Tourism on Maui has passed the point where it is serving residents, and is now negatively affecting our quality of life. While visitor arrivals have been breaking records lately, local resident sentiment about the visitor industry has fallen to an all-time low. This is a problem that is continuing to grow, and the first step in solving any problem is to stop making it worse. We need to pause the continued expansion of our already overbuilt tourism industry.
The proposed visitor accommodations moratorium is intended to pause further development of new hotel, timeshare, short-term rental homes, and transient vacation rental units, for two years, or when solutions recommended by a Temporary Investigative Group are passed by the Council. A moratorium will give us time to address the problem.
The County Council previously passed a moratorium bill that would have stopped the issuance of building permits for visitor accommodations in West and South Maui. Unfortunately, that bill was vetoed by the Mayor, and the Council did not have enough votes to override the veto.
Now the County Council is considering a bill that is intended to prevent discretionary permits from being issued on ALL of Maui island. That bill was sent to the Maui Planning Commission to get its comments and recommendations.
Please testify in SUPPORT of the proposed “MORATORIUM ON NEW TRANSIENT ACCOMMODATIONS ON MAUI,” Item B.3 on the agenda, which will be discussed before the Maui Planning Commission.
HOW YOU CAN HELP:
Attend the online committee meeting tomorrow morning (Tuesday, 9/28) at 9:00am.
- Phone testimony: 1-888-748-9073 , Meeting ID: 530 143 294
- Video testimony: https://maui.bluejeans.com/530143294
