to the cost of insurance. These are costs that keep the property safe and appealing, they are not luxuries. Short term rental income helps to cover some of those costs while supporting many local workers.
This legislation feels rushed and one -sided. I urge the council to work with owners like me to find a fair and balanced path forward. A path that will protect local jobs, support the local economy, and holds the short term rental owners to high standards instead of phasing out what is a vital part of that economy.
Thank you for your consideration
Sincerely,
Darrell Walker
Aloha Maui Housing and Land Use Committee,
I’ve spent a large part of my life in Maui. Through the pandemic, Maalalea was my home and will continue to be unless the ban on short term rentals goes through. My family cannot live in Maui all the time, despite me going to online school, it is too difficult to stay long term sustainably. Short term rentals provide me with the option to visit my home on Maui, visit my friends, and see my favorite places. I also want to protect our island, with the sea level rising, funding and action are necessary to maintain the sacred balance we have had. We are at the tipping point of losing the most wonderful place I know, and I truly believe that banning short term rentals will only serve to undo the balance and lower the quality of lives for the community that Maui is fundamentally built on.
Dear Chair, Vice Chair, and Committee Members,
I hope this message finds you well. My husband (Joseph Pault) and Myself (Melissa Triber) have been proud owners of a condominium at the Kapalua Bay Villas for the past four years. The proposed Bill 9 short-term rental ban would affect our livelihood and the entire community. I am writing to express our strong opposition to this ban and urge you to recommend its denial.
Banning short-term rentals would have severe economic repercussions for Maui and its residents. Numerous economic studies indicate that such a ban could lead to the loss of thousands of local jobs, result in an estimated annual tax revenue reduction of $91.8 million, and eliminate over a billion dollars in economic activity (source: Maui News). Our community heavily relies on tourism to sustain local businesses and support livelihoods.
Short-term rentals significantly contribute to our local economy by supporting small businesses such as restaurants, shops, maintenance workers (cleaning teams, handypersons, etc), and tour operators in Kapalua Bay and neighboring areas. Many homeowners, including myself and my husband, depend on rental income to maintain our homes, support our families, and contribute to community initiatives and charities. The potential loss of this source of additional income would not only impact our personal finances but also the ability of our community to support important initiatives and charities.
Moreover, properties designated for short-term rentals often undergo continuous upgrades and maintenance, enhancing our neighborhood’s overall quality and appeal. Responsible hosts, a significant portion of the short-term rental community, also play a crucial role in promoting environmental stewardship among visitors, fostering a culture of sustainability that aligns with the Commission’s goals.
It is crucial to recognize that resort communities like the Kapalua Resort, including the Bay, Ridge, and Golf Villas, were explicitly planned and approved for transient rental use (Kapalua Maui Hawaii (uli.org). The historical context and documentation indicate their intended purpose as short-term accommodations within a destination resort setting. A 1975 Hawaii Real Estate Commission report for the Kapalua Bay Villas states that the units will be used for “permanent or temporary residences, lodgings or rental.” https://hawaii.gov/dcca_condo/reports/0820P.pdf.
These properties were never intended for long-term residential use, and attempting to reclassify them as such would not only be contrary to their original design but also could have significant negative economic and social consequences. Mayor Bissen’s proposed draft ordinance states: “The purpose of this ordinance is to revert all Apartment District properties to their intended long-term residential use.” Properties like the Kapalua Bay, Ridge, and Golf Villas were never intended for long-term residential use and are configured for resort use, not affordable family housing. For example, the Bay Villas are oceanside, lack covered parking and storage, prohibit pets, ban working trucks and are high-maintenance 47-year-old buildings. Annual Association dues and special assessments alone in these properties can exceed over $32,000.
The Maui County Housing and Land Use Committee should reject the proposed bill as it lacks careful support and analysis. The Honolulu Civil Beat recently reported that the County Council approved $300,000 for the Office of Council Services to investigate the economic impact of Mayor Bissen’s proposed short-term rental ban. Maui Council Budgets $300,000 To Study Impacts Of Eliminating 7,000 Vacation Rentals - Honolulu Civil Beat. This type of analysis should precede the current proposal to ban short-term rentals better to understand the potential effects of such a decision.
In conclusion, we urge the Maui County Housing and Land Use Commission to carefully consider the positive impacts of allowing short-term rentals in Kapalua Bay. By supporting this accommodation option, you will not only bolster tourism and economic growth but also uphold the sustainability and prosperity of our community. Thank you for considering my perspective and the welfare of our community’s future.
