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)
I was hesitant to write this as I was concerned that was it really going to make a difference, but everyone that is affected by this Bill 9 should speak up and say how they feel. I have been coming to Maui since I was a child with my parents and have such fond memories. My husband and I saved for a long time and planned to spend our time in Maui after we both retired. We have owned a unit at Kaanapali Royal in West Maui since 2019 and have used it not only as a short term rental, but we have lived there and we have many memories of our family visiting and last year we did a long term rental for friends of ours that were victims of the devastating 2023 Lahaina fire. With that said, we are opposed to Bill 9. When we purchased our condo, we did a considerable amount of work to update the unit and make necessary repairs as the building is old and lots needed to be done. We did this has we had planned to spend at least 6 months or more of the year living in our Maui condo and consider that our other home. We loved living there and made many friends and gave back to the community. Unfortunately, my husband became ill and due to the lack of medical care in Maui, the treatment he needed was not available to him and we had to come back to California. Our condo was used as a place of gathering for people to get food, water and other necessary supplies for the residents of Kaanapali Royal immediately following the 2023 Lahaina fire. When we purchased our condo in 2019, we were told that Kaanapali Royal was in the Kaanapali Resort group, that of which we paid in to, and that our unit was zoned to be used as a short term rental. No mention of it being on the Minatoya list and that at any date in the future that right would be taken away from us. Please, don't take the ability for us to use it as a short term rental for a few months of the year away. This is not the answer. With the cost of the monthly mortgage payment, property taxes, HOA dues and insurance, there would be few, if any, that could afford to pay the monthly rental rate of approximately $5,000 or more. That does not include any special assessments that could come up at any time due to the building being older (1980). Kaanapali Royal is the the Kaanapali Resort group and should remain in that Resort group and be included in that condo/hotel status. I urge you to please consider an amendment to exclude Kaanapali Royal from this short term rental ban. It would be devastating to us if we had to give up our unit, so many of our friends would lose their jobs and then our unit would just sit empty simply because it would be unaffordable for those that are seeking to find long term housing and we would end up having to sell it. Respectively, I thank all of you for taking the time to read my message.
You Can’t Drill for Aloha: What Happens When STRs Are Treated Like Oil and Gas Assets
Lyndon Ibele is the former longtime president of the Maʻalaea Village Association (MVA) where some condo complexes offer the vast majority of housing units as STRs, with hundreds of STR units dominating the tiny village.
The following professional biography is shared as an example of the type of leadership that emerges when housing in a coastal village is treated like a commodity instead of a community.
With hundreds of short-term rentals (STRs) operating in Maʻalaea, the neighborhood has been managed less like a home for locals and more like an oil field—prioritizing extraction and control over the inclusion of minorities, families and cultural stewardship. This is what happens when housing policy is shaped by pipeline logic.
Marathon Oil Company —where former longtime MVA President Lyndon held senior roles—has taken clear and documented steps to secure Marathon Oil Company’s Fossil Fuel Industry Interests with Federal Lobbying according to online records:
Lobbying Expenditures:
• $920,000 in federal lobbying during 2023
• $730,000 in federal lobbying during 2024 (as of latest filings)
Campaign Contributions:
• Marathon Oil PAC raised approximately $461,047 for the 2023–2024 election cycle
These figures place Marathon Oil among the top 1,000 lobbying organizations in the U.S., with a focused commitment to fossil fuel interests rather than supporting clean or free energy.
How This Undermines Clean Energy
1. Financing Fossil Lobbying Teams
The half-million-plus spent annually helps hire lobbyists to protect oil and gas regulatory loopholes, block emissions reductions, and shape climate policy in Washington.
2. Obstructing Clean Energy Legislation
By maintaining fossil-friendly legislative influence, Marathon Oil contributes to delays or weakening of climate bills, clean energy tax incentives, and emissions standards—slowing renewable investment and increasing long-term costs (health, infrastructure, extreme weather response).
3. Shaping Political Narratives
The combination of campaign contributions and lobbying helps elevate candidates and lawmakers who resist clean-energy transitions, hindering progress at both federal and state levels.
4. Perpetuating Climate Risk
Less clean-energy deployment means continued greenhouse gas emissions, locked-in fossil infrastructure, and reduced momentum toward decarbonization—contributing to worsening climate impacts.
Final Take
• Marathon Oil’s lobbying is carbon-vested—slightly less than other majors, but still significant enough to preserve its oil-and-gas business model.
• These efforts don’t support transitions to clean energy; rather, they preserve fossil dominance, undermining climate action.
• The result: higher risks to public health, energy security, and climate resilience, as clean fuel and energy alternatives are systematically suppressed.
In eerily similar fashion, many Maʻalaea short-term rental (STR) operators have opposed Bill 9—despite its intent to restore long-term community health, housing stability, and environmental balance. Just as fossil fuel executives fight policies that would clean the air and protect future generations, STR beneficiaries now resist policies meant to return homes to residents, quiet to neighborhoods, and dignity to displaced families.
The through-line is clear: short-term profit over long-term wellbeing. Whether in oil fields or oceanfront condominiums, the logic of extraction resists reform—even when the public good hangs in the balance.
Lyndon Ibele
(Source: LinkedIn)
Former Ma’alaea Village Association President
Alaska Section Chair of the American Society of Petroleum Engineers
Ibele Energy Consulting
Petroleum Engineering and Gas Marketing Consultant
Location: Anchorage, Alaska, United States
Education: Marietta College
About
Registered Professional Engineer (Alaska) with 35 years’ experience in petroleum engineering, oil and gas operations, natural gas marketing and contracts, supervision, reservoir engineering, economics, and project management.
Work assignments have included locations in Wyoming (WY), Texas (TX), New Mexico (NM), Oklahoma (OK), Louisiana (LA), Alaska (AK), and North Dakota (ND).
Professional Experience
Independent Energy Consultant
Ibele Energy Consulting
Feb 2016 – Present
• Provide expertise in natural gas marketing, engineering, and production operations for natural gas assets in the Cook Inlet basin of Alaska.
Engineering and Gas Marketing Consultant
Petrotechnical Resources of Alaska (PRA)
Dec 2014 – Jan 2016
• Provided engineering, natural gas production, and gas marketing expertise to a new producing company in the Cook Inlet basin.
Project Manager, Consultant Petroleum Engineer
Petrotechnical Resources of Alaska (PRA)
Feb 2014 – Sep 2014
• Performed contract work for Marathon Oil Company, Bakken Asset Team, planning surface facilities for a 150-mile oil/water gathering system.
