As a group of transient vacation rental owners on four islands threatened a $1 billion lawsuit if they’re not allowed to reopen, Kauai was approved Wednesday for a new rule allowing that county to open the rentals to those not under quarantine and Gov. David Ige said his administration is working with other counties to see if it’s appropriate for them to follow suit.
Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim said late Wednesday he’s drafting a similar rule opening up legal short-term vacation rentals to those not under quarantine. The rule, which will also allow slightly larger crowds to congregate indoors and outdoors, will be submitted to Ige today and would take effect, upon the governor’s approval, June 16.
Kim said California, an origin state for a lot of Hawaii visitors, is still counting new COVID-19 cases in the thousands each week and deaths in the hundreds.
“We are proceeding with caution,” Kim said. “If we don’t proceed with caution, if we don’t still realize the virus is still out there, we will buy huge trouble. … We are in a great place. Let’s make it a better place.”
In letters Monday to Ige and the four county mayors, attorneys with Honolulu law firm Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert referenced West Hawaii Today’s coverage of the vacation rental issue and asked the government to lift the restrictions “to ensure that legal action is not necessary.”
“The emergency orders have singled out vacation rentals as nonessential businesses while allowing hotels, motels, timeshares, and condo-hotels to continue to operate as essential businesses. This has resulted in the state and counties affirmatively discriminating against lawfully operating business owners,” said the letter signed by attorneys Gregory W. Kugle and Joanna C. Zeigler. “The owners of vacation rentals are being denied due process rights and not being treated equally under the law.”
Ige announced during a Wednesday afternoon press conference the extension of the mandatory 14-day quarantine for trans-Pacific travelers to July 31. The quarantine for interisland travelers will be lifted June 16.
Vacation rental owners on Hawaii Island have expressed their displeasure to West Hawaii Today about what they perceive as unequal treatment. Many owners just last year went through a time-consuming and expensive registration process to be certified as vacation rentals, only to find their investments eroding because of the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent ban on their use for all but essential personnel.
Some neighbors to short-term vacation rentals have been equally vocal, saying they worry about travelers using them during the 14-day quarantine period and mingling in the community, thus creating a health risk.
County Corporation Counsel Joe Kamelamela said he read the law firm’s letter that came to Kim and the administration was still considering it. Still, he said, Hawaii County’s rules governing short-term vacation rentals have been less stringent than other counties — and the state in general — that haven’t allowed them at all.
Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami announced Wednesday that Ige approved his emergency rule 12 allowing short-term rentals, transient vacation rentals and homestays to open to people not subject to quarantine. Those under quarantine would first need to complete their quarantine period at a hotel or motel before moving to a vacation rental, he said.
“Certainly this is something that we’re working with the counties on,” Ige said, adding that other counties could follow suit “as appropriate on a county-to-county basis.”
Ige added he and the mayors continue to oppose illegal vacation rentals in the islands.
Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.