Lottery system for Oahu vacation rental registration among proposals eyed
HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - Rental owners, residents and industry professionals voiced their concerns Tuesday about proposed rules to regulate Oahu vacation rentals.
The rules include the creation of a possible lottery system for registration.
Several people expressed concern about that idea at a city Department of Planning and Permitting hearing on the proposals. They said the system would make it difficult to plan for guests.
“I don’t think a lottery system works because of the way short-term rentals work. We have to know a year in advance if we’re able to rent our homes so that people can book those rentals,” said Priscilla Mattison, a short-term vacation rental owner.
Under the proposed rules, DPP is required to regulate the short-term rental industry by limiting the number of rentals outside of permitted areas, which includes resort areas of Waikiki, Ko Olina and Turtle Bay.
One resident said that limiting the location of vacation rentals hurts the economy.
“This is not a residential area, this is a second home area. Having thousands of second homes sitting vacant does not produce any economic benefit for the north shore community,” said Mike Dickson, a North Shore resident.
The proposed rules would also prohibit vacation rentals from being within a 1,000-foot radius of another short-term rental outside of permitted areas. Homeowners would also only be able to apply for a limited number of new permits.
The DPP will review comments from the public hearing and adopt a final draft prior to Aug. 1.
For more information on the list of proposed rules and regulations for short-term rentals, click here.
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