Project Manager
Marathon Oil Corporation
Sep 2011 – Jan 2013
• Planned and strategized construction of pipeline gathering systems for the Bakken Asset Team in North Dakota.
• Collaborated with operations, marketing, legal, and accounting teams to evaluate proposals and negotiate gathering agreements.
Production Coordinator
Marathon Oil Corporation
2007 – 2011
Volunteer Experience
Ducks Unlimited
• National Board of Directors
• Alaska State Chairman
• Numerous other leadership positions
Focus Area: Environment
Licenses & Certifications
Registered PE, Petroleum Engineering
State of Alaska
• Credential ID: EP-10261
Organizations
Ducks Unlimited
• Alaska State Chairman
• Board of Directors
• Emeritus Board Member
Society of Petroleum Engineers
• Alaska Section Chair
• Scholarship Committee Chair
Many of these Minatoya properties were never intended as long term housing. They were not built as workforce housing. They were built on the waterfront shoreline, as vacation condos/ resorts and intended to draw tourists and vacationers. My complex was built in 1969 and I have pictures of the original construction site, the billboards announcing Maui’s Newest Vacation Resort. I have pictures of various brochures that list the 1 and 2 bedroom NIGHTLY rates. The brochure from 1971 had my 1 bedroom for 2 people at $28/day. ($3 charge for an extra guest) “Comes completely equipped and furnished for carefree vacation living, with linen and maid service provided and resident manager and staff to assist with special needs.” These are not long-term workforce housing elements. This was never intended to house local residents full time. We never “took” any “homes” away from previously living local residents.
Some of the statements in support of this ban mention having large families crammed in to a single bedroom or studio and doing just fine with that space. They say that it is better than sleeping in a car or on the beach. While no one wants anyone to be forced out of homes or into sleeping in cars, the fire marshals code restricts many of these smaller places from having that high density occupancy and it simply won’t be possible, for legal and safety reasons.
From listening to many of the testimonials, if there are homes that have been taken away from local residents in the last few years, that is a rather different case than buildings that were constructed over 50 years ago with intent of housing vacationers. The homes that need to be returned back to residents should maybe be looked into. Have things been done legally?
Illegal STRs, don’t contribute to any of the taxes that we do. They don’t declare any of the income, nor pay income tax on that income. They don’t pay the outrageously high STR property tax on their property that they illegally rent out. Maybe the county should initially focus on taking those illegal STRs out of the picture, and return THOSE homes back to the local residents so that they can have their neighborhoods back.
When the fire occurred, it ripped all of our hearts out. Though our building did not burn, we have all been affected by that event in some way, as the entire island has. Housing is, and has been an issue for many years. It is not exclusive to Hawaii though. Increasing costs of living have happened all over the world, as some testifiers have attested to. People live 2-3 hours away from their workplace, as they can not afford to live where they work. This is magnified by coastline/ beachfront locations being highly sought after as well. All over the world, you will find costs increasing in the more desirable places. That’s just the way that it is. To put the blame of so many contributing issues all at the feet of the LEGAL STR owners on this Minatoya list is simply wrong.
We want to help. We have helped. We have donated. We have opened up our units far more than what these supposed citings list. We have contributed in so many ways that are now just brushed off and now we are being threatened to the point of no one wanting to even risk their names, realtors names, complex names, cleaners names, due to the increased bullying, both in person and online.
STR owners are being collectively villainized and described as greedy, colonizer extractors putting profits before people. This housing situation has been greatly mismanaged by the government. People need houses to live in. Someone needs to own those houses, so they either own them and live in them themselves, or they own them and rent them out. There are also condos and apartments which have gotten lumped in and presented as houses. Somehow, the government has very successfully directed all the emotion and rage about housing issues straight onto legal STR owners. I purchased my 550 sq ft 1 bedroom condo in 2018. It is one of the 56 single bedroom units in our complex. Our complex sits along the shoreline, which just 4 years ago, was deemed as not ideal for local housing due to sea level rise, that they “cost more to upkeep” and “we wouldn’t want to put our residents in areas that are in jeopardy of sea level rise exposure.”
Why are we now being forced to place local residents in long term situations that were discouraged by this very council a few years ago?
This bill will do nothing positive for any local residents. All that it will do is force more job loss for locals who rely on this STR industry.
My husband and I own a condo at Kihei Bay Vista and it happens to be on the Minatoya list. We purchased 17 years ago with the intention of retiring to Maui.
We understand the complexity regarding Hawai’i and its sovereignty, and I respect the culture and Hawaiian community. I understand the great need to house local people and to perpetuate the culture. I have studied aspects of the culture and been part of a halau and studying hula for close to 30 years. I know it does not make me Hawaiian, but I like to think I am an ally.
We never had the intention to make a living off of this condo…just trying to make the payments so I could live the last part of our lives where we feel happy. We just wanted to retire there and be an asset to the community, not a burden.
We are forced to put our condo on the market. We cannot afford the payment without renting it out until we are ready to retire. And I doubt very seriously that anybody can afford the payment that we make for a one bedroom, one bath apartment that’s less than 800 ft.². We are caught between a rock and a hard spot. Not only do we lose our retirement dream, we lose all of our investment buy selling for much less that what we paid for it.
We are not like many of the other owners who own many condos and have been trying to make a business out of short term rentals. We don’t have other condos to fall back on because that was never our intention to own a bunch of condos and make money that way.
I truly hope that there is a resolution to this problem that somehow will allow us to keep Our condo. But at this point, I’m feeling sort of hopeless. At any rate, thank you so much for your time.
Why it’s a good idea to listen to Stan Franco — Qualifications & Experience
• Long-time Maui County employee, primarily focused on housing and land-use planning, providing deep institutional familiarity with county procedures and constraints.
• Vice President (later President) of Stand Up Maui, a 501(c)(3) affordable housing advocacy nonprofit that originated from FACE Maui. In 2022, he emphasized SUM’s commitment to ensuring the County Council and administration implement both the Comprehensive Affordable Housing Plan and the Comprehensive Plan to End Homelessness.
• Founding contributor to Maui’s Residential Workforce Housing Policy. He actively supported its development and defended it during council hearings in 2006–2007.
His dual roles—as a seasoned government official and community-led nonprofit leader—afford him rare insight into housing, homelessness, planning, and civic accountability.
Public Quotes on Bill 9
June 18, 2025
• “The current housing situation is critical and … I see no alternative solutions being proposed.”
– Testimony before the Maui County Housing & Land Use Committee in support of Bill 9.
• “Bill 9 offers one of the few feasible paths forward.”
– Same testimony session, emphasizing urgency and limited options.
Why Listen to Stan Franco
1. Subject-Matter Expert: Blends insider policy knowledge with grassroots advocacy for complete understanding.
2. Proven Track Record: Led in achieving funding and adoption of Maui’s Comprehensive Affordable Housing Plan.
3. Clarity Under Pressure: Frames Maui’s housing crisis as urgent—with few real solutions and Bill 9 as one of them.
4. Consistent Voice of Accountability: From workforce housing policy in to homelessness planning to Bill 9 , he has consistently advocated for tangible housing solutions.
Why to Listen to Stan Franco Summary
Who: Veteran Maui County housing & land-use professional and nonprofit leader.
Experience: Decades in public service and community organizing, including key roles in crafting major housing policies.
What he says: Maui’s housing crisis is extreme, there are currently no viable alternatives, and Bill 9 is one of the few promising solutions.
Why it matters: His credibility stems from consistent, informed, and outcome-driven advocacy—beginning with the workforce housing law and continuing through today.
Final Take
Stan Franco is not theorizing—he is distilling decades of lived policy experience into actionable legislation. On Bill 9 his voice combines clarity, authority, and unwavering commitment to the people of Maui. He is a voice worth heeding.
I’m going to close with a personal story. There was a time a few years ago when I was renting a home that was foreclosed. I had nowhere to go as a result of limited budget and rental availability, and was couch surfing with sympathetic friends between places when I got a mean case of cellulitis tissue infection resulting all the real dirty work of making the rundown foreclosure “broom-clean” so I could qualify for the cash incentive from the evicting real estate agent, which was the only way I could afford to move in my state of health and financial crisis at the time.
I’ll never forget being in transit from one couch surfing refuge to another in my vehicle with just my essentials, everything else in storage, really needing to go to the ER for the infection that probably merited some IV antibiotics, but I was too proud and embarrassed and freaked out by the entire situation to seek emergency treatment, so I stuck it out with the oral antibiotics my doctor had provided. Somehow I make it through the ordeal to tell this tale to you today. I just didn’t ever want to have the experience of responding to the intake staff at Maui Memorial with “none” when asked for my home address. Eventually I found a place where I have been sheltering ever since, but it’s not dignified for various reasons and I still can’t afford to move, despite being a dutiful contributor to Maui’s community with years of effort donated to local nonprofits working to solve environmental challenges. I’m a professional with advanced educational and professional credentials — I’m just operating on an extremely limited budget that makes me functionally housing-insecure in a few ways. So many upstanding people have similar stories of living on the edge here that go unspoken.
You leaders don’t get to do nothing about this housing crisis any longer, please pass Bill 9 today!
And sincere gratitude to Chair Kama for keeping the peace.
I strongly oppose Bill 9 because it hurts local residents. My wife and I have been full time residents of the Kamaole Sands since 2005. Over those 20 years we have worked within the community and build strong relationships with literally hundreds of local residents through our employment at the Pacific Whale Foundation, Maui Preparatory Academy and residence at Kamaole Sands. We are acutely aware of both the long term need for additional housing, effects of the Lahaina fire, and the decades of Maui’s lopsided economic dependency on tourism. We feel enormous sadness and pain of seeing local business empty and closed completely in the Shops of Wailea, Queen Ka'ahumanu Center, Whales Village,and Kihei Kalama Village. We have lived through years of amazing economic prosperity and growth only to see the devastating effects of significant down turn in visitors. The lack of tourism has already hit Maui, but nothing like the projections of how it will be if Bill 9 kills the short term rental options. The are so many local business and local residents that work in supporting visitor tours, snorkeling and scuba, fishing and hiking, water sports, whale watchs, souvenirs concessions, bike and moped rentals, car rentals, restaurants, food trucks, transportation, hospitality services, art and glass galleries, and entertainment. Literally thousands of local residents livelihood depends on having visitors. From our perspective Bill 9 killing short term rentals is extremely short sighted and will devastate the Maui economy and hurt local residents far more the respite of additional rental availability. We sincerely urge you to vote down Bill 9.
Statement of Appreciation
To the Maui County Council, Staff, and Honorable Mayor,
I’m testifying to pause and acknowledge all of you—not just as officials, but as human beings navigating one of the most emotionally charged and complex chapters in Maui’s history.
The long hours you spend in these chambers—listening with open minds and steady hearts to voices that sometimes clash, and carrying the weight of decisions that ripple far beyond this Council—do not go unnoticed.
I can only imagine the toll this takes: the energy it demands to remain composed in the face of criticism, to sit patiently through passionate testimony, and to make space for perspectives that may challenge your own.
And so I want to say, sincerely: I see you. I appreciate you. Your physical stamina, your grace, and your willingness to hold this space for our island and its people matters deeply.
No matter how you vote, I believe the act of showing up, of wrestling with these hard decisions under such public scrutiny, is itself worthy of honor.
To the Honorable Mayor, I extend special thanks. Your position bears unique burdens—balancing executive leadership, urgent recovery, and public expectation during a profoundly difficult time for our community. The kuleana you carry is immense, and I want to acknowledge the unseen weight behind the decisions that reach your desk. Thank you for staying present, grounded, and committed to Maui’s future by proposing Bill 9.
Thank you for your service. Thank you for enduring. And thank you, most of all, for allowing the people to be heard.
I tried to rent my str for UNDER my costs on Craigslist. No one was interested, not local not mainland. This will not work! Build small homes for families not apartments!
Testimonial in Opposition to Bill 9 – Maui County Council
Aloha Council Members,
My name is Brad Sparkes, and I am writing to respectfully oppose Bill 9. I want to share our story—not as outsiders, but as people who deeply love Maui, who believed in the promises we were sold, and who want to be part of the solution.
We are Canadians who worked hard all our lives—one of us a school teacher, the other a business developer. For decades, whenever we saved up for a vacation, it was always Maui. Maui was our dream. The beauty, the people, the good vibes, the aloha spirit—we felt welcomed and embraced like 'ohana. We stayed in Wailea, usually in the hotel zone, and eventually rented condos there. Over time, we felt less like visitors and more like part of a community.
