Leeward Planning panel to consider three STVR bills

The bills also address the affordability of properties used for long-term rentals, change the term ʻohana dwellings to accessory dwelling unit, and prohibits them from being used as transient accommodation rentals.

In November 2018, the council passed Bill 108 in an attempt to regulate transient accommodation rentals on the Big Island, and included some, but not all, of the recommendations in a Hawaiʻi Appleseed report that provided an overview of the impacts of TARs on Hawaiʻi’s housing market.

“Unless Hawaiʻi takes action against illegal VRUs, their numbers will continue to rise as investors convert more homes built for residents into vacation rentals for visitors. Home prices and rents will rise, and Hawaiʻi’s families, communities and economy will suffer,” the report stated.

Bill 108 only regulated “unhosted rentals” by limiting the areas where they could operate to resort and commercial zones and creating a set of operational standards. TARs already in operation outside of the permitted zones could be grandfathered in, but no new operations would be permitted.