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Oahu, Hawaii’s third-biggest island, will now place further restrictions on where Airbnb, Vrbo and other short-term rental properties can be located throughout Honolulu and the island.
In a move that has roiled landlords and other short-term rental operators, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi — whose office pushed for the bill’s introduction to the city council — has signed a bill that would place significant limitations not only on where Airbnbs and Vrbos can be located, but for the length of short-term rentals in large swaths of the island.
“We could feel the outcry from our communities across the island on what had gone on with illegal vacation rentals,” Blangiardi said in a press conference Tuesday. “[This] is to bring back our neighborhoods, where people grow up, where families are raised and not have them be mini-hotels, but be the neighborhoods they were designed to be, a source of great pride for all of us who have raised families here in Oahu.”
The bill will require rentals in most parts of Oahu to have a minimum stay of 90 days, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Shorter stays, with a minimum of 30 days, are only allowed in properties located in areas with resort zoning — namely in Koolina, Kuilima, Makaha and parts of Waikiki.
As reported by Hawaii News Now, the legislation passed through the city council earlier this month with near-total unanimity — a vote of 8-1. Only one councilmember, Andria Tupola, voted no. Tupola, whose district lies in the western side of the island, expressed concerns that past regulation of illegal rental properties has already failed, Hawaii News Now says.
She also expressed concern over a potential conflict of interest after Honolulu’s permitting department head recused himself from working on this legislation. Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting Director Dean Uchida’s wife, Joy Uchida, is employed by a firm that owns numerous condo-hotel properties in Waikiki and could benefit from this legislation.
Honolulu Civil Beat reports that the bill, which would take effect in 180 days, would place new restrictions on short-term rentals, such as requiring a parking spot for any rooms rented in residential areas and prohibiting illicit operators from advertising these properties.