After the Lahaina fires, we were heartbroken. Like many, we considered canceling our planned trip out of respect. But then came the plea: Maui is open. Please come. We need you. And so we came, not just to vacation, but to support the community we loved. It was during that trip that we decided to invest our life savings into a modest one-bedroom condo in Wailea Ekahi—a place we were told was legally rentable, in a hotel-zoned area close to where we had always stayed. This was the only way we could afford to have a home on Maui—to spend time here and rent it out when we’re not.
We believed we were contributing to the community—not taking from it. Our taxes from rental income go to support the island. We shopped locally, furnished our unit from local businesses, hired local trades. We felt like we were doing it the right way, in a place we were repeatedly told welcomed us.
Then, out of nowhere, we learned about something called the Minatoya List. No one had told us about this before. Suddenly, everything changed. We were made to feel like enemies. That we were the problem. That we didn’t belong.
We understand and care deeply about the housing crisis on Maui. But creating new suffering does not solve existing suffering. Taking away someone else’s dream, someone who came in good faith and invested their life savings into the promise of Maui, does not solve the crisis. It's not pono. It’s not in the spirit of aloha.
Our unit is not in a local neighborhood. While our building is technically zoned residential, it’s located in the heart of the hotel zone. Many in the same complex are zoned as hotel. Families aren’t lining up to live in Ekahi—it’s not where the affordable housing crisis is most acute. What’s needed is not scapegoating, but action. Real, fast action.
We urge the County Council to fast-track affordable housing. Burn the red tape. Stop saying it’s impossible. Lives—and futures—depend on it. This housing crisis requires bold leadership and urgent solutions, not punitive actions against people who believed the dream you sold.
We want to continue contributing to Maui, to support the local economy, and to do what’s right. But taking everything away from good people who came in good faith isn’t right. It’s not pono. It’s not aloha.
Please reconsider the path Bill 9 is taking. Let’s work toward solutions that lift everyone up—without tearing others down.
With deep respect and aloha,
Brad & Heather Sparkes
Wailea Ekahi Village
I am writing in support of Bill 9 to phase out some short-term rentals. Right now, our current housing market is not able to support many of the jobs and people we need in this community. For example, we have had a years long teacher shortage because teachers can not afford rent and homes (https://www.civilbeat.org/2025/06/data-dive-why-new-hawai%CA%BBi-teachers-cant-afford-to-buy-a-house/).
Phasing out these short term rentals would increase the supply of housing on the islands, thus decreasing the overall price of housing here. While I agree that this will not solve the housing crisis, we still need to build more workforce housing developments, it will still help with the overall cost of housing.
The worry about the reduction of tax income can be remedied by raising the tax rate on non-owner occupied homes and the hotel tax. An estimated 15,000 homes on Maui are non-owner occupied (https://www.civilbeat.org/2022/04/thousands-of-houses-are-empty-on-maui-would-higher-taxes-change-that/) yet their tax rate is less than half of that of short term rentals. Doubling the tax rate of these non-owner occupied homes would more than make up for the tax revenue of removing the 7,000 short term rental houses from the market. And both these moves, removing the short term rentals and increasing taxes on non-owner occupied homes would help increase the housing supply here on Maui.
This increase in the housing supply would lower prices. This will allow our local hard-working families to continue living here in the communities that they grew up in and built together.
Mahalo
Given that the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom enabled the commodification of land once held in common by Kanaka ʻŌiwi, leading to over a century of settler-driven zoning and housing policies that displaced Native and local families in favor of speculative profit, and that the post-plantation shift to tourism accelerated this dispossession by converting apartment-zoned housing into transient vacation rentals—eroding long-term residential stability, exacerbating homelessness, and contributing to ecological degradation in shoreline communities already burdened by overtourism—Bill 9 serves as a necessary legal course correction that restores the intended residential function of these zones, honors generational housing rights, and defends the public trust in land for the benefit of present and future kamaʻāina. Aloha
This committee has been asked to do the impossible; Maui County citizens and supporters have been asked to do the impossible.
Given the divisiveness that this measure has caused, there is no way this measure has not torn this community apart.
The wisest thing for this committee to do is to decline to support this measure on the basis that it provides no guarantee that new affordable housing will come from it, but it does guarantee that Maui economy will be shaken to its roots. I realize that the people who can vote for you are the residents of Maui, and many of those are in favor of Bill 9, yet many residents see the inherent unfairness of this Bill, and all can see it provides for no new housing.
This Bill 9 should be withdrawn. Certainly illegal STR should be found and removed but legal existing Minatoya use should be sustained.
Using what has been learned from the community dialogue since its inception, a New Bill should be brought forward, one that guarantees that the goals of good and affordable housing will be achieved. It can do this when it includes building incentives and funding for that housing and no longer rips property rights from deeded owners. This New Bill will protect the Council and the budget of Maui, since it will not be challenged in the courts.
I am opposed to this current Bill 9 because it does not fix the problem, it just causes many many more.
The response is that Bill 9 reasserts the County’s right to regulate land use in the public interest, corrects decades of policy failure that prioritized profit over people, targets zoning abuses—not legitimate property rights—and is a necessary step toward stabilizing housing, reducing displacement, and restoring accountability in a system long skewed by speculative demand.
I am scared to come and testify in person due to the hostility towards anyone who opposes this bill. It has become so emotional, fueled with exaggeration, racism, bias, and ignorance. There are A LOT of owners of Minatoya who are actively helping by renting long term. However the locals who need housing cannot afford the break-even monthly costs associated with these units. Maybe some are affordable, but most aren’t. So the owners cannot afford to keep them as long term rentals unless the government steps in to bridge the gap. This is just plain facts. It’s not price gouging, it’s not about huge profits, it’s about meeting the mortgage payment, the HOA fees, the insurance, and the taxes- of which Maui county has had a huge hand in. Maui, if you want this to work out, you will need to get financially involved. Put your money where your mouth is. Provide rental assistance so that locals CAN rent these units. Or provide purchase assistance. Owners can’t sell for less than their mortgage note, or continue to rent at less than their monthly obligations. Would you rather the money in your budget be used to help bring people together or do you feel it will be best wasted in huge legal expenses when owners decide to protect and defend their constitutional rights?
Please pass bill 9. I’m a handyman that moved here after the fires to take advantage of the work and loss. I’ve been able to triple my rates here so I’m guessing bill 9 not going to change much.
