The new B&B ordinance was achieved with cooperation from the County
Planning Department, as well as most of the County Council
members. MVRA believes that they recognize the economic benefit
of this type of lodging, and crafted legislation to allow this type of
rental, while still protecting the integrity of our
neighborhoods. MVRA believes that owners must be good neighbors,
and B&B's should be careful to limit their impact on their
surroundings.
On December 19, 2008, Bill 115 passed second reading by the Maui
County Council, with 7 yes votes, 1 no vote, and 1 member absent.
This shows solid support for the new ordinance.
The Bill will create a much more liberal ordinance than the
current highly restrictive B&B ordinance. It will
- Allow B&Bs to be permitted in both the rural and
agricultural districts (currently only allowed in the urban residential
districts);
- Allow for the use of ohanas (currently guests are only
allowed in the same dwelling with the owner);
- Create an expedited administrative approval process in the
urban and rural districts,
- Not require Council approval of most permits.
The bill only applies to properties the owner lives
on. It also has significant safeguards to assure that vacation rentals do
not overwhelm their host neighborhoods.
In the ten years since the adoption of the existing ordinance, only about 22
B&B permits have been issued. There were an estimated 1,000 vacation
rentals on
Maui before the shutdown that
started last year. The bill just passed calls for no more than 400 B&B
permits to be issued.
The
Council is actively talking about another bill to create a regular
permit
system for vacation rentals where the owner is not on property
(Transient
Vacation Rental or TVR). MVRA believes that the B&B
legislation will work best if the County takes the next step and moves
forward with a TVR ordinance.
The Next Step...
On January 7th, Maui County posted the new B&B application on their website. Click here to review.
MVRA continues to meet with the Planning Department to review the County's application process for the new
B&B permit, and shares this information with our members. We
will guide them through the process of providing complete and accurate
applications to the County, to smooth the processing of the
permits. Watch your member weekly updates for news on this process.
