Like other communities across the pae ʻāina, Hawaiʻi Island is struggling with the issue of illegal short-term rentals, also called transient accommodation rentals (TARs), that cater to tourists rather than locals.
According to an analysis by the Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice, one in 24 homes on Hawaiʻi Island are short term rentals – 52% of which are owned by non-Hawaiʻi residents.
To address this problem, Hawaiʻi County Council Chair Heather Kimball and Councilwoman Ashley Kierkiewicz introduced a three-bill package (Bills 121, 122 and 123) to register all TARs in the county.
“We are in a housing crisis in the county. Across the state, local residents are having a harder time finding places to live,” said Kimball. “We need that middle income housing, and this bill package was really designed to address two of what I think are three prongs that we have to address when it comes to housing.”
The first prong is ensuring more housing is built in the islands. The second prong is that housing doesn’t slip into other uses, like TARs. The third prong is helping locals keep their homes.
Bill 121’s objective is to register all TARs in the county and ensure they’re operating safely and adhering to the same standards. This includes new regulations for owner-hosted, operator-hosted and non-hosted TARs.
Bill 122 would repeal provisions for bed and breakfast establishments and include them under Bill 121. Bill 123 seeks to amend the county’s ʻohana dwelling code, changing the name to “accessory dwelling unit.” This removes restrictions for these buildings providing they serve as long-term housing.
“What we really want to ensure is that we’re preserving the character of the residential neighborhoods and particularly making sure that agricultural land is actually being used for agriculture,” said Kimball.
The emphasis of the bill package is to preserve Hawaiʻi County communities. In 2022, the planning department received over 27 TAR complaints in Hilo and 38 TAR complaints in Kona.
“I think that having a transient accommodation rental next door can be a fine experience [but] in many cases, it ends up being a nightmare for our residents when they’re unhosted,” said Kimball. “Bill 121 [makes] the good neighbor stamp standards more concrete.”
Some changes TARs owners can expect include increased fees, fines and penalties for violations.
“The fees are going up for registration in the format that the bill is currently in. The other thing that is new is the penalties are heavier if you’re in violation of any of the standards. If folks just continue to fail to address the issue, the director can start charging them two times their nightly rate. So, there is a bigger stick in the legislation, for violations of the code,” Kimball said.
The bill package will still allow owners to continue operating their TARs as long as they do it legally.
“There’s going to be more paperwork. The fees are there, but I think they are very reasonable and if you’re operating legally now, there is a pathway for you to continue operating,” said Kimball.
Despite this, the bills received over 100 testimonies in opposition at a July hearing.
“No disrespect to anybody that submits testimony. I do think that this is a vocal minority. I only started this because my community was asking for strong regulations around illegal short-term vacation rentals,” Kimball said.
Dan Corson and Berndt Stugger are the founders of Hāmākua Chocolate Farm located in Pāpaʻikou. They testified expressing concerns for their Airbnb farm.
“The way, currently, that this bill is written is it doesn’t completely address that specific issue. It also hurts people by taking away their additional possibility for income without benefiting long-term rental markets and that’s what we are not okay with,” said Stugger.
“Airbnb actually allows the farmer to continue farming because the cost of the land is expensive,” said Corson. “It’s a way of being able to share your farm and your passion and your lifestyle with people and to be able to keep the farm going.”
Corson and Stugger believe the current bill package is too general and should focus on non-resident owners rather than TARs as a whole.
“We want Hawaiʻi to be Hawaiʻi and I think that we need to be able to strike a balance. If we do it in a thoughtful way, I think that there is a way that we can transition. The way they’ve done it, just seems to be too big of a step all at once,” Corson said.
The package requires more work before it can be passed, but Kimball looks forward to hearing community voices to improve upon it.
“These are deep structural issues that are challenging to address. But if we are ever going to ensure that the next generation can stay here, that we have a strong middle class, and that Hawaiʻi is not being sold out to outside investors, we must get into these issues, we have to do this hard work and sometimes it’s going to be unpopular. But I do believe that this is for sure the right thing to do,” Kimball said.
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