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 am a full time resident at Papakea and have lived here since 2012. In 2014 the board signed a contract with Columbia Hospitality a Seattle Washington hotel management company. Before this time Aston was the managing company. Aston also had a condo rental department and rented the registration counter at which they checked in their visitors. They also checked in any other visitor for a $40 charge. In 2014 the board initiated a revision to our deceleration, changing the name of the registration counter to front desk. For reason for the change was " describe it as it is". They now said this gave them the authority to hire a front desk crew putting the cost in our budget and raising our budget paid by all on common interest basis by about a million dollars. This raised our association dues. To combat this this the board instituted a facility fee to be paid by anyone staying in a unit, owners, residents included. After a long legal battle costing both side hundreds of thousand dollars the board agreed to just charge guest. Now a year later they have dropped the facilities fee and put the entire cost of operating the front desk on all owners. All employees at Papakea are hired and paid by Columbia and the funds are taken out of our account. Columbia has full control and can hire as many as they want. In addition to all the other staff Columbia has full control. Often there are three or four people just standing behind the front desk doing nothing. I as a resident have no need for a front desk and do not want to pay someone to check in my absentee owners guests. I haven't seen the present contract with Columbia but the last one also gave them the authority to hire a cleaning company, electrician and plumber. Our board has turned Papakea into a hotel. This is not a hotel. I have ownership of my property and am taxed as a full time resident of Hawaii. While I do not object other owners renting their unit to others I do object to paying for their operation of their rental program. There are seven full time residents and I think about 15 owners that do not rent their unit to anyone when they are not here. Again the board has turned this place into a hotel and make it difficult to live here.
I. Opening & Legal Foundation
Aloha Chair Kama and Councilmembers,
My name is Lore Menin, a Kihei Resident, STVR owner and a frequent passenger on the Maui Bus. I write in support of Bill 9, which seeks to restore apartment-zoned units to lawful long term residences and clamp down on the illegal proliferation of short term vacation rentals (STVRs). This is about enforcing our zoning code, responding to legal emergencies, and protecting the very essence of home in Maui County, NOT SOLVING the HOUSING CRISIS.
Bill 9 addresses a definitional loophole—commonly known as the “Minatoya Exemption”—that, despite lacking statutory authority, has been used to justify tourism style use in residential zones. It’s past time to correct that error.
________________________________________
II. The County’s History of Enforcement Failures
Education without accountability is no policy. Despite clear code that prohibits transient uses in apartment districts, Maui County has:
• Issued minimal fines that are rarely collected;
• Continued to permit STVR operators to remain active indefinitely;
• Maintained no centralized public registry of registered or non compliant rentals;
• Failed to follow through with administrative or criminal enforcement.
This pattern of neglect has no place in good governance. Bill 9 would enable enforcement by establishing clear timelines, requiring registration, and enabling consistent fine collection—tasks the County has repeatedly failed to accomplish.
________________________________________
III. Emergency Conditions: Housing & Homelessness
Governor Green’s Housing Emergency Proclamation (2023–2024) and Homelessness Emergency Proclamation (2024–2025) declare that Maui is facing a crisis in residential displacement and unsheltered individuals.
Yet, apartment-zoned homes remain off-limits to residents—converted instead into transient rentals. Bill 9 is not only lawful; it is imperative policy given the State’s formal declarations and the fact that hundreds of Pacific families remain unhoused or overcrowded.
________________________________________
IV. Wildfire & Public Safety: A Legal Obligation
In the aftermath of the Lāhainā disaster, fire risk is a legally recognized public hazard. Apartment-zoned areas with high STVR density:
• Impede evacuation routes during emergencies;
• Increase vehicle congestion and parking demand;
• Delay emergency response and place transient occupants at higher risk.
Bill 9 functions as a form of hazard mitigation—directed, preventive policy based on known fire vulnerabilities. Failure to act may expose the County to legal liability for negligence under Hawaiʻi law.
________________________________________
V. Balanced Economics: Addressing Fiscal Concerns
Critics cite UHERO’s estimate of up to $60 million in lost gross revenue. But such forecasts omit key realities:
• County revenue from transient accommodation tax (TAT) can be partially offset through higher fees and reclassification of resort zoned STVRs;
• Shifting units back to long term use restores GET (General Excise Tax) income and workforce spending;
• Avoided emergency response and displacement costs—which often total in hundreds of millions—are not captured in initial projections.
Bill 9 offers responsible financial recalibration, not recklessness.
________________________________________
VI. TO EACH Councilmember
Each Councilmember’s stance signals to constituents and litigants alike.
• Alice Lee (Wailuku) – Known for advocating zoning integrity and wildfire mitigation. Your leadership sets legal precedent; a vote for Bill 9 reinforces your consistency and oversight.
