Oahu has waited long enough for vacation-rental policy
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The central question in the vacation rentals issue has languished, unanswered, for two years: Should the city resume legalizing rentals through the permitting process?
In the meantime, neighbors continue to be pitted against each other. Residents on both sides of the divide feel they have rights to be protected.
They need a clear policy decision from the city.
With any luck, they should get a signal in about a month. That's when the city Department of Planning and Permitting is expected to respond to two City Council resolutions passed in 2005:
In August, the department is due to submit a revised version of the rental advertising regulation to the city Planning Commission for its review.
At the same time, the department will issue its report on resuming permits for B&Bs for the first time since 1989, when the city declared a moratorium on vacation rentals. Those already holding permits were allowed to continue operating under them.
The regulation-through-advertising proposal seems likely to emerge relatively unscathed: The department has described its alternative bill as "containing minor revisions related to administrative procedures."
It's not a perfect solution, of course; many of these businesses don't advertise openly, so the failure to disclose the certificate number may be hard to catch. But it's at least a more practical approach than trying to document the comings and goings of vacationers who rent for less than the minimum term for residential districts: 30 days.
The second idea is more problematic. B&Bs are viewed as less troubling because the owner is present and can be held accountable for infractions, whereas "transient vacation units" have nobody on the premises to oversee guest behavior.
However, even they will require a lot of city manpower to see that rules governing hours of operation, parking and other aspects are observed. Even setting the criteria under which B&Bs should be allowed in a particular neighborhood will be tough.
Up until now, the city has struggled to enforce the current ban on new rentals. It's hard to imagine adding a flood of newly permitted units to that burden without a significant increase in staff. And even if the owners are assessed a new tax to help cover the expense, keeping up with the work will become too costly. What may be viewed as a potential source of new revenue for the city could cause more problems than it solves.
In any case, the city would have to convince taxpayers that it could responsibly expand its governmental duties.
Meanwhile, the unresolved conflict has left certain communities on O'ahu in limbo. Whatever the recommendations coming in August, city officials owe the public prompt action on this key land-use question.
