Zoning committee advances short-term rental registration cleanup; DPP agrees to pursue fee fix

The Honolulu City Council Committee on Zoning and Planning on Sept. 23 amended and reported out Bill 62 (2025) CD1, a narrow cleanup to bed-and-breakfast and transient vacation unit rules, while committee members and several testifiers pressed for a separate fix to a $1,000 re-registration fee that applies when an operator or local point of contact changes.

The measure, as taken up by the committee, replaces four low-resolution black-and-white figures in the code with higher-resolution color maps that were included in prior ordinance 25-2, and the committee chair recommended the bill be amended to CD1 and reported for passage on second reading and the scheduling of a public hearing.

Why it matters: testimony at the hearing focused less on the map replacement and more on an unintended administrative burden in the bill's registration scheme. Short-term-rental operators, property managers and hospitality industry representatives told the committee the law requires a full re-registration and $1,000 fee every time an operator or on-island contact changes, even when the property owner remains the same. They said that requirement imposes unnecessary costs and duplicate agency work and discourages compliance.

Ed Jones, testifying in opposition on behalf of Castro, told the committee the issue is urgent for residents. "Mayor Blangiardi has acknowledged that this is urgent," Jones said. Margaret Oran, a property owner, warned that high fees and restrictive rules have cost some operators bookings and may invite litigation; she described a potential damages calculation tied to regulatory takings claims.

Kelly Lee of the Oahu Short Term Rental Alliance said the $1,000 re-registration requirement for operator changes creates a "disincentive for owners to comply," and asked that section 2(c)(y) be amended to remove operator changes as a trigger for full re-registration or to allow a simpler update process with a lower fee. Bradley Ramos, reservations manager at Captain Cook Resorts and representing the Oahu Short Term Rental Alliance, gave similar testimony.

Elizabeth Krieger of the Department of Planning and Permitting told the committee the department generated the cleanup bill once it found provisions had been omitted from ordinance 25-2 and supported the CD1 map replacement. On the re-registration fee she said, "Yes, I do share those concerns, and I think that the department would be amenable to looking at a remedy for that." Krieger said DPP staff would discuss whether the director would support a freestanding legislative measure to change the fee or whether the administration would propose a remedy.

The chair told testifiers the committee heard their concerns and would consider a remedy in concert with the city administration.

Details from the meeting: the bill text and attached plan were discussed as narrowly focused on registration requirements; the chair warned that other, broader changes (such as minimum-stay modifications) could not be adopted in this bill and would require separate legislation. The committee amended the bill to CD1 (replacing the four low-resolution figures with higher-resolution color maps from ordinance 25-2), and "hearing none" the chair directed that Bill 62 CD1 be reported out for passage on second reading and the scheduling of a public hearing.

Next steps: Committee action advanced the map-cleanup measure. The committee and DPP agreed to explore a separate measure or administrative remedy to address the re-registration fee and operator-change trigger.