STAND. COM. REP. NO. 175

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 862

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 862 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ZONING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to allow counties with populations less than one hundred thousand to enact a zoning ordinance to amortize or phase out nonconforming single-family transient vacation rental units over a reasonable period of time.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the County of Kaua‘i Planning Department and four individuals.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawai‘i Association of REALTORS, Rental By Owner Awareness Association, and one individual.

     Your Committee finds that single-family transient vacation rentals create significant zoning and zoning enforcement issues, particularly in the State's less populated counties.  There is a persistent issue regarding whether single-family transient vacation rentals should be treated as residential or resort units.  Accordingly, this measure would allow counties with populations less than one hundred thousand to address this ongoing concern by enacting a zoning ordinance to amortize or phase out nonconforming single-family transient vacation rental units over a reasonable period of time.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 862 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs,

________________________________

CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair