Grassroot exposes another obstacle to Maui mayor's TVR phase-out plan

The Maui Planning Commission is "wildly unbalanced" in terms of its district representation, which could jeopardize any of its decisions

News Release from Grassroot Institute, June 2024

The first stop for Maui Mayor Richard Bissen’s controversial plan to phase out more than 7,000 short-term transient vacation rentals is set for June 25 before the Maui Planning Commission — but that could be legally problematic for supporters of the proposed zoning change, according to the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii.

In an article published Tuesday by Maui Now, Grassroot explained that the Maui County Charter requires that the nine-members of the commission include "at least one and no more than two members who reside in each council residency area on the island of Maui.”

This requirement was passed as a charter amendment in the 2022 election.

Right now, however, three of the county’s seven districts have two representatives each, and four of the districts have no representation, which could raise questions about fairness over any recommendations the planning body might make to the Maui County Council.

"The South Maui vacancy is particularly important," Grassroot noted, "because the majority of the properties targeted by Mayor Bissen’s ban are along the South Maui shore, including Kīhei and Wailea."

The Grassroot article in Maui Now said that "complicating the issue even further is another 2022 amendment to the Charter — Section 13.2 — which calls for setting up an independent nominating committee for boards and commissions. The members of the new committee have been named, but the group is not actually functioning yet, so it could be a while before the group is able to fill the remaining vacancies."

To read the entire article, go here.