HBR and our City Affairs Committee leadership continue to meet with various Councilmembers to voice our concerns about Bill 41. Last month we met with DPP Director Dean Uchida and have a meeting scheduled with Mayor Blangiardi in a few weeks.
The Honolulu City Council voted 7-2 and passed Bill 41, CD1 in its 2nd reading on Wednesday, 1/26. In its current form, the bill increases the minimum rental requirement to 90 days from 30 days for short-term rentals.
The hearing included hours of public testimony from nearly 200 people, in addition to hundreds of written testimonies, with a majority voicing their opposition to this measure. Thank you to many of you who submitted your own testimonies. A big shoutout to CAC Chair Dianne Willoughby and Vice-Chair Jennifer Andrews for patiently waiting hours for their turn to present oral testimony on behalf of HBR. KITV’s coverage of the hearing contained a short portion of Jennifer’s testimony expressing HBR’s position against the bill and noting the change in definition from 30 to 90 days.
HBR submitted testimony on the proposed CD1 to Bill 41 (2021) at a special committee meeting of the Committee on Zoning and Planning on January 20th. One of Councilmember Elefante’s proposed changes is a 90-day rental requirement (from 180 days). You can view HBR’s submitted testimony here.
Update - 01/26/2022:
The Honolulu City Council passed Bill 41 (7-2 vote) on Wednesday 11/10 in its 1st reading. The bill's current form is the original version and does not include any of the positive changes put forth by the DPP and Planning Commission. Several councilmembers expressed concern over this and that there is confusion amongst the public of which bill will be moving forward and considered. Councilmember Elefante who is the Chair of the Zoning and Planning Committee noted they will work to clear the confusion and move forward with one bill for consideration in his zoning and planning committee meetings.
