Maui ponders its future as leaders consider restricting vacation rentals loved by tourists

HONOLULU -- Alicia Humiston bought her condo successful Lahaina aft she visited Maui and fell for its rainforests, lava fields and the whales that stitchery offshore. She travels determination astir 3 times a twelvemonth and rents retired her portion for abbreviated periods erstwhile she's not successful Hawaii.

“Maui was my imagination place,” she said successful a telephone interrogation from her location successful Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

But present Maui's politician wants to marque it intolerable for Humiston and thousands of different condo owners to rent their properties to tourists. Instead, helium wants them rented semipermanent to Maui locals to code a chronic lodging shortage that reached a caller situation constituent aft last August's deadly wildfire burned the homes of 12,000 residents.

The mayor's connection faces aggregate legislative and bureaucratic hurdles, starting Tuesday with a Maui Planning Commission meeting. Yet it has inflamed an already-heated statement astir the aboriginal of 1 of the world's best-known question destinations: Will Maui proceed to cater to tourists, who powerfulness the section economy? Or volition it curb tourism to code persistent complaints that visitors are overwhelming the island's beaches and roads and making lodging unaffordable?

About one-third of Maui's visitors usage abrogation rentals. They thin to outgo little than hotels and are casual to reserve connected websites similar Airbnb and VRBO. Many person kitchens, truthful families tin hole their ain food.

They person besides go a source of strife, peculiarly aft past year's conflagration successful Lahaina — the deadliest wildfire successful the U.S. successful much than a century. The occurrence tore done the historical town, sidesplitting astatine slightest 101 radical and leaving thing but rubble and ash for blocks. Thousands of displaced locals were temporarily housed successful hotels usually reserved for tourists, and astir survivors inactive deficiency unchangeable housing.

Even earlier the fire, University of Hawaii researchers say truthful galore spot owners were renting to tourists — and truthful fewer caller dwellings were being built — that Maui County suffered a nett nonaccomplishment of lodging since 2019.

An investigation of spot taxation records shows 85% of Maui County's condos are owned by out-of-state residents, said Justin Tyndall, an adjunct prof astatine the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization. Transitioning them would boost Maui’s residential lodging banal by 13%, which Tyndall said would astir surely pb to little buying prices and rents.

Maui Mayor Richard Bissen believes that nether his proposal, those little rents would support locals connected Maui due to the fact that absentee landlords would beryllium forced to either merchantability their units oregon person them to semipermanent rentals.

There are 7,000 condo units successful flat zones, including 2,200 successful West Maui adjacent the Lahaina pain zone, and they relationship for astir fractional of Maui’s legally operated short-term rentals. If enacted, the alteration would instrumentality effect successful West Maui nary aboriginal than July 1, 2025, and Jan. 1, 2026 elsewhere.

“We recognize that there’s going to beryllium a springiness and take. So the question is, what is astir important?” Bissen said astatine a quality league past month. “My precedence is lodging our section residents - particularly now.”

Humiston, president of the Hawaii Rental By Owner Awareness Association, which opposes the bill, won't merchantability her one-bedroom, oceanfront condo that she bought 2 decades agone if the measure became law. She besides doesn’t program to rent it long-term.

“It would instrumentality my quality to usage my property. And I bought it for my use," she said. "I emotion it there.”

Some pass that reducing the proviso of lodging for visitors volition ruin the tourism manufacture Maui's system depends on, though backers of the mayor's measure accidental galore abrogation rentals volition stay and hotels volition person bare rooms visitors tin enactment in.

Hawaii economist Paul Brewbaker calculates that changing the rules for the affected units, which relationship for one-third of Maui’s visitant accommodations, would effect successful 33% less tourists and outgo Maui 14,000 jobs. He called it a “slow-motion train-wreck” that would pb to an “economic clang and burn.”

Maui County Chair Alice Lee said that portion lodging for residents is simply a existent concern, the assembly indispensable besides see ineligible challenges from spot owners and the imaginable deed connected taxation revenue.

The region collects $500 cardinal successful existent spot taxes annually and much than 40% comes from short-term rentals, which are taxed astatine a higher complaint than owner-occupied residences, she said.

“We are being sued by implicit 600 radical regarding the fire. We person that galore lawsuits pending. Do we truly privation to enactment ourselves successful a presumption to invitation thousands more?” Lee said. “I truly don’t deliberation so, due to the fact that my main interest close now, astatine this precise moment, is to wage the bills and support the lights on.”

The region has budgeted $300,000 to survey the bill's interaction connected taxation gross and businesses similar landscaping and cleaning services.

Jeremy Stice, a existent property cause who was calved and raised connected Maui, and his woman person spent 12 years gathering a institution that contiguous manages much than 40 abrogation rental properties, mostly for different owners. About fractional of them would beryllium affected by the measure, said Stice, who is besides president of the Maui Vacation Rental Association.

Stice isn't definite section residents would bargain — oregon could spend — short-term rental units adjacent if they bash go disposable for imperishable housing.

For example, a workplace successful Papakea, 1 of the targeted condo complexes, would merchantability for astir $600,000, helium said. A 30-year-fixed owe astatine existent involvement rates, positive the homeowner relation fees, would full astir $5,000 a period for a tiny space, helium said.

If locals don't bargain them, and tourists don't rent them, it's imaginable the units would beryllium mostly bare arsenic 2nd homes for affluent absentee owners — an adjacent worse outcome.

To forestall that, the region should rise taxes connected 2nd homes, make incentives to beforehand semipermanent rentals and prioritize caller lodging construction, said Matt Jachowski, a Maui lodging information consultant.

“The lone mode retired of this lodging situation is to bash everything — to bash everything successful our powerfulness to adhd much nonmigratory housing,” helium said.