By Lahaina Lee, Aloha Group Maui | October 2026

Aloha, y'all. If you own a condo on the Minatoya List, or you have been thinking about buying one, the last eight weeks have been busy at the County building. I am not going to re-litigate how we got here. Bill 9 is law, Bill 88 is law, and you already know the arguments on both sides. What you need now is a clear picture of what has actually happened since the beginning of September, what has not happened yet, and which dates are worth circling. 

Here is that picture.

Key Takeaways

  • No condominium has been rezoned to H-3 or H-4 yet. Every action so far has been a referral or a recommendation.
  • On September 22 the Maui Planning Commission recommended hotel zoning for only 5 of the first 48 properties (about 397 of 3,402 units).
  • On September 29 the Council sent a second group of 32 shoreline complexes to the Commission, by a 5 to 4 vote.
  • On October 23 the Council declined, 4 to 5, to add four more complexes: Nohonani, Hoyochi Nikko, Māʻalaea Kai and Island Sands.
  • The number that matters is six. After an unfavorable Commission recommendation, the Council needs six of nine votes to approve a rezoning. The referrals that passed this fall had five.
  • The current Council can still act on the first 48 before its term ends. The 32 shoreline properties will likely be decided by the new Council seated in January 2027, after the November 3 election.
  • Some timeshare and variance properties may already be exempt from Bill 9. Check your building before assuming it needs rezoning.

A 60-Second Refresher

Bill 9 (Ordinance 5909) phases out transient vacation rentals in Maui County's A-1 and A-2 Apartment Districts. The last permitted day is December 31, 2028 in West Maui and December 31, 2030 everywhere else. Bill 88 (Ordinance 6008), effective June 22, 2026, created two new hotel districts: H-3 for properties now zoned A-1 and H-4 for properties now zoned A-2. A property rezoned into one of these districts can keep vacation rental use.

One detail that often gets lost: Bill 9 does not reach every unit in an apartment district. The County code exempts validly existing timeshare units, uses operating within the terms of a variance, and uses otherwise permitted by law. The Planning Department has confirmed in writing that at least one West Maui property operating under a variance is outside the phaseout. Whether an exemption