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Our friend's house was outside Haiku -- away from the beaches, but very nicely renovated and with a pool and privacy. It attracted both "quiet" families and "celebrities." Both/either caused "problems" because the neighbors -- although it was legal -- basically just wanted the adjoining property.
Sounds like you like the same kinds of Maui properties that we enjoyed on Moloka`i. I just miss having the option -- especially now that Moloka`i Ranch is closed, too. There really aren't many options there -- or on Lana`i. It just doesn't seem right. And for many of us locals, the frustrations with the county are paramount.
There *are* lots of places still available, although maybe not the ones, the exact kind you've loved before. There are also outstanding remote places to stay still legal on Kaua`i and the Big Island. Truly a shame our county can't get its house in order. Please DM me when you come back to Maui. I'd love to meet up.
whynot: We're reprograming our travel plans for Hawaii to 1-2 months in early 2010, assuming the B&B situation is cleared up by then (we don't like condos/hotels and only go with out of the way B&Bs, cottages or private rooms). Will definitely stay in contact and hope to meet up with you. We're looking at inns and B&Bs in the Makawao or Hana areas, if you have any advice - give a shout. May I ask, where do you live? (Not important for meeting up as we will be traveling all over Maui, just curious.) Our basic itinerary on the next Hawaii trip is to explore the Big island, Oahu and of course enjoy Maui as home base. The Stopwatch restaurant in Makawao is our favorite places for a Maui beef burger, best burger I've ever had!!!
Regards, Tom
Disclaimer:
I own a Vacation Rental on Kauai, but it is in a Vacation Desitination Area (VDA), and permitted, so I have no axe to grind in this debate.
I live half the year on Oahu, where the debate rages as on Maui, but so far the City and County of Honolulu have done nothing except "spot" enforcement, and very little of that.
I'm posting on this subject because I have twenty years of first hand observation of one aspect of the debate that I think usually contains an unwarrented assumption, as here:
"many of the neighbors that do not rent out their homes do not want the traffic/in-and-out/noise and other side effects of TVRs of TVRs "
On Oahu, there are three Vacation Rentals on my block, one of them next-door. There is also a very large house (greatly expanded from the original) that is a "traditional" family. We are about a half mile from the beach.
There have been NO "traffic/in-and-out/noise and other side effects" from ANY of the three vaction rentals in those twenty years. They are quieter than the average house in the neighborhood.
There is loud noise and partying (complete with amplified music) from the "traditional" family "compound" about once a month.
Yes, Hank -- that's exactly what I mean. The (large) house next door to ours is a rental and the owners (when there) make more noise than the renters. Our mauka neighbor seems much "noisier" because his house isn't air conditioned, and we hear the doors open/close, his stereo, his phone conversations, his guests, etc. We have no complaints, but -- disclaimer -- we live in the Kaanapali resort area anyway, so the rental would be legal on Maui.
That said, there are neighborhoods in Kihei (it seems, especially) where the housing is denser and many of the structures are older (possibly some single-wall), but newer, larger mcmansions have been built essentially to rent to vacationers although those neighborhoods are not zoned residential. Some of the full-time neighbors have been, it seems, subjected to a great deal of stress from group renters in particular. There are many, MANY tales in the letters to the editor of the Maui News.
And I suspect there are the outright "tales," where full-time neighbors just want to carp or don't want anything to "change," as happened to our friend who owned the house in Haiku.
There is just nothing "fair" about the whole thing anymore and it has dragged on FAR too long.
. . .but newer, larger mcmansions have been built essentially to rent to vacationers although those neighborhoods are not zoned residential.
I meant "not zoned 'resort area,'" and therefore not a free pass for temporary vacation rentals. They should have been licensed. Many were not. And the prior mayor just went along with the illegal/unlicensed rental scheme. Then it seemed "everybody" started doing it as a side business. Then the new mayor put her foot down. Then all the tourists went away because of the economic crash anyway.
"Under the legislation passed Friday, the number of B&Bs would be capped at 48 in Hana, 100 in South Maui, 40 in Upcountry, 88 in Paia-Haiku, 36 in Central Maui and 88 in West Maui - a total of 400 for the island" Maui NEWS 12/20/08. My understanding is that the existing number of B&Bs far exceeds the 400 limit authorized in the latest proposal. Is that correct?
I think the requirement that the owners live on the properties will limit a good bit of the kind of activity that was previously passing for B&B. And I'm sure many people who were willing to rent their homes "casually" will not care to jump through the other hoops for licensing (although I anticipate enforcement to be minimal).
Only 20 or so are licensed to operate at the moment; if more than 380 additional owners/operators rush to become legitimate, I'm sure the council will take up the idea of expanding the 400 with the same speed and efficiency with which they have handled the original problem. LOL.
Well, it means there's now a process for licensing B&Bs (which can rent a room or a suite or an ohana in an owner's residential property). It doesn't help the OP at all because he likes to rent a house on his own.
That is still legal in areas that are zoned hotel/residential (like parts of Wailea and Kaanapali), but not legal in purely residential areas (like parts of Kihei) or more rural areas like Haiku or Hana, where a lot of people liked to rent homes for the peace and quiet. Those are the "temporary vacation rentals" (TVRs) that the article refers to.
I think the article implies that the mayor and the council haven't come to any kind of consensus on that, and the politics surrounding it are pretty harsh on all sides (permanent neighborhood residents, owners who bought these properties so they could rent them out, hotels, etc.). So the county government is (typically) in the process of considering the process for the TVRs, and will likely take their sweet time doing so.
It has taken over a year to get the B&B process passed and put in place. The TVR people have been waiting just as long, and it is the touchier issue because many of the properties that previously were being rented as "B&Bs" were actually TVRs by the new definitions. There are many more TVR owners and much more money involved in that kind of rental, so the real fireworks are yet to come.
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A First-Hand Observation
