Alicia Humiston bought her condo in Lahaina after she visited Maui and fell for its rainforests, lava fields and the whales that gather offshore. She travels there about three times a year and rents out her unit for short periods when she's not in Hawaii.
Papakea Resort is seen on Monday, June 24, 2024, in Lahaina, Hawaii. The mayor of Maui County in Hawaii wants to stop owners of thousands of vacation properties from renting to visitors. Instead, he wants the units rented long-term to people who live on Maui to address a chronic housing shortage that intensified after last August’s deadly wildfire.
Even before the fire, University of Hawaii researchers say so many property owners were renting to tourists — and so few new dwellings were being built — that Maui County suffered a net loss of housing since 2019. “We understand that there’s going to be a give and take. So the question is, what is most important?” Bissen said at a news conference last month. “My priority is housing our local residents - especially now.”
Hawaii economist Paul Brewbaker calculates that changing the rules for the affected units, which account for one-third of Maui’s visitor accommodations, would result in 33% fewer tourists and cost Maui 14,000 jobs. He called it a “slow-motion train-wreck” that would lead to an “economic crash and burn.”
The county has budgeted $300,000 to study the bill's impact on tax revenue and businesses like landscaping and cleaning services.
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