The topic of eliminating or curtailing the number of
vacation rentals on the island of Maui in Hawaii has been discussed ad nauseam.
Many believe it will create cheaper and more affordable housing for residents. Others feel it will severely damage the tourism economy.
Now, the island’s government is involved and will spend $300,000 to determine the outcome of a proposal to eliminate 7,000 short-term vacation rentals.
Mayor Richard Bissen is on record as saying he would like to eliminate the 7,000 rentals—about half of the available rental homes—to create more affordable housing for residents. Depending on the outcome, tourism will be affected on the idyllic Hawaiian island, which has had its share of issues in the last couple of years, including the pandemic and the wildfires last year.
Tasha Kama, chair of the County Council’s
Housing and Land Use Committee, is naturally concerned.
“The purpose is to ask all the 1,001
questions,” Kama said of the task force imposed to handle the study. “I want
them to do a deep dive into exactly who are we impacting and how are we
impacting them? And in the end, is this really a good idea to do it in the
first place? … There’s a bias against (short-term rental) owners who don’t live
on Maui — OK, I get that stuff — but you cannot let those biases deter what’s
best for the rest of the county.”
Proponents of the proposal say the nearly 13,000 people who were displaced by the wildfires alone last year far outweigh any other concerns. Opponents say the ordinance would have a trickle-down adverse effect on tourism. Economist Paul Brewbaker noted that curtailing the short-term rental market on Maui would mean the loss of more than 14,000 jobs and more than $1.6 billion in revenue.
His figures do include the Maui
condominium rental sector.
“It doesn’t make any sense when the county
is essentially facing a multitude of lawsuits for its role in the fires and
whatever that sorts out to be — and you want to absolutely deplete the number
one revenue source,” a real estate agent
said.
Meetings will begin on June 25 and are expected to last through the
end of the year.
Vacation rental occupancy
has dropped in Maui.
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