LIHU‘E — A controversial bill that would give counties the power to open ag lands to be used for overnight accommodations has been deferred at the state House of Representatives. A Senate version of the bill is still alive, waiting
LIHU‘E — A controversial bill that would give counties the power to open ag lands to be used for overnight accommodations has been deferred at the state House of Representatives. A Senate version of the bill is still alive, waiting for next hearing to be scheduled.
Ron Kouchi, D-Kaua‘i, Ni‘ihau, said Tuesday that if Senate Bill 2341 is to progress during this session it will have to be heard before next week by the Senate Tourism Committee, of which Kouchi is vice chair.
House Bill 2317 was deferred Tuesday by the Water, Land and Ocean Resources Committee and will likely not be heard again during this session.
Both bills, with somewhat similar language, proposed to strike a proviso in the Hawai‘i Revised Statutes prohibiting overnight accommodations on ag lands, which prompted at least four Kaua‘i County Council members to submit written testimony opposing to the proposals.
The Kaua‘i County Council in 2010 passed a law that allows owners of transient vacation rentals which were operating before March 7, 2008, to apply for grandfathering permits if they met certain criteria. The law also prohibited, moving forward, additional vacation rentals outside Visitor Destination Areas.
