In May 2024, Maui Mayor Richard Bissen took his self-described “bold step” to phase out 7,000 short-term vacation rentals by Jan. 1, 2026, leaning on a newly passed state law that gave the county clearer authority to do so as the island confronted a long-term housing crisis that was only exacerbated a year earlier by the devastating wildfires.
It took 19 months, but he signed a version of that bill into law Monday. The Maui County Council passed the bill in a 5-3 vote earlier in the day, the final product of hours of passionate public testimony, a thorough vetting by the county planning commissions, several long hearings and careful consideration of a temporary investigative group’s findings on its potential impacts.
The amended version of Bill 9 requires apartment-zoned short-term rental units to be phased out by Jan. 1, 2029, in West Maui and Jan. 1, 2031, in the rest of the county most of which are in South Maui.
“This is probably the most consequential bill that this county has faced in many, many years,” Bissen told Civil Beat after the vote. “We know this will have a big impact.”
The mayor’s plan divided the local community for more than a year and a half. Council members heard strong arguments for and against the measure from residents, short-term rental owners, hotel workers, tourists and others.
Prior to the vote, some council members including Upcountry’s Yuki Lei Sugimura said they were unwilling to support Bill 9 because they worried it would significantly harm Maui’s tourism-dependent economy. Others including the North Shore’s Nohelani U‘u-Hodgins said they planned to vote in favor of the legislation because they believed housing for wildfire survivors and other locals should be prioritized above all else.
“There is a lot of uncertainty still in West Maui and Maui County, and I think it’s important to listen to the people that have lived here for generations,” U‘u-Hodgins said. “The community wants this passed, and I’m in full support of people over profits.”
U‘u-Hodgins joined council members Gabe Johnson of Lanai, Tamara Paltin of West Maui, Shane Sinenci of East Maui and Keani Rawlins-Fernandez of Molokai to vote in favor of Bill 9. Sugimura, Chair Alice Lee of Central Maui and Tom Cook of South Maui voted against the legislation.
Bissen introduced Bill 9 after Gov. Josh Green signed legislation that gave counties greater authority to regulate short-term rentals, largely in response to the deadly August 2023 wildfires that displaced more than 12,000 people.
Carveout Planned For Thousands Of Units
Council members on Friday are expected to discuss whether to accept the recommendation of a Temporary Investigative Group for Bill 9 and significantly reduce the number of affected units by creating two new hotel zoning districts. Several council members expressed support for that proposal, which would allow more than half of the roughly 7,000 affected properties to keep operating as vacation rentals.
Bissen said his determination to bring Bill 9 to fruition has only grown since he first unveiled his plan, but he respected the group’s efforts and supported implementing their recommended changes.
“For me, it’s about returning neighborhoods to long-term residents, people raising their families, people in retirement, people at every age of their life,” he said.
He added that while Monday’s vote felt like the end of one battle, the fight to implement Bill 9 and create more housing for residents was far from over. Bissen and other county representatives were prepared to take on lawsuits from short-term rental owners, vacation rental platforms and others who argue Bill 9 infringes on the rights of individual property owners, he said, and they were willing to work with others to come up with a version of the legislation that satisfies as many people as possible.
“It’s obvious the way that they see the world, and how it’s impacting them individually,” Bissen said of some of the community members who testified against Bill 9. “But I have to consider how this impacts the entire community __ not just the STR community and not just the residential community __ and the economy and the long-term benefits.”
Learning From Past Mistakes
Many of those opposed to Bill 9 — including people who own or manage short-term rental properties — cited studies to back their perspective. One by the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization warned that the legislation could result in widespread job loss, decreased tax revenue and a weakened economy.
Some of those concerns might be addressed by implementing the changes recommended by the Temporary Investigative Group, Lee said, but it was risky to move forward with Bill 9 without those changes guaranteed.
“Normally you do that first. You don’t pass a bill, and then figure out ways to implement what should have been part of the bill and it wasn’t. It was an afterthought,” she said. “And that is not logical to me.”
Representatives from Expedia Group, which owns a popular travel booking platform, were extremely nervous about the potential negative economic ramifications, and they urged council members to establish new hotel zones as quickly as possible, according to a statement provided by Glenna Wong.
Supporters, however, have consistently hailed Bill 9 as an opportunity to reclaim housing for fire survivors and other longtime Maui residents who have been increasingly priced off of the island.
Julynn I’i was one of several Maui residents who testified on Monday and in recent months who highlighted how many locals are simply trying to get by while some short-term rental owners and others who profit off of the tourism industry were concerned about their bottom line.
“It doesn’t take rocket science to to know that Bill 9 isn’t going to fix every single problem, but it’s a start, and it’s a start that we’re willing to make a sacrifice for,” she said.
Rawlins-Fernandez noted that the vast majority of vacation rentals are owned by people who do not live on Maui.
“That means most of the profit would flow out of Maui County anyway,” she said.
In recent years, numerous communities around the world — from Oahu and the Big Island to Barcelona and New York City — have discussed enacting stricter regulations on short-term rentals and returning those units to long-term residents.
Bissen said Maui has the opportunity to learn from these other communities, the legal challenges they have faced and the positive and negative ramifications of their new restrictions on vacation rentals.
“We get the chance to learn from other people’s mistakes,” he said.
In a statement, county officials emphasized that Bill 9 is “part of a broader, multi-pronged housing strategy” and the mayor’s administration is committed to working with the council to explore new pathways to homeownership and consider tax and policy tools that complement the intent of the legislation.
When Monday’s meeting was adjourned, the audience inside the council chambers erupted into cheers and applause. Even though council members previously voted on first reading to recommend passing the legislation, many Bill 9 supporters had been hesitant to celebrate, said Paele Kiakona, a lead organizer with the community-led group Lahaina Strong.
“We’ve seen how people can change their minds. It actually still hasn’t really hit me,” said Kiakona, whose group stood behind Bissen when he first announced the proposal at a May 2024 press conference. “We’re just happy to have had the opportunity to be a part of something that we believe is just and is going to benefit us for generations to come.”
Story originally published by Honolulu Civil Beat and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