I was hesitant to write this as I was concerned that was it really going to make a difference, but everyone that is affected by this Bill 9 should speak up and say how they feel. I have been coming to Maui since I was a child with my parents and have such fond memories. My husband and I saved for a long time and planned to spend our time in Maui after we both retired. We have owned a unit at Kaanapali Royal in West Maui since 2019 and have used it not only as a short term rental, but we have lived there and we have many memories of our family visiting and last year we did a long term rental for friends of ours that were victims of the devastating 2023 Lahaina fire. With that said, we are opposed to Bill 9. When we purchased our condo, we did a considerable amount of work to update the unit and make necessary repairs as the building is old and lots needed to be done. We did this has we had planned to spend at least 6 months or more of the year living in our Maui condo and consider that our other home. We loved living there and made many friends and gave back to the community. Unfortunately, my husband became ill and due to the lack of medical care in Maui, the treatment he needed was not available to him and we had to come back to California. Our condo was used as a place of gathering for people to get food, water and other necessary supplies for the residents of Kaanapali Royal immediately following the 2023 Lahaina fire. When we purchased our condo in 2019, we were told that Kaanapali Royal was in the Kaanapali Resort group, that of which we paid in to, and that our unit was zoned to be used as a short term rental. No mention of it being on the Minatoya list and that at any date in the future that right would be taken away from us. Please, don't take the ability for us to use it as a short term rental for a few months of the year away. This is not the answer. With the cost of the monthly mortgage payment, property taxes, HOA dues and insurance, there would be few, if any, that could afford to pay the monthly rental rate of approximately $5,000 or more. That does not include any special assessments that could come up at any time due to the building being older (1980). Kaanapali Royal is the the Kaanapali Resort group and should remain in that Resort group and be included in that condo/hotel status. I urge you to please consider an amendment to exclude Kaanapali Royal from this short term rental ban. It would be devastating to us if we had to give up our unit, so many of our friends would lose their jobs and then our unit would just sit empty simply because it would be unaffordable for those that are seeking to find long term housing and we would end up having to sell it. Respectively, I thank all of you for taking the time to read my message.
You Can’t Drill for Aloha: What Happens When STRs Are Treated Like Oil and Gas Assets
Lyndon Ibele is the former longtime president of the Maʻalaea Village Association (MVA) where some condo complexes offer the vast majority of housing units as STRs, with hundreds of STR units dominating the tiny village.
The following professional biography is shared as an example of the type of leadership that emerges when housing in a coastal village is treated like a commodity instead of a community.
With hundreds of short-term rentals (STRs) operating in Maʻalaea, the neighborhood has been managed less like a home for locals and more like an oil field—prioritizing extraction and control over the inclusion of minorities, families and cultural stewardship. This is what happens when housing policy is shaped by pipeline logic.
Marathon Oil Company —where former longtime MVA President Lyndon held senior roles—has taken clear and documented steps to secure Marathon Oil Company’s Fossil Fuel Industry Interests with Federal Lobbying according to online records:
Lobbying Expenditures:
• $920,000 in federal lobbying during 2023
• $730,000 in federal lobbying during 2024 (as of latest filings)
Campaign Contributions:
• Marathon Oil PAC raised approximately $461,047 for the 2023–2024 election cycle
These figures place Marathon Oil among the top 1,000 lobbying organizations in the U.S., with a focused commitment to fossil fuel interests rather than supporting clean or free energy.
How This Undermines Clean Energy
1. Financing Fossil Lobbying Teams
The half-million-plus spent annually helps hire lobbyists to protect oil and gas regulatory loopholes, block emissions reductions, and shape climate policy in Washington.
2. Obstructing Clean Energy Legislation
By maintaining fossil-friendly legislative influence, Marathon Oil contributes to delays or weakening of climate bills, clean energy tax incentives, and emissions standards—slowing renewable investment and increasing long-term costs (health, infrastructure, extreme weather response).
3. Shaping Political Narratives
The combination of campaign contributions and lobbying helps elevate candidates and lawmakers who resist clean-energy transitions, hindering progress at both federal and state levels.
4. Perpetuating Climate Risk
Less clean-energy deployment means continued greenhouse gas emissions, locked-in fossil infrastructure, and reduced momentum toward decarbonization—contributing to worsening climate impacts.
Final Take
• Marathon Oil’s lobbying is carbon-vested—slightly less than other majors, but still significant enough to preserve its oil-and-gas business model.
• These efforts don’t support transitions to clean energy; rather, they preserve fossil dominance, undermining climate action.
• The result: higher risks to public health, energy security, and climate resilience, as clean fuel and energy alternatives are systematically suppressed.
In eerily similar fashion, many Maʻalaea short-term rental (STR) operators have opposed Bill 9—despite its intent to restore long-term community health, housing stability, and environmental balance. Just as fossil fuel executives fight policies that would clean the air and protect future generations, STR beneficiaries now resist policies meant to return homes to residents, quiet to neighborhoods, and dignity to displaced families.
The through-line is clear: short-term profit over long-term wellbeing. Whether in oil fields or oceanfront condominiums, the logic of extraction resists reform—even when the public good hangs in the balance.
Lyndon Ibele
(Source: LinkedIn)
Former Ma’alaea Village Association President
Alaska Section Chair of the American Society of Petroleum Engineers
Ibele Energy Consulting
Petroleum Engineering and Gas Marketing Consultant
Location: Anchorage, Alaska, United States
Education: Marietta College
About
Registered Professional Engineer (Alaska) with 35 years’ experience in petroleum engineering, oil and gas operations, natural gas marketing and contracts, supervision, reservoir engineering, economics, and project management.
Work assignments have included locations in Wyoming (WY), Texas (TX), New Mexico (NM), Oklahoma (OK), Louisiana (LA), Alaska (AK), and North Dakota (ND).
Professional Experience
Independent Energy Consultant
Ibele Energy Consulting
Feb 2016 – Present
• Provide expertise in natural gas marketing, engineering, and production operations for natural gas assets in the Cook Inlet basin of Alaska.
Engineering and Gas Marketing Consultant
Petrotechnical Resources of Alaska (PRA)
Dec 2014 – Jan 2016
• Provided engineering, natural gas production, and gas marketing expertise to a new producing company in the Cook Inlet basin.
Project Manager, Consultant Petroleum Engineer
Petrotechnical Resources of Alaska (PRA)
Feb 2014 – Sep 2014
• Performed contract work for Marathon Oil Company, Bakken Asset Team, planning surface facilities for a 150-mile oil/water gathering system.
Project Manager
Marathon Oil Corporation
Sep 2011 – Jan 2013
• Planned and strategized construction of pipeline gathering systems for the Bakken Asset Team in North Dakota.
• Collaborated with operations, marketing, legal, and accounting teams to evaluate proposals and negotiate gathering agreements.
Production Coordinator
Marathon Oil Corporation
2007 – 2011
Volunteer Experience
Ducks Unlimited
• National Board of Directors
• Alaska State Chairman
• Numerous other leadership positions
Focus Area: Environment
Licenses & Certifications
Registered PE, Petroleum Engineering
State of Alaska
• Credential ID: EP-10261
Organizations
Ducks Unlimited
• Alaska State Chairman
• Board of Directors
• Emeritus Board Member
Society of Petroleum Engineers
• Alaska Section Chair
• Scholarship Committee Chair
Aloha
Many of these Minatoya properties were never intended as long term housing. They were not built as workforce housing. They were built on the waterfront shoreline, as vacation condos/ resorts and intended to draw tourists and vacationers. My complex was built in 1969 and I have pictures of the original construction site, the billboards announcing Maui’s Newest Vacation Resort. I have pictures of various brochures that list the 1 and 2 bedroom NIGHTLY rates. The brochure from 1971 had my 1 bedroom for 2 people at $28/day. ($3 charge for an extra guest) “Comes completely equipped and furnished for carefree vacation living, with linen and maid service provided and resident manager and staff to assist with special needs.” These are not long-term workforce housing elements. This was never intended to house local residents full time. We never “took” any “homes” away from previously living local residents.
Some of the statements in support of this ban mention having large families crammed in to a single bedroom or studio and doing just fine with that space. They say that it is better than sleeping in a car or on the beach. While no one wants anyone to be forced out of homes or into sleeping in cars, the fire marshals code restricts many of these smaller places from having that high density occupancy and it simply won’t be possible, for legal and safety reasons.
From listening to many of the testimonials, if there are homes that have been taken away from local residents in the last few years, that is a rather different case than buildings that were constructed over 50 years ago with intent of housing vacationers. The homes that need to be returned back to residents should maybe be looked into. Have things been done legally?
Illegal STRs, don’t contribute to any of the taxes that we do. They don’t declare any of the income, nor pay income tax on that income. They don’t pay the outrageously high STR property tax on their property that they illegally rent out. Maybe the county should initially focus on taking those illegal STRs out of the picture, and return THOSE homes back to the local residents so that they can have their neighborhoods back.
When the fire occurred, it ripped all of our hearts out. Though our building did not burn, we have all been affected by that event in some way, as the entire island has. Housing is, and has been an issue for many years. It is not exclusive to Hawaii though. Increasing costs of living have happened all over the world, as some testifiers have attested to. People live 2-3 hours away from their workplace, as they can not afford to live where they work. This is magnified by coastline/ beachfront locations being highly sought after as well. All over the world, you will find costs increasing in the more desirable places. That’s just the way that it is. To put the blame of so many contributing issues all at the feet of the LEGAL STR owners on this Minatoya list is simply wrong.
We want to help. We have helped. We have donated. We have opened up our units far more than what these supposed citings list. We have contributed in so many ways that are now just brushed off and now we are being threatened to the point of no one wanting to even risk their names, realtors names, complex names, cleaners names, due to the increased bullying, both in person and online.
STR owners are being collectively villainized and described as greedy, colonizer extractors putting profits before people. This housing situation has been greatly mismanaged by the government. People need houses to live in. Someone needs to own those houses, so they either own them and live in them themselves, or they own them and rent them out. There are also condos and apartments which have gotten lumped in and presented as houses. Somehow, the government has very successfully directed all the emotion and rage about housing issues straight onto legal STR owners. I purchased my 550 sq ft 1 bedroom condo in 2018. It is one of the 56 single bedroom units in our complex. Our complex sits along the shoreline, which just 4 years ago, was deemed as not ideal for local housing due to sea level rise, that they “cost more to upkeep” and “we wouldn’t want to put our residents in areas that are in jeopardy of sea level rise exposure.”
Why are we now being forced to place local residents in long term situations that were discouraged by this very council a few years ago?
This bill will do nothing positive for any local residents. All that it will do is force more job loss for locals who rely on this STR industry.
How many undocumented immigrants are taking low income housing away from locals here on Maui?
My husband and I own a condo at Kihei Bay Vista and it happens to be on the Minatoya list. We purchased 17 years ago with the intention of retiring to Maui.
We understand the complexity regarding Hawai’i and its sovereignty, and I respect the culture and Hawaiian community. I understand the great need to house local people and to perpetuate the culture. I have studied aspects of the culture and been part of a halau and studying hula for close to 30 years. I know it does not make me Hawaiian, but I like to think I am an ally.
We never had the intention to make a living off of this condo…just trying to make the payments so I could live the last part of our lives where we feel happy. We just wanted to retire there and be an asset to the community, not a burden.
We are forced to put our condo on the market. We cannot afford the payment without renting it out until we are ready to retire. And I doubt very seriously that anybody can afford the payment that we make for a one bedroom, one bath apartment that’s less than 800 ft.². We are caught between a rock and a hard spot. Not only do we lose our retirement dream, we lose all of our investment buy selling for much less that what we paid for it.
We are not like many of the other owners who own many condos and have been trying to make a business out of short term rentals. We don’t have other condos to fall back on because that was never our intention to own a bunch of condos and make money that way.
I truly hope that there is a resolution to this problem that somehow will allow us to keep Our condo. But at this point, I’m feeling sort of hopeless. At any rate, thank you so much for your time.
Why it’s a good idea to listen to Stan Franco — Qualifications & Experience
• Long-time Maui County employee, primarily focused on housing and land-use planning, providing deep institutional familiarity with county procedures and constraints.
• Vice President (later President) of Stand Up Maui, a 501(c)(3) affordable housing advocacy nonprofit that originated from FACE Maui. In 2022, he emphasized SUM’s commitment to ensuring the County Council and administration implement both the Comprehensive Affordable Housing Plan and the Comprehensive Plan to End Homelessness.
• Founding contributor to Maui’s Residential Workforce Housing Policy. He actively supported its development and defended it during council hearings in 2006–2007.
His dual roles—as a seasoned government official and community-led nonprofit leader—afford him rare insight into housing, homelessness, planning, and civic accountability.
Public Quotes on Bill 9
June 18, 2025
• “The current housing situation is critical and … I see no alternative solutions being proposed.”