• Chair Yuki Lei Sugimura (Upcountry) – Your district’s emergency readiness and rural water concerns necessitate clear action. A yes vote reflects a command of meaningful disaster law.
• CM Tasha Kama (Kahului) – You are positioned to recalibrate Kahului’s housing affordability. Bill 9 offers legal and moral clarity—your support would validate that commitment.
• CM Tom Cook (South Maui) – Your stress on the economic impact of Bill 9 is noted, but the legal ramifications of inaction on fire risk demand balance. A yes would show leadership in managing both economic and legal liabilities.
• CM Tamara Paltin (West Maui) – Having been reverberated by Lāhainā’s emergency fallout, you have a clear legal precedent to advance Bill 9.
• CM Gabe Johnson (Lānaʻi) – Your previous civic leadership in supporting housing aligns seamlessly with the legal clarity Bill 9 offers. Thank you for your demonstrated consistency.
• CM Keani Rawlins Fernandez (Moloka‘i) – Your support holds weight in affirming that Bill 9 enshrines legal protections for rural residents and cultural justice under land-use laws.
• CM Shane Sinenci (East Maui) – Your role in sustainable planning demands a yes; this bill upholds legal obligations to preserve rural housing stock and disaster readiness.
• CM Nohe Uʻu Hodgins (Makawao Ha‘ikū Pā‘ia) – Your emerging support is welcome—your rural district needs legal boundaries to prevent fire danger and over tourism. A yes strengthens your legal standing.
________________________________________
VII. Conclusion & Recommended Motion
I respectfully move:
“That the Committee recommend adoption of Bill 9, including a reasonable amortization schedule, enhanced enforcement mechanisms, and forward the bill to full Council for a clean vote.”
Bill 9 is a legally mandatory, morally clear, and strategically essential measure. It aligns with State emergency proclamations, strengthens County code enforcement, mitigates disaster risk, and restores housing access to residents.
________________________________________
VIII. Final Declaration
If we allow apartment-zoned units to remain resorts-by-default, we systemically prioritize profit over people and tourism over community. By passing Bill 9, the Council asserts that housing is more precious than vacation revenue, that emergency law matters, and that Maui is a home—not a playground.
Mahalo nui loa for your service.
Lore Menin
I am a full time resident at Papakea and have lived here since 2012. In 2014 the board signed a contract with Columbia Hospitality a Seattle Washington hotel management company. Before this time Aston was the managing company. Aston also had a condo rental department and rented the registration counter at which they checked in their visitors. They also checked in any other visitor for a $40 charge. In 2014 the board initiated a revision to our deceleration, changing the name of the registration counter to front desk. For reason for the change was " describe it as it is". They now said this gave them the authority to hire a front desk crew putting the cost in our budget and raising our budget paid by all on common interest basis by about a million dollars. This raised our association dues. To combat this this the board instituted a facility fee to be paid by anyone staying in a unit, owners, residents included. After a long legal battle costing both side hundreds of thousand dollars the board agreed to just charge guest. Now a year later they have dropped the facilities fee and put the entire cost of operating the front desk on all owners. All employees at Papakea are hired and paid by Columbia and the funds are taken out of our account. Columbia has full control and can hire as many as they want. In addition to all the other staff Columbia has full control. Often there are three or four people just standing behind the front desk doing nothing. I as a resident have no need for a front desk and do not want to pay someone to check in my absentee owners guests. I haven't seen the present contract with Columbia but the last one also gave them the authority to hire a cleaning company, electrician and plumber. Our board has turned Papakea into a hotel. This is not a hotel. I have ownership of my property and am taxed as a full time resident of Hawaii. While I do not object other owners renting their unit to others I do object to paying for their operation of their rental program. There are seven full time residents and I think about 15 owners that do not rent their unit to anyone when they are not here. Again the board has turned this place into a hotel and make it difficult to live here.
Ed Quiring
G305
I. Opening & Legal Foundation
Aloha Chair Kama and Councilmembers,
My name is Lore Menin, a Kihei Resident, STVR owner and a frequent passenger on the Maui Bus. I write in support of Bill 9, which seeks to restore apartment-zoned units to lawful long term residences and clamp down on the illegal proliferation of short term vacation rentals (STVRs). This is about enforcing our zoning code, responding to legal emergencies, and protecting the very essence of home in Maui County, NOT SOLVING the HOUSING CRISIS.
Bill 9 addresses a definitional loophole—commonly known as the “Minatoya Exemption”—that, despite lacking statutory authority, has been used to justify tourism style use in residential zones. It’s past time to correct that error.
