A temporary investigative group has recommended carving out major exceptions in Maui Mayor Richard Bissen’s proposal to free up long-term housing for local residents by phasing out several thousand vacation rentals.

The report unveiled during Tuesday’s meeting of the Maui County Council’s Housing and Land Use Committee included more than 50 properties comprising more than 4,000 units — almost entirely in West and South Maui — that the group said should be rezoned to allow for both short- and long-term rentals.

That list included properties with market values not attainable by most county residents, that are likely to be affected by sea level rise, that are predominantly made up of timeshare units or that are located on Molokaʻi, according to the report. 

The report outlined some of the possible negative consequences of enacting Bissen’s plan — spelled out in Bill 9 — including a weakened tourism-dependent economy and reduced tax revenue. It also noted that some of those losses could be mitigated by introducing measures like an empty homes tax and that it had the potential to increase housing options for those displaced by the deadly 2023 wildfires in Lahaina and Upcountry.

Council member Nohelani Uʻu-Hodgins, who chaired the investigative group, said during the meeting that the group completed its report after visiting numerous sites around the island and consulting with county government officials, real estate professionals, housing advocates and loan officers. Their recommendations are intended to eliminate “any gray areas in which hotel uses are conducted in apartment districts” and reduce any potential negative economic impact, she said.

U’u-Hodgins added that the group aimed to ensure that apartment-zoned properties converted from transient vacation rentals “would serve as long-term homes and stay in the hands of local families, potentially for generations.”

The investigative group’s other members were council member Tamara Paltin, who served as vice chair, and council members Tom Cook and Shane Sinenci.

Other council members and Maui residents who attended Tuesday’s meeting only had about 15 minutes to review the report before public testimony was opened, and while some people said they supported some of the carveouts, other community members expressed concern that those exemptions were too far reaching.

De Andre Makakoa, creative director of the community organization Lahaina Strong, one of the bill’s principal backers, noted that many of the units recommended for zoning changes because they were near the shoreline are in Lahaina.

“To carve out thousands of units in the town where we need housing the most is a little bit concerning,” he said. “Obviously, we believe in climate change. We’ve lived here all our lives. We’ve seen it changing drastically throughout our short lifetimes, but the need for housing right now outweighs that.”

He added that short-term rentals are defined as six months or less, and “a lot of our community who are still displaced would consider anything over six months, or anything over a year as a blessing.”

While a few testifiers thanked the investigative group for its thoughtful recommendations, they said they were still concerned about Bill 9’s potential negative economic consequences and how the legislation would affect property owners.

Brian Wittman, who owns a short-term rental, said many of the units that would no longer be allowed to operate as short-term rentals were unlikely to become affordable rentals for locals because of their high maintenance costs, exorbitant homeowners association fees and limited space and parking.

“One advantage is that when it’s not rented, we can let the family still use it,” Wittman said about his short-term rental. He said he would likely need to sell the unit if it is converted to long-term housing because the lease will have to be 12 months to be granted a property tax exemption, “so we can never use it ourselves.”

Bissen proposed Bill 9 in May 2024, responding to the 2023 fires that displaced more than 12,000 people in Lahaina and Kula and exacerbated Maui’s longstanding housing crisis. The legislation would eliminate the exemptions that have long allowed some apartment-zoned units to operate as short-term rentals on platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo.

The temporary investigative group was established after a council committee voted 6-3 to advance Bill 9. The council directed the group to summarize the predicted social and economic impacts of passing the legislation, and identify apartment-zoned properties that should potentially be allowed to continue operating as vacation rentals. It was also tasked with recommending additional legislation or improvements to the county code that would alter or streamline the process of changing certain properties’ zoning designations.

Read the group’s full report below.

Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by a grant from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.