– Testimony before the Maui County Housing & Land Use Committee in support of Bill 9.
• “Bill 9 offers one of the few feasible paths forward.”
– Same testimony session, emphasizing urgency and limited options.
Why Listen to Stan Franco
1. Subject-Matter Expert: Blends insider policy knowledge with grassroots advocacy for complete understanding.
2. Proven Track Record: Led in achieving funding and adoption of Maui’s Comprehensive Affordable Housing Plan.
3. Clarity Under Pressure: Frames Maui’s housing crisis as urgent—with few real solutions and Bill 9 as one of them.
4. Consistent Voice of Accountability: From workforce housing policy in to homelessness planning to Bill 9 , he has consistently advocated for tangible housing solutions.
Why to Listen to Stan Franco Summary
Who: Veteran Maui County housing & land-use professional and nonprofit leader.
Experience: Decades in public service and community organizing, including key roles in crafting major housing policies.
What he says: Maui’s housing crisis is extreme, there are currently no viable alternatives, and Bill 9 is one of the few promising solutions.
Why it matters: His credibility stems from consistent, informed, and outcome-driven advocacy—beginning with the workforce housing law and continuing through today.
Final Take
Stan Franco is not theorizing—he is distilling decades of lived policy experience into actionable legislation. On Bill 9 his voice combines clarity, authority, and unwavering commitment to the people of Maui. He is a voice worth heeding.
I’m going to close with a personal story. There was a time a few years ago when I was renting a home that was foreclosed. I had nowhere to go as a result of limited budget and rental availability, and was couch surfing with sympathetic friends between places when I got a mean case of cellulitis tissue infection resulting all the real dirty work of making the rundown foreclosure “broom-clean” so I could qualify for the cash incentive from the evicting real estate agent, which was the only way I could afford to move in my state of health and financial crisis at the time.
I’ll never forget being in transit from one couch surfing refuge to another in my vehicle with just my essentials, everything else in storage, really needing to go to the ER for the infection that probably merited some IV antibiotics, but I was too proud and embarrassed and freaked out by the entire situation to seek emergency treatment, so I stuck it out with the oral antibiotics my doctor had provided. Somehow I make it through the ordeal to tell this tale to you today. I just didn’t ever want to have the experience of responding to the intake staff at Maui Memorial with “none” when asked for my home address. Eventually I found a place where I have been sheltering ever since, but it’s not dignified for various reasons and I still can’t afford to move, despite being a dutiful contributor to Maui’s community with years of effort donated to local nonprofits working to solve environmental challenges. I’m a professional with advanced educational and professional credentials — I’m just operating on an extremely limited budget that makes me functionally housing-insecure in a few ways. So many upstanding people have similar stories of living on the edge here that go unspoken.
You leaders don’t get to do nothing about this housing crisis any longer, please pass Bill 9 today!
And sincere gratitude to Chair Kama for keeping the peace.
Aloha
I strongly oppose Bill 9 because it hurts local residents. My wife and I have been full time residents of the Kamaole Sands since 2005. Over those 20 years we have worked within the community and build strong relationships with literally hundreds of local residents through our employment at the Pacific Whale Foundation, Maui Preparatory Academy and residence at Kamaole Sands. We are acutely aware of both the long term need for additional housing, effects of the Lahaina fire, and the decades of Maui’s lopsided economic dependency on tourism. We feel enormous sadness and pain of seeing local business empty and closed completely in the Shops of Wailea, Queen Ka'ahumanu Center, Whales Village,and Kihei Kalama Village. We have lived through years of amazing economic prosperity and growth only to see the devastating effects of significant down turn in visitors. The lack of tourism has already hit Maui, but nothing like the projections of how it will be if Bill 9 kills the short term rental options. The are so many local business and local residents that work in supporting visitor tours, snorkeling and scuba, fishing and hiking, water sports, whale watchs, souvenirs concessions, bike and moped rentals, car rentals, restaurants, food trucks, transportation, hospitality services, art and glass galleries, and entertainment. Literally thousands of local residents livelihood depends on having visitors. From our perspective Bill 9 killing short term rentals is extremely short sighted and will devastate the Maui economy and hurt local residents far more the respite of additional rental availability. We sincerely urge you to vote down Bill 9.
Listen to Stan Franco
Statement of Appreciation
To the Maui County Council, Staff, and Honorable Mayor,
I’m testifying to pause and acknowledge all of you—not just as officials, but as human beings navigating one of the most emotionally charged and complex chapters in Maui’s history.
The long hours you spend in these chambers—listening with open minds and steady hearts to voices that sometimes clash, and carrying the weight of decisions that ripple far beyond this Council—do not go unnoticed.
I can only imagine the toll this takes: the energy it demands to remain composed in the face of criticism, to sit patiently through passionate testimony, and to make space for perspectives that may challenge your own.
And so I want to say, sincerely: I see you. I appreciate you. Your physical stamina, your grace, and your willingness to hold this space for our island and its people matters deeply.
No matter how you vote, I believe the act of showing up, of wrestling with these hard decisions under such public scrutiny, is itself worthy of honor.
To the Honorable Mayor, I extend special thanks. Your position bears unique burdens—balancing executive leadership, urgent recovery, and public expectation during a profoundly difficult time for our community. The kuleana you carry is immense, and I want to acknowledge the unseen weight behind the decisions that reach your desk. Thank you for staying present, grounded, and committed to Maui’s future by proposing Bill 9.
Thank you for your service. Thank you for enduring. And thank you, most of all, for allowing the people to be heard.
Aloha
Please see attachments.
I tried to rent my str for UNDER my costs on Craigslist. No one was interested, not local not mainland. This will not work! Build small homes for families not apartments!
Aloha kekahi i kekahi
I love Maui, I give back to my community, I support local
But you can’t have my rental and they can’t have it both ways.
Testimonial in Opposition to Bill 9 – Maui County Council
Aloha Council Members,
My name is Brad Sparkes, and I am writing to respectfully oppose Bill 9. I want to share our story—not as outsiders, but as people who deeply love Maui, who believed in the promises we were sold, and who want to be part of the solution.
We are Canadians who worked hard all our lives—one of us a school teacher, the other a business developer. For decades, whenever we saved up for a vacation, it was always Maui. Maui was our dream. The beauty, the people, the good vibes, the aloha spirit—we felt welcomed and embraced like 'ohana. We stayed in Wailea, usually in the hotel zone, and eventually rented condos there. Over time, we felt less like visitors and more like part of a community.
