Based on a recent ruling by Judge Kona, more vacation rentals may emerge on farmland.
The future of authority to ban short-term vacation rentals in Hawaii County’s agricultural districts has been out of balance after a judge in the Third Circuit overturned the state’s Land Use Commission ruling in favor of the county’s rights. increase.
The Commission will file an appeal notice with the Interim Court of Appeals on Thursday to discuss the appeal via Wednesday’s meeting and Zoom in Honolulu. Information on participating in and submitting public testimony is available at https://luc.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Agenda-for-JUNE-8-2022.pdf.
Circuit Judge Wendy Deweise, on May 2, ordered the county’s STVR rules by county and state, allowing a petition by a group of family trusts (called “Rosehill Petitions”) that own land in the agricultural district. I rejected the petition in support of. I want to pursue short-term leasing.
State law requires that if a house is built on land that is classified under the state system as being in an agricultural area, the house is a farm residence and has a connection to agriculture. The farm housing requirement came into effect on June 4, 1976, and the county planning department now only permits non-conforming licenses for STVRs in lots created prior to that date.
A farm dwelling is defined by state law as a detached house located on the farm and used in connection with the farm or where agricultural activities provide income to the occupying family. Lawyers from the county and land use committee argued that income from vacation rentals was not a proper farming activity and was therefore not permitted.
The judge agreed with the petitioner, represented by Honolulu’s lawyer Cal Chipchase, and the state land use law does not specify a permissible period for renting farm housing.
Twenty landowners in Kailua-Kona, Waimea, and Captain Cook claim that the county’s ban on renting less than 30 days in agricultural areas was a mistake and was an abuse of the Commission’s discretion. In addition, they accused the county’s zoning ordinance of not only compensation but also the acquisition of unconstitutional private property.
DeWeese agreed with the first two disputes, but said before the Commission that the allegations were not properly made and were not considered by the court.
“As of June 4, 1976, the plain language of (State Land Use Act) was intended in the terms of the Ordinance because it did not regulate any of the three specific factual elements of short-term vacation rentals. As you can see, the interpretation of the county’s state law is wrong, “DeWeese said in her order. “The plain language of this clause does not indicate how long a family occupies a home. In fact, the provisions of Chapter 205 of HRS do not regulate how long a farm can be rented. It was. “
The final decision has widespread implications. About 1.2 million acres (almost half of the land) on the Big Island are classified as agriculture. During the first year of the 2019 program, more than 1,500 of the county’s approximately 4,000 STVR applications were primarily for agricultural land nonconformity certificates.
Approximately 50 owners of real estate in the agricultural area have appealed to the county’s appeals committee for refusal to apply for rental and non-conforming use of the county’s short vacation. These appeals are pending while the Rosehill case is proceeding with legal proceedings.
Send an email to Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.
