The Planning Department has scheduled a public hearing for Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019 at 5 p.m. at the Kalana Pakui conference room in Wailuku regarding amending the Department’s rules relating to fines for unpermitted transient vacation rental operations.

After the 2018 election, Section 13-10 of the County Charter was updated to specifically state, “the penalty for the operation of a transient accommodation without a necessary permit shall not exceed a civil fine of $20,000 plus $10,000 per day for each day the unlawful operation persists, unless a higher fine is authorized by State law.” The prior version of the Charter limited penalties to $1,000 initial and $1,000 per day.

In addition, the Maui County Code was updated on October 7, 2019 by Ordinance No. 5001 to be consistent with the Charter to allow the higher fines. The final step is to update the Department’s Administrative Rules. After the public hearing, if there are no substantive changes made to the proposed amendments, the Department will finalize the rule changes and forward them to the Mayor for signature. The new rules and increased fines would then take effect as soon as they are signed by the Mayor.

The proposed amendments are available online at the Planning Department’s homepage https://www.mauicounty.gov/121/Planning-Department. Some minor procedural changes are also included in the proposed amendments.

Any interested person may submit oral or written testimony on the proposed amendments at the public hearing. Also, written testimony may be submitted by mail to: Planning Department, 2200 Main Street, Suite 315, Wailuku, Hawaii 96793. Written testimony must be received by the Planning Department before the public hearing closes on November 5, 2019.