For more than a decade Maui County not only tolerated, but actively encouraged the development of small, home-based visitor accommodations within residential, rural and agricultural neighborhoods.
The county and state have spent tax dollars publishing travel literature promoting these businesses worldwide in order to compete with B&Bs and transient visitor rentals in other travel destinations.
Previous administrations also wanted B&Bs and TVRs to flourish because they create jobs, bring in tax revenue, provide eco-friendly self-employment for homeowners and because visitor spending circulates money in our local economy instead of going to corporate shareholders.
A county-sponsored survey in 2002 showed that 60 percent approved of visitors renting homes throughout the county, even in the responder’s own neighborhood – 20 percent were opposed and 20 percent undecided. A 2003 survey by Haiku Community Association showed that 91 percent approved of TVRs subject to appropriate regulations and only 9 percent objected.
Maui’s zoning regulations have not been updated for 25 years. The obsolete permit process is so difficult that applicants struggle for years, spending thousands of dollars, in a futile effort to comply. A typical applicant must follow requirements imposed by 17 different agencies, undergo three public hearings, and have the mayor sign a unique law just for rental of a spare bedroom in their home. The process must be repeated one year later to renew the permit. As a result, only 13 B&Bs and eight TVRs have the required permits, while around 800 similar operations do not.
Progress in government is sometimes slow. Nonetheless, a proposal for new zoning regulations is expected within a few months. Unfortunately, the county has decided to reverse previous policy and close down unlicensed B&Bs and TVRs by Jan. 1, without first giving them an opportunity to comply with new regulations. On July 2 the administration announced a crackdown on zoning violations. Inspectors ordered 20 Maui families to “cease and desist” their operations last month –a a rate of one B&B or TVR closure every business day.
Despite promises on public record from officials that the county would be “enforcing the code fairly instead of just targeting vacation rentals,” no other unlicensed home businesses, illegal structures or code violations have received the same attention.
Most closed businesses were identified through Internet advertisements and cited just because they exist, not because they disturbed neighbors. Neighborhood impacts are uncommon. According to Planning Director Hunt, only 2 percent of all zoning complaints are due to visitor rentals. When there is an actual disturbance, enforcement is appropriate.
The hoped-for public benefits from the crackdown will not be achieved, but costly unintended consequences will occur. For example, small farms which cannot survive without supplemental income from a visitor rental will fail. Jobs will be lost. Other businesses which depend upon visitor spending will suffer.
MVRA members all pay taxes. Those who have made a good-faith effort to comply with a next-to-impossible permit process deserve a chance to stay in business until there is a reasonable permit process.
The county made a written promise that permit applicants could continue operating during review of their applications. That promise should be kept. Other operators were discouraged from applying for permits by the Planning Department itself, because revisions to the permit process were anticipated. They, too, deserve fair treatment.
We call upon the administration for an immediate “cease-fire” on business shutdowns. There is no need to cause irreparable harm to people’s livelihoods. Let’s find a way to work this out together. For additional information or to offer comments, please visit www.mvra.net.
David Dantes is president of the Maui Vacation Rental Association.
