The Maui County Council voted 7-1 to refer roughly 2,056 apartment-district vacation rental units to the Planning Commission for potential rezoning into new hotel districts, where short-term rental use would be explicitly permitted. The move could exempt these properties from Bill 9’s phase-out of STRs in apartment zones.
- The Council passed two resolutions referring ~2,056 apartment-district STR units to the Planning Commission for reclassification into new H3 and H4 hotel zoning districts.
- Properties targeted include timeshares, leaseholds, single-ownership units, units with variances, and properties the County considers hotel-like — such as Kāʻanapali Royal.
- If rezoned, these units would be permitted to continue operating as vacation rentals and would no longer be subject to Bill 9’s phase-out mandate.
- The Office of Hawaiian Affairs opposed the move, arguing it would remove nearly 30% of Bill 9 units from the local housing pipeline — roughly 514 potential homes.
- The resolutions now go to the Maui Planning Commission for review; no final rezoning decision has been made yet.
Source: Maui Now
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