After the Lahaina fires, we were heartbroken. Like many, we considered canceling our planned trip out of respect. But then came the plea: Maui is open. Please come. We need you. And so we came, not just to vacation, but to support the community we loved. It was during that trip that we decided to invest our life savings into a modest one-bedroom condo in Wailea Ekahi—a place we were told was legally rentable, in a hotel-zoned area close to where we had always stayed. This was the only way we could afford to have a home on Maui—to spend time here and rent it out when we’re not.
We believed we were contributing to the community—not taking from it. Our taxes from rental income go to support the island. We shopped locally, furnished our unit from local businesses, hired local trades. We felt like we were doing it the right way, in a place we were repeatedly told welcomed us.
Then, out of nowhere, we learned about something called the Minatoya List. No one had told us about this before. Suddenly, everything changed. We were made to feel like enemies. That we were the problem. That we didn’t belong.
We understand and care deeply about the housing crisis on Maui. But creating new suffering does not solve existing suffering. Taking away someone else’s dream, someone who came in good faith and invested their life savings into the promise of Maui, does not solve the crisis. It's not pono. It’s not in the spirit of aloha.
Our unit is not in a local neighborhood. While our building is technically zoned residential, it’s located in the heart of the hotel zone. Many in the same complex are zoned as hotel. Families aren’t lining up to live in Ekahi—it’s not where the affordable housing crisis is most acute. What’s needed is not scapegoating, but action. Real, fast action.
We urge the County Council to fast-track affordable housing. Burn the red tape. Stop saying it’s impossible. Lives—and futures—depend on it. This housing crisis requires bold leadership and urgent solutions, not punitive actions against people who believed the dream you sold.
We want to continue contributing to Maui, to support the local economy, and to do what’s right. But taking everything away from good people who came in good faith isn’t right. It’s not pono. It’s not aloha.
Please reconsider the path Bill 9 is taking. Let’s work toward solutions that lift everyone up—without tearing others down.
With deep respect and aloha,
Brad & Heather Sparkes
Wailea Ekahi Village
Hello members of the Committee,
I am writing in support of Bill 9 to phase out some short-term rentals. Right now, our current housing market is not able to support many of the jobs and people we need in this community. For example, we have had a years long teacher shortage because teachers can not afford rent and homes (https://www.civilbeat.org/2025/06/data-dive-why-new-hawai%CA%BBi-teachers-cant-afford-to-buy-a-house/).
Phasing out these short term rentals would increase the supply of housing on the islands, thus decreasing the overall price of housing here. While I agree that this will not solve the housing crisis, we still need to build more workforce housing developments, it will still help with the overall cost of housing.
The worry about the reduction of tax income can be remedied by raising the tax rate on non-owner occupied homes and the hotel tax. An estimated 15,000 homes on Maui are non-owner occupied (https://www.civilbeat.org/2022/04/thousands-of-houses-are-empty-on-maui-would-higher-taxes-change-that/) yet their tax rate is less than half of that of short term rentals. Doubling the tax rate of these non-owner occupied homes would more than make up for the tax revenue of removing the 7,000 short term rental houses from the market. And both these moves, removing the short term rentals and increasing taxes on non-owner occupied homes would help increase the housing supply here on Maui.
This increase in the housing supply would lower prices. This will allow our local hard-working families to continue living here in the communities that they grew up in and built together.
Mahalo
Given that the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom enabled the commodification of land once held in common by Kanaka ʻŌiwi, leading to over a century of settler-driven zoning and housing policies that displaced Native and local families in favor of speculative profit, and that the post-plantation shift to tourism accelerated this dispossession by converting apartment-zoned housing into transient vacation rentals—eroding long-term residential stability, exacerbating homelessness, and contributing to ecological degradation in shoreline communities already burdened by overtourism—Bill 9 serves as a necessary legal course correction that restores the intended residential function of these zones, honors generational housing rights, and defends the public trust in land for the benefit of present and future kamaʻāina. Aloha
This committee has been asked to do the impossible; Maui County citizens and supporters have been asked to do the impossible.
Given the divisiveness that this measure has caused, there is no way this measure has not torn this community apart.
The wisest thing for this committee to do is to decline to support this measure on the basis that it provides no guarantee that new affordable housing will come from it, but it does guarantee that Maui economy will be shaken to its roots. I realize that the people who can vote for you are the residents of Maui, and many of those are in favor of Bill 9, yet many residents see the inherent unfairness of this Bill, and all can see it provides for no new housing.
This Bill 9 should be withdrawn. Certainly illegal STR should be found and removed but legal existing Minatoya use should be sustained.
Using what has been learned from the community dialogue since its inception, a New Bill should be brought forward, one that guarantees that the goals of good and affordable housing will be achieved. It can do this when it includes building incentives and funding for that housing and no longer rips property rights from deeded owners. This New Bill will protect the Council and the budget of Maui, since it will not be challenged in the courts.
I am opposed to this current Bill 9 because it does not fix the problem, it just causes many many more.
Linda Manry
Wailea HI
The response is that Bill 9 reasserts the County’s right to regulate land use in the public interest, corrects decades of policy failure that prioritized profit over people, targets zoning abuses—not legitimate property rights—and is a necessary step toward stabilizing housing, reducing displacement, and restoring accountability in a system long skewed by speculative demand.
I am scared to come and testify in person due to the hostility towards anyone who opposes this bill. It has become so emotional, fueled with exaggeration, racism, bias, and ignorance. There are A LOT of owners of Minatoya who are actively helping by renting long term. However the locals who need housing cannot afford the break-even monthly costs associated with these units. Maybe some are affordable, but most aren’t. So the owners cannot afford to keep them as long term rentals unless the government steps in to bridge the gap. This is just plain facts. It’s not price gouging, it’s not about huge profits, it’s about meeting the mortgage payment, the HOA fees, the insurance, and the taxes- of which Maui county has had a huge hand in. Maui, if you want this to work out, you will need to get financially involved. Put your money where your mouth is. Provide rental assistance so that locals CAN rent these units. Or provide purchase assistance. Owners can’t sell for less than their mortgage note, or continue to rent at less than their monthly obligations. Would you rather the money in your budget be used to help bring people together or do you feel it will be best wasted in huge legal expenses when owners decide to protect and defend their constitutional rights?
Please pass bill 9. I’m a handyman that moved here after the fires to take advantage of the work and loss. I’ve been able to triple my rates here so I’m guessing bill 9 not going to change much.