Maui Vacation Rental Assoc Questions

1. What are your basic feelings about the use of private homes (not condos) in all zoning areas to provide short-term rental opportunities (less than 180 days) to visitors and professionals (such as traveling nurses) and also provide increased economic opportunities to the homeowner?

Short term rentals are needed in all areas.

2. What do you believe is the key issue in this 20-year on-going debate?

The promises that were made to our local communities by Mayor Cravalho back in the 1970's and later codified into our County General Plan that the tourist industry would be the new economic engine of Maui County and it would be confined to distinct resort areas attracting well-paying guests. This was a foundation of a useful alliance between large corporate landowners who were developing destination resorts and unions who were trying to secure a living wage for their members.

There is still strong public sentiment in local communities to see visitors confined to specific areas that may not show up on the polls that have been taken. This is why Council members have been reluctant to deal with the issue. Times are changing and many of the assumptions made 20 years ago may need to be re-evaluated, including this one.

3. A SMS Hawaii Research telephone survey of Maui County residents (January 2008) reported that 88 percent of the respondents felt that vacation rentals should be allowed either with some level of regulation or none at all. When asked, only five percent of the respondents said these businesses should be "banned" outright.
What is your position on permitting vacation rentals in homes?
A: Ban them
B: Limit them to certain areas
C: Create and enforce rules so they don't bother neighbors
D: Do nothing. The problem is not big enough to worry about

I would support C and also work with communities to do what is appropriate for each.

4. A 2008 study of the Economic Impacts of Vacation Rentals in Maui County suggests that their economic impact is as large as $318 million annually, creating as many as 3,000 jobs in the process. Since the county's crackdown on vacation rentals began in July 2007, many North Shore community businesses report a 25 percent reduction in the business activity.
Do you believe that vacation rentals have a significant economic impact? If you do not agree that they have a significant economic impact, why don't you agree?

As a small business person I believe that small and home-based businesses need to play a bigger role in our future economy. I have many friends who were supported by local vacation rentals and now are struggling financially. I have friends who are struggling to make mortgage payments because they cannot rent out one unit on their property to visitors.

While I believe that there have been many negative economic changes in our community since the closing of many vacation rentals, I also think people need to be rational and realize that even in areas like Kihei where there are many legally permitted vacation rental condos etc still operating, there have been declining occupancy rates due to global financial uncertainties.

We need a diversified base of visitor accommodations that are accountable to our communities to be one part of our economy. We also need more retreat and learning centers in rural areas to attract visitors who come to Maui to learn and be uplifted .Working together is the only way our communities will pull through these challenging times.

5. If you were crafting legislation to permit vacation rentals, would you:

• Require that the owner live on the same property? ( Y / N) No
  
• Agree to vacation rentals managed by a manager living on the property? (Y / N) Yes
• Agree to vacation rentals managed by professional on-island property managers available 24/7? (Y / N) Not sure, would need to know more about what type of properties tend to be managed by the property managers.I feel that our communities need accountability from any business, to be fair to all.
  

6. The Maui Farm Bureau acknowledges that once agricultural land is subdivided into relatively small lots (2-5 acres), those lands are essentially lost for commercial scale agricultural and rarely revert back to commercial farm use. Given that reality, would you support legislation to remove these properties from the state agricultural district and rezone them rural as long as their density stays the same, e.g. two acre agricultural lots would become two acre rural? If not, why not?

We need to think about more that just maui Island's needs. Molokai, for example, has many subsistence farmers on two acre lots. How would this conversion affect them? There are also many ag land owners in Huelo (2 to 10 acres) where I live who try to grow as much of their food as possible. Would this change have an affect on accessed valuation of neighboring lands that wanted to convert to rural, and would that then raise overall taxes?

It is my understanding that reclassification of 2 acre AG lots to the state Land use Rural category will allow more units to be built per acre. While this may be desirable in some communities, it will have an impact on public services (roads, water, police/fire protection, etc).

