A recent article in the Maui News (Tavares puts signature on new B&B bill, January 8, 2009) details some of the changes Maui residents can expect to see with regards to permits for bed-and-breakfasts. In order to relieve the constraints faced by owners seeking B&B permits, the new legislation not only expands the area where B&B permits are allowed but also limits the number of permits given in each district.
Controversy had been brewing over the past several years as home owners and business operators are not easily appeased. According to the Maui News article, B&Bs are “short-term rentals allowed in a home or room on a property on which the owner-operator is living full time.” While another type of vacation rental known as transient vacation rentals “are short-term rentals in homes or condominium units in which the owner does not live on the property.” Before this new legislation, home owners complained that various unpermitted short-term rentals in their neighborhoods were disruptive. On the other hand, vacation rental operators argued that B&Bs and transient vacation rentals filled a necessary void in the visitor market.
Until now, the Maui council had been allowing B&B permits after thorough applications and public hearings. Moreover, since the early part of 2007, the council began to crack down on unpermitted vacation rentals which lead to a greater need to solve these legislative woes. As a result, the new legislation appears to remove some of the red tape involved with applying for B&B permits and allows these permits not only in hotel zones but in residential, business, rural, and agricultural zones as well.
These changes were meant to reflect a cooperative agreement between the council, business owners, and home owners in order to increase the number of overall permits available and reduce the number of unpermitted vacation rentals. Tavares is quoted as saying “This new law reflects the wishes of our community through the correct process of legislation. Council members, department staff and members of the public worked hard to find a way to help businesses, comply with community plans and remain mindful of concerns of neighborhoods that would be impacted by a bed-and-breakfast operation.”
Posted in Maui Real Estate |
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March 17th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
[…] ordinance at the Hannibal Tavares Community Center in Pukalani on March 4th. In recent years, the short-term vacation rental issue has been highly controversial in Maui County for both residents and elected […]