Acting Chair Nohelani Uhudjens, Vice Chair of the Maui County Council Housing and Land Use Committee, opened the Oct. 14 meeting to receive the Temporary Investigative Group (TIG) report on Bill 9 and related transient vacation rental (TVR) uses in apartment districts.

The committee’s receipt of the TIG report was procedural only; under the Sunshine Law the committee could accept the report but not deliberate on it at this meeting. "Because of the sunshine law related to the TIG, the report could only be distributed in an open meeting," Acting Chair Nohelani Uhudjens said as staff distributed the lengthy report. After testimony the committee deferred further consideration to a later duly noticed meeting held no fewer than six days after Oct. 14.

The TIG, which met Sept. 23–27, 2025, examined TVR policies and recommended several steps the group said would reduce ambiguity between hotel and apartment districts. The report recommends the council introduce amendments to Maui County Code to create H3 and H4 hotel districts (identified in the report as new classifications linked to section 19.414 of the Maui County Code) for properties listed in the TIG’s Exhibit 2 so that TVR uses would be expressly permitted in those hotel districts. The TIG also attached a property-by-property list (Exhibit 2) of apartment-district parcels it concluded may appropriately continue TVR uses if the council adopts the TIG approach.

The TIG presented findings it said could affect county tax revenue streams and housing availability. The TIG report notes that real property tax (RPT), general excise tax and transient accommodations tax revenues could decline if apartment-district TVRs convert to long-term residential uses or owner-occupied housing. The report also flagged West Maui concentration of TVRs and post‑August 2023 wildfire displacement as complicating factors for housing policy.

Public testimony at the meeting emphasized several recurring themes: concern that carving out shoreline properties would exempt many TVRs where housing is most needed; worries that mandatory conversion would push owners to sell to out‑of‑state buyers rather than make units available to local residents; requests for clearer criteria and numeric thresholds to define "nonattainable" properties; and the economic impact on owners and the county’s tax base.

Several testifiers described their personal situations. Brian Whitman, who identified himself as an owner of a one‑bedroom condo in Ma'alaea, said the ongoing costs of ownership are high: "It costs $63 a day to break even," Whitman said, summarizing association fees, taxes and utilities for a unit he said would be difficult to rent long term. Ruel Metcalfe urged the county to use revenue currently derived from vacation rentals to buy homes for families, saying, "You got 7,100 vacation rentals that you're targeting right now ... that's $7,000,000 a month," and proposed using such funds to purchase homes for local families. Deandre Makakoa and other West Maui residents warned that many shoreline units are where displaced residents need housing now and said sea level rise concerns are a longer‑term issue compared with immediate housing needs.

Operators and managers of long‑standing mixed‑use or timeshare properties asked the committee to preserve uses where units have historically operated as visitor accommodations. Tom Rogers, general manager of the Kuleana Club, asked that both Kuleana 1 and Kuleana 2 be recognized together in the TIG’s exhibits because they operate as a single resort under one AOAO and share infrastructure; Rogers said inclusion would protect jobs for employees who lost homes in the Lahaina fire.

Speakers who represent or manage condo properties asked for clearer, consistent criteria. Tom Crowley and others urged numeric thresholds to define "nonattainable" and asked the council to account for historical use patterns (for example, whether a complex has been predominantly short‑term rental for many years). Several speakers requested grandfathering or phased transitions and raised concern that if owners must convert to long‑term rental without financial support, many units will be sold to buyers outside Maui County.

Committee staff clarified meeting procedures: the committee was limited to receiving the TIG report under the Sunshine Law and could not deliberate or ask internal clarifying questions until a later, properly noticed meeting. After oral testimony concluded and with no objections from members, the committee deferred the item for future deliberation.

The TIG report itself states the investigative group met with county officials, the mayor’s office, managing director’s office, real estate and housing stakeholders, and conducted site visits around Maui. The TIG said it reviewed property title reports and other documents to identify parcels it considered appropriate for continued TVR use and to identify parcels that should remain reserved for residential uses.

The committee accepted written testimony for the record and closed oral testimony on Oct. 14. Acting Chair Nohelani Uhudjens announced that with issuance of the TIG report, the temporary investigative group is officially dissolved. The committee adjourned at 10:32 a.m.

What’s next: The committee will take up deliberations on the TIG report and any proposed amendments to Bill 9 at a later duly noticed meeting no fewer than six days after Oct. 14, when members will be permitted to ask questions, discuss policy choices and consider motions.