For example, the rural zoned neighborhood of Maui Meadows consumes a large amount of water. Under the current county ag bill a parcel that size (approx 500 acres) would be eligible for about 30 lots. Since many ag zoned lots in many areas are not currently "farmed" with field crops, but are used for pasture, livestock, orchards etc, their water useage now is likely to be much more minimal. As for the argument about lands being too small to farm commercially,as a GPAC member I have heard a number of owners of 15 ac or larger lots contend that they are not really suitable for any meaningful farming, while others I know have successful nurseries, fish ponds, and niche market plant production on ag lands from 2 to 15 acres. What is the right answer?

My main goal is to find a way that ag land, not just commercial farming land, can remain affordable for those who want to grow food for their families and the community. I think the public needs a full discussion of this proposed policy and what lands would be suitable for rural or not and what the pros and cons would be.

7. Many of Maui's existing vacation rentals are located on agricultural properties. Because of their lot size, they have less impact on neighboring properties than vacation rentals in urban communities. Under state law, vacation rentals would require a Special Use Permit, issued after public hearing is held by the appropriate County Planning Commission.
Given that a formal hearing will be conducted for each permit, would this be adequate oversight to allow vacation rentals in agricultural districts?

The SUP process is expensive for the little guy type landowner and because the Planning Commission meets during working hours and has a large agenda, few people can attend and wait around to participate. While the commission process provides "formal" review, it doesn't provide very efficient review. As I understand it, State law would currently require a SUP for vacation rental use of both Ag and Rural land categories. I would like to see the County move towards a more community based review process that could substitute for the state mandated SUP and afford more community discussion of where visitor oriented rentals fit into our communities as a respected part of the business mix.

8. One of the reasons most often cited for banning residential vacation rentals is the supposed loss of residential housing. However, two studies done on this question, the Kauaian Institute Study of 2005 and the John Knox and Associates Study of 2006 (done at the request of Maui County) say the far majority of homes and ohanas used as vacation rentals would never be used as affordable rentals (1) because they are well-appointed properties that could never be rented at affordable rates, or (2) because the owner uses the home or ohana for himself, his family or friends often during the year, making long-term rental impossible. Given these facts, do you agree that the best use of some properties is as short-term rentals? If not, why not?

This is definitely true for families who need the extra cottage for travelling relatives, friends etc and probably true for some of the larger upscale properties, but it is good to keep in mind that in challenging economic times, even these larger, upscale properties can be utilized as smaller units and rented out to local residents. This has happened all over Europe and the mainland when economic shifts force property owners to look for other options. In a robust market, they may be more practical to rent as short term visitor accommodations. We need to be flexible.

9. Research within the industry shows that most vacation rental guests would NOT return to Maui if their lodging choices were restricted to the small number of legal TVR's (13 as posted on the County website), hotels and condos. Taking our current economic condition into consideration, do you feel that Maui can afford to turn away these visitors?

We need to provide opportunities to the "independent traveller" (I am one myself, when I travel) this is especially true in the rural areas like Hana town, Ha'iku & Lanai where there are no other choices, but this must also respect the need for communities to have a say.

10. These questions have dealt with our issues, but we realize that there are many other issues and we welcome any position statements that you would like to share with our membership.

I feel that we need to realize the importance of building a bridge between our past and our future, between the families who have lived here for generations and those who have been drawn here by their love for the land and people. We need a way to let the visitor industry be part of that bridge and lead us more towards an economy based upon better wages for our working families, self sufficiency in food and fuel, expanding opportunities for local businesses , educational and wellness tourism, cultural learning centers, more widespread farming, vibrant small towns that serve resident's needs but are also attractive to visitors, de-centralized clean energy production, responsible management of our marine resources and watersheds and more efficient ways to live with less impact on our beautiful island home. It is my desire as a candidate for public office to serve Maui's people by helping to create that bridge.

We appreciate the time that you have taken to complete this questionnaire. MAHALO NUI LOA.

Maui Vacation Rental Association