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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 11:19 a.m., Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Panel votes to allow B&Bs in Maui ag districts

By CHRIS HAMILTON,
The Maui News

WAILUKU - The Maui County Council's Planning Committee reversed itself Tuesday and voted to allow bed-and-breakfasts to be located in agricultural districts, the Maui news reported today.

For about two months now, the five-member committee has been meeting to address a series of bills presented by Mayor Charmaine Tavares' administration and the Planning Department.

Tavares' approach has been both to streamline the transient vacation rental legislation and try to crack down on unpermitted vacation rentals located in residential neighborhoods. The premise is that short-term rentals damage a community's character and further deplete an already shallow pool for long-term rentals.

So far, the committee members have made a number of concessions with transient vacation rental owners, who are said to operate 1,100 illegal units and several hundred more permitted units islandwide. The package of bills still needs full council approval, but the Planning Committee voted 3-2 to support repealing the bed-and-breakfast ban on agricultural land.

Committee Chairwoman Gladys Baisa and Council Members Mike Molina and Bill Medeiros supported the measure. Council Members Jo Anne Johnson and Riki Hokama were against it.

Many farmers have opposed allowing bed-and-breakfasts on ag land, saying they would compete for an already finite supply of productive land and increase their property values beyond their means.

Molina on Tuesday said he reintroduced the measure after receiving a lot of input from the community. In most cases, he said, the bed-and-breakfasts on ag lots are on land unfit to grow much of anything. And some farmers also told him they'd like to open a bed-and-breakfast to supplement their incomes.

The Planning Committee previously broadened the definition of bed-and-breakfast operations to allow a property owner with two homes on a single lot to live in one house and rent out the other as a short-term vacation rental. The committee also voted to allow bed-and-breakfasts on rurally designated land.

"I think this is good legislation," said Planning Director Jeff Hunt. "This committee has been very creative."

If Hunt and Tavares' proposals pass the County Council as is, many of the decisions over who gets bed-and-breakfast permits would be taken out of the council's hands and decided administratively. Each island planning commission, though, would likely have authority over granting bed-and-breakfast permits in ag districts.

Johnson expressed concerns about the agricultural district laws on the books and wants the council to re-examine and tighten them up.

The committee deferred making a decision Tuesday on whether to set a cap on Maui for bed-and-breakfasts at 400 as some council members expressed concerns about how many would be allowed within the communities they represent.

"I think this sends a message to everyone that even though we are going to allow these, we won't allow them to run rampant," Hunt said.

Here's how the cap distribution proposal stands now:

* 12 percent in Hana, or 48 bed-and-breakfasts.

* 10 percent in Makawao, or 40.

* 25 percent in Kihei, or 100.

* 27 percent in Paia/Haiku, or 108.

* 4 percent in Wailuku/ Kahului, or 16.

* 22 percent in West Maui, or 88.

* Molokai and Lanai's limits would be set by their planning commissions.

Molina said his residency district, which includes Makawao, Paia and Haiku, is getting a disproportionate number of bed-and-breakfasts.

"This is a lot for this region," Molina said. "I'm just stating my reservations."

Medeiros said he also thought that 48 bed-and-breakfasts in Hana could overwhelm the town.

Molina suggested an even split or eliminating the idea of separating bed-and-breakfasts by regional district.

County planner Joe Alueta suggested distributing the bed-and-breakfasts based on the number of dwelling units in each community.

Johnson said she was worried that had the potential for short-term rentals to leave hotel/resort areas, where they are allowed without a conditional use permit, and move into residential neighborhoods.

* Chris Hamilton can be reached at chamilton@mauinews.com.