________________________________________
II. The County’s History of Enforcement Failures
Education without accountability is no policy. Despite clear code that prohibits transient uses in apartment districts, Maui County has:
• Issued minimal fines that are rarely collected;
• Continued to permit STVR operators to remain active indefinitely;
• Maintained no centralized public registry of registered or non compliant rentals;
• Failed to follow through with administrative or criminal enforcement.
This pattern of neglect has no place in good governance. Bill 9 would enable enforcement by establishing clear timelines, requiring registration, and enabling consistent fine collection—tasks the County has repeatedly failed to accomplish.
________________________________________
III. Emergency Conditions: Housing & Homelessness
Governor Green’s Housing Emergency Proclamation (2023–2024) and Homelessness Emergency Proclamation (2024–2025) declare that Maui is facing a crisis in residential displacement and unsheltered individuals.
Yet, apartment-zoned homes remain off-limits to residents—converted instead into transient rentals. Bill 9 is not only lawful; it is imperative policy given the State’s formal declarations and the fact that hundreds of Pacific families remain unhoused or overcrowded.
________________________________________
IV. Wildfire & Public Safety: A Legal Obligation
In the aftermath of the Lāhainā disaster, fire risk is a legally recognized public hazard. Apartment-zoned areas with high STVR density:
• Impede evacuation routes during emergencies;
• Increase vehicle congestion and parking demand;
• Delay emergency response and place transient occupants at higher risk.
Bill 9 functions as a form of hazard mitigation—directed, preventive policy based on known fire vulnerabilities. Failure to act may expose the County to legal liability for negligence under Hawaiʻi law.
________________________________________
V. Balanced Economics: Addressing Fiscal Concerns
Critics cite UHERO’s estimate of up to $60 million in lost gross revenue. But such forecasts omit key realities:
• County revenue from transient accommodation tax (TAT) can be partially offset through higher fees and reclassification of resort zoned STVRs;
• Shifting units back to long term use restores GET (General Excise Tax) income and workforce spending;
• Avoided emergency response and displacement costs—which often total in hundreds of millions—are not captured in initial projections.
Bill 9 offers responsible financial recalibration, not recklessness.
________________________________________
VI. TO EACH Councilmember
Each Councilmember’s stance signals to constituents and litigants alike.
• Alice Lee (Wailuku) – Known for advocating zoning integrity and wildfire mitigation. Your leadership sets legal precedent; a vote for Bill 9 reinforces your consistency and oversight.
• Chair Yuki Lei Sugimura (Upcountry) – Your district’s emergency readiness and rural water concerns necessitate clear action. A yes vote reflects a command of meaningful disaster law.
• CM Tasha Kama (Kahului) – You are positioned to recalibrate Kahului’s housing affordability. Bill 9 offers legal and moral clarity—your support would validate that commitment.
• CM Tom Cook (South Maui) – Your stress on the economic impact of Bill 9 is noted, but the legal ramifications of inaction on fire risk demand balance. A yes would show leadership in managing both economic and legal liabilities.
• CM Tamara Paltin (West Maui) – Having been reverberated by Lāhainā’s emergency fallout, you have a clear legal precedent to advance Bill 9.
• CM Gabe Johnson (Lānaʻi) – Your previous civic leadership in supporting housing aligns seamlessly with the legal clarity Bill 9 offers. Thank you for your demonstrated consistency.
• CM Keani Rawlins Fernandez (Moloka‘i) – Your support holds weight in affirming that Bill 9 enshrines legal protections for rural residents and cultural justice under land-use laws.
• CM Shane Sinenci (East Maui) – Your role in sustainable planning demands a yes; this bill upholds legal obligations to preserve rural housing stock and disaster readiness.
• CM Nohe Uʻu Hodgins (Makawao Ha‘ikū Pā‘ia) – Your emerging support is welcome—your rural district needs legal boundaries to prevent fire danger and over tourism. A yes strengthens your legal standing.
________________________________________
VII. Conclusion & Recommended Motion
I respectfully move:
“That the Committee recommend adoption of Bill 9, including a reasonable amortization schedule, enhanced enforcement mechanisms, and forward the bill to full Council for a clean vote.”
Bill 9 is a legally mandatory, morally clear, and strategically essential measure. It aligns with State emergency proclamations, strengthens County code enforcement, mitigates disaster risk, and restores housing access to residents.
________________________________________
VIII. Final Declaration
If we allow apartment-zoned units to remain resorts-by-default, we systemically prioritize profit over people and tourism over community. By passing Bill 9, the Council asserts that housing is more precious than vacation revenue, that emergency law matters, and that Maui is a home—not a playground.
Mahalo nui loa for your service.
Lore Menin
written testimony in support of bill 9