Maui Vacation Rental Bill Draws Support, Opposition at Hearing

6/11/2025

At a hearing of the Maui County Council’s Housing and Land Use Committee, short-term rental owners and managers predicted that Mayor Richard Bissen’s proposal to convert 6,100 units into long-term housing will not work and could have unintended consequences. Several said the value on their units ever since Bissen proposed Bill 9 last year has plummeted and they have received no offers—either from local residents or out-of-state investors frightened away because they might not be able to use them as short-term rentals. As a result, they said, renters and buyers who can afford the rent or sales costs might move in from the mainland, meaning Bill 9 would not attain its goal of affordable housing for residents. At the hearing, 176 people signed up to testify but only 52 had the chance to speak.

Yahoo! News (06/10/25) Nakaso, Dan