Warm regards,
Melissa Triber + Joseph Pault
500 Bay Drive
Unit 38G1-2
Lahaina, HI 96761
c 509.990.5773
e melissatriber@gmail.com
e jdpault@hotmail.com
Testimony Opposing Bill 152
From a Maui STR Owner and Immigrant from Macao and Hong Kong
Dear Council Members,
My name is Jenny Yeung, and I strongly oppose Bill 152. I am an immigrant from Macao and Hong Kong and a responsible short-term rental (STR) owner in Maui. My family has invested in this community not just through ownership but by directly supporting wildfire victims and promoting local businesses through every guest we host.
We also experienced the Eaton Fire in Los Angeles—our home was just one mile from the burn zone. That experience underscored the importance of meaningful, coordinated recovery. This bill offers the opposite: it strips rights from compliant owners while failing to deliver solutions for those in need.
The justification behind this legislation does not match the facts. Despite condo prices falling by up to 40% and inventory quadrupling in two years, sales remain low. Over 800 condos are now sitting on the market. That is clear evidence there is no surge of demand waiting to claim these units. Eliminating STRs will not result in housing conversions—it will result in vacant properties, declining tax revenues, and economic loss.
UHERO’s analysis forecasts up to $900 million in lost visitor spending and nearly 2,000 job losses. The bill also risks cutting tens of millions in county tax revenue—money that could be used for actual housing programs.
Contrast this with how Los Angeles responded to wildfires: immediate shelter, coordinated private-public relief, and long-term rebuilding programs. Maui’s fire survivors still lack adequate options, yet this Council is targeting law-abiding owners instead of providing concrete recovery support.
I urge you to reject Bill 152. It is economically destructive, legally questionable, and based on assumptions already contradicted by market data. Maui needs real housing solutions—not scapegoats.
Sincerely,
Jenny Yeung
STR Owner (Maui Kamaole J-108), Immigrant, Community Supporter
Tim Smokoff
3543 Lower Honoapiilani Rd, L401
Lahina, HI 96761
smokoff@hotmail.com
206-369-2322
June 8, 2025
Maui County Council
200 South High Street
Wailuku, HI 96793
Dear Council Members,
I am writing to express my strong opposition to Bill 9, which proposes to outlaw short-term rentals in apartment-zoned areas on Maui. As a long-standing property owner at Papakea Resort, I urge you to reconsider this measure or provide an exemption for properties like Papakea that have historically operated as resort accommodations.
My family has been time interval owners at Papakea for over forty years, accumulating twelve weeks throughout the year that we use for family visits. When we are not able to use our time, we offer our unit as a short-term rental to other visitors. This arrangement brings several important benefits:
Economic Contribution: Short-term rentals contribute significant tax revenue to the County through TAT and GET collections, and visiting guests support local businesses, restaurants, and services across the island.
Cost-Effective Accommodations: Papakea offers a more affordable and flexible lodging option compared to traditional hotels, appealing to families and repeat visitors who support the island economy.
Property Maintenance: Income from rentals helps owners defray the increasing costs of property upkeep, ensuring the resort remains a well-maintained and desirable destination.
When we purchased our interval ownership, we did so with the full expectation that short-term rentals were permitted under County ordinances. Papakea has always operated as a resort, with a central check-in desk, concierge services, and shared amenities such as pools, tennis courts, and barbecue areas—features typically found at traditional resorts.
Importantly, Papakea is located in a commercial district and is directly adjacent to other full-scale resorts. It is clearly distinct from residential neighborhoods and should not be grouped with properties in areas where short-term rentals may indeed be incompatible with community goals.
For these reasons, I respectfully ask the Council to exempt Papakea from Bill 9 or reconsider the bill’s broad reach. It is unfair to penalize owners who have acted in good faith and whose properties have long operated as part of Maui’s tourism infrastructure.
Thank you for your time and for considering the views of property owners like myself who care deeply about Maui’s future.
Sincerely,
Tim Smokoff
Papakea Property Owner
Bill 9 has illuminated a disturbing trend: paid "organizers" feigning care for the community and instead using the process to create new income-generating opportunities that keep the local community in a constant state of division and stress.
California-native, Stacey Alapai, would never go work for a big hotel in a dead-end, low-paying, oppressive job. But, she is quick to sell local residents down the river from her million-dollar house that is not even located in an area relevant to the STR discussion.
The fact that hillbilly transplant, Katie Austin, feels comfortable telling long-time residents that have been running small businesses for longer than she has been alive that it’s time to “pivot” is a wild take.
Lahaina Strong talks a big game about how much of a benefit it is to work for hotels because there are unions. They of course leave out the fact that the unions are necessary because of how predatory the big hotels are and that workers have to pay hefty dues to be part of the unions.
Let’s also not forget what happens about every six months with the big hotels in Hawaii: massive strikes due to mistreatment of workers. It seems that, due to the County allowing hotels to proliferate while not paying living wages or considering where these poorly paid people would live, we are here today. Owners of STRs that have been legally operating for almost 50 years are now being asked to clean up the mess from the modern slavery that is extractive hotels. Meanwhile, Lahaina Strong is leading the hunt to track down local residents that have escaped the oppression and formed small businesses that they own and control to be returned to shackles of big hotel’s oppression.
In September of 2024, Over 4,000 workers went on a 40-day strike regarding mistreatment of workers by 8 hotels. The large mob of local union members Lahaina Strong is gathering to provide in-person testimony is ridiculous. Given how badly hotels treat their employees, maybe ask them to state their name and to blink twice if they were threatened to be there. Or was it a spot bonus that got them to show up? Some sort of Stockholm Syndrome? Or maybe sweaty pig Jerry Gibson just isn’t quite as compelling and the hotels needed a more “local” voice to do their bidding.
Rest assured that the hotels are cataloging all this testimony and taking attendance for workers that advance the big hotel’s interests in taking out the STR competition. This will all be evidence used by management in the next collective bargaining negotiation to refute any claims of mistreatment of workers. The more mistreatment, the more workers the unions can recruit to pay dues. While front-line workers are left to endure the abuse from big hotels and limited competition in the labor market, Lahaina Strong lobbyists will continue collecting checks to keep doing this important work preparing propaganda videos and honoring their warrior heritage by fighting in social media comment threads.
OPPOSE BILL 9.
Dear Chair Kama, Vice Chair Uʻu-Hodgins and Members of the Housing and Land Use Committee:
I oppose Bill 9 as drafted and propose that the Council amend Bill 9 to exclude Papakea Oceanfront Resort which the County has historically identified as having A2-H2 zoning.
Background on Papakea
Papakea was initially marketed and sold as a legal vacation rental property before any zoning restrictions limited transient vacation rentals in apartment zoned properties.
Papakea owners have been operating legal vacation rentals for almost fifty years.
Papakea has never been workforce housing so Papakea is not an example of a property that converted from workforce housing to transient vacation rental use.
The majority of units at Papakea are under 600 square feet and the property has limited parking.
Papakea is not in a residential neighborhood and is located alongside a long stretch of hotel-zoned properties and directly adjacent to multiple commercially-zoned properties.
Unlike apartment buildings designed for long-term residential use, Papakea has a front desk, an activity concierge, shared activity space, and numerous other common resort amenities.
Owners purchased condos at Papakea with the reasonable expectation that short-term rentals were legal based on ordinances as far back as 1989, and as recent as 2022.
In reliance on the Maui County ordinances and published documents, Hawaii state law, and constitutional protections, owners invested in costly renovations, furnishings, and long-term financial commitments such as mortgages that make any phase out of short-term rental right offensive of each buyer’s investment-backed expectations.
Papakea’s Contributions to the Community
Papakea’s resort operations provide full-time, benefited, employment for 35 local resident employees; some have worked at the property for over 17 years; some started in entry-level positions and worked into supervisory roles.
Papakea supports a wide variety of local trade professionals including pest control, HVAC, painting, plumbing, electrical, general contracting, masonry, tile and flooring, fitness instructors, entertainers, and tree trimming.
Individual Owner Contributions to the Community
Many small businesses owned and operated by local residents from the Maui community rely on Papakea short-term rentals including housekeepers, handymen, on-island agents, and contractors. These service providers set their own rates, work hours, select their own clients, work conditions and standard operating procedures. Shutting down short-term rentals at Papakea means telling local entrepreneurs that worked hard to build a small business that they need to just go get a job somewhere else to make less money, have less flexibility, and be subject to oppressive corporate policies.
Papakea STRs support the State of Hawaii and County of Maui through payment of property taxes (many at the short-term rental rate), Transient Accommodations Tax, General Excise Tax, and Maui County Transient Accommodations Tax.
Papakea guests support many small businesses on the island including restaurants, food trucks, tour operators, activities, state parks, the national park, and shops.
Papakea owners and guests regularly participate in community activities including volunteering at beach cleanups, Maui Humane Society, the hospital, and many other local organizations, and contribute to local philanthropic nd cultural efforts.
I would like to thank the committee for the opportunity to comment.
Sincerely,
Daljit Hundal
3543 Lower Honoapiilani Road, Apartment J405j