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Yesterday Big Island Video News (where would we be without David Corrigan!) posted another hearing...
http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2019/0...tal-rules/
This one in Hilo, concerning the proposed administrative rules, crafted by the Hawaii County Planning Department to regulate short term vacation rentals (STVR) on the Big Island.
Of course most of the comments are from vacation rental people and are complaints and other negative comments about the new rules. But, the most interesting to me are comments by Mary Finley which starts at 1:29:42.
Mary points out that in many places our substandard infrastructure is not set up to handle the increase in commercial activity. But more importantly how VRs are making long term rentals harder to find for local people, and as such doing more harm than the good being reaped by the few that participate in this kind of business.
People here dis county/state all the time for not being pro business, but the idea that we can let an unregulated industry overrun our long term housing inventory is more than a little issue, and far more important then all the profits being reaped by the VR industry. And face it, the VR industry is predominantly ran by more recent island transplants, and the folks hurt by the diminished long term rental inventory are locals born and raised here.
And before anyone like dis Mary, keep in mind that she, as the Housing and Energy Program Administrator at Hawaii County Economic Opportunity Council, has done more to deal with housing, and how it effects the local population than all of us put together.
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The current housing boom is partly because of the VR market. It will be a lot harder to find a house to rent (and a job to help pay for it) if the Hotel Lobby (and the jealousy of some who don't own VRs) succeed in destroying the VR industry.
A much bigger problem is how landlords are at the mercy of tenants here. I have asked various VR owners and they would rather sell their house or leave it empty than rent it out.
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What is this "recent transplant" who should be spat upon, anyone who came here after you?
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https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/201...march-3-6/
It's the landscapers, the gardeners, the pool-service people, the house cleaners and the handymen who stand to lose their livelihood.
...
If anyone wishes to visit Hawaii Volcanoes National park, the No. 2 Hawaii attraction, they will have to stay in the resorts along Alii Drive or the Kohala Coast. Bill 108 stands to make it even worse gridlock. I also don't believe there are enough resort units to serve either Ironman or the Merry Monarch Festival, which will probably need to be moved to Oahu to accommodate the number of visiting spectators.
...
Another likely fallout will be the loss of property tax revenue generated along the Kona-Kohala coast. These multimillion-dollar homes cannot switch to affordable rentals because the economics don't work. The county stands to lose millions in tax revenues.
One of the larger problems with Bill 108 is that it will take 1-3 years to notice the impact, by which time it will be too late.
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If anyone wishes to visit Hawaii Volcanoes National park, the No. 2 Hawaii attraction, they will have to stay in the resorts along Alii Drive or the Kohala Coast.
If the argument is...:
Mary points out that in many places our substandard infrastructure is not set up to handle the increase in commercial activity.
... then how exactly is the Hwy 11 infrastructure between HVNP, the #2 visitor attraction in Hawaii, and Kohala supposed to handle double, triple, quadruple the traffic with limited vacation rentals in Puna?
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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"A much bigger problem is how landlords are at the mercy of tenants here."
Indeed. And Bill 108 will not fix this. Fixing the long term rental problem at the source would make it so that the two could coexist. Long term rentals require less attention and for some landlords would be more desirable, but current conditions make it too scary. So the end result will be nothing more than the killing of an industry.
It's like having a dead battery in your car and thinking that taking the wheels off will make it go.
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I have been fairly transparent in that I am a vacation rental owner and rent my place when I am off island. If I cannot get my permit thru this new process to continue my home as a rental and can no longer rent short term, I will not be selling my home nor will I be renting it long term either. So I guess I am a win win, don’t pay anymore taxes to the County, don’t have to deal with renters and keep my house to myself. So in my case, I don’t see how this will benefit the County or the people as the County will loose revenue and I will have to fire my house manager who lives next door.
Stacey
Living the life in Cali and Hawai‘i
Stacey
Living the life in Cali and Hawai‘i
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quote:
Originally posted by PaulW
A much bigger problem is how landlords are at the mercy of tenants here. I have asked various VR owners and they would rather sell their house or leave it empty than rent it out.
Speaking from past experience, that is exactly true. I used to live in a small place in Volcano that I subsequently rented out. After multiple tenants trashed the place, and the final one required more than a year and multiple court appearances to evict, after he stopped paying rent, I decided "to hell with that..." and sold the place - which now sits empty most of the time.
quote:
Originally posted by glinda
...Of course most of the comments are from vacation rental people and are complaints and other negative comments about the new rules. But, the most interesting to me are comments by Mary Finley which starts at 1:29:42.
Mary points out that in many places our substandard infrastructure is not set up to handle the increase in commercial activity. But more importantly how VRs are making long term rentals harder to find for local people, and as such doing more harm than the good being reaped by the few that participate in this kind of business....
.......And before anyone like dis Mary, keep in mind that she, as the Housing and Energy Program Administrator at Hawaii County Economic Opportunity Council, has done more to deal with housing, and how it effects the local population than all of us put together.
And if this is the same Mary Finley whose husband was a big time drug dealer in Volcano for many years ( http://www.hawaiipolice.com/volcano-drug-bust-01-30-07), I can't say that I would put much stock in anything she has to say - as Housing and Energy (??? and there's another joke) Director or in any other position...
Where does Harry find these people???
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Seems the county could just jack up the taxes (and fines for dodging them) instead of trying to shut them all down. Shooting their own foot, nevermind all the knock-on business lost to restaurants, farmers markets, and other attractions. Hilo and Puna will pay the price.
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Seems the county could just jack up the taxes
I suggested exactly this when the whole thing started. A property tax class for "vacation rental" would collect money right here in the County, unlike the GET/TAT that disappear into Oahu's rail system.
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