02-05-2019, 06:38 AM
I live 300 yards from an HPP property with two fully permitted vacation rentals on an acre. They stay busy because they are reasonably priced and well kept. The owner, a local woman who lives nearby, dutifully collects and pays all relevant taxes. They present far fewer problems in terms of noise and traffic than any of the half dozen long-term rentals on our mile long stretch of road. Yes, the vacationers do take occasional early morning walks, but I can only recall one before 07:00 that set my dogs off.
So the powers that be have decreed that vacation rentals will be drastically curtailed. Former Puna council rep Eileen Ohara voted for this mess, putting one more nail in her political coffin. Ohara acted more like a lah-tih-dah homeowners' association functionary than someone representing an economically challenged area where vacation rentals were a rare income bright spot. And make no mistake, when the inevitable tax revenue shortfalls result from this disastrous over-regulation, we will all get our taxes raised by Harry Kim or his clone who will say, "But we have no choice!"
So the powers that be have decreed that vacation rentals will be drastically curtailed. Former Puna council rep Eileen Ohara voted for this mess, putting one more nail in her political coffin. Ohara acted more like a lah-tih-dah homeowners' association functionary than someone representing an economically challenged area where vacation rentals were a rare income bright spot. And make no mistake, when the inevitable tax revenue shortfalls result from this disastrous over-regulation, we will all get our taxes raised by Harry Kim or his clone who will say, "But we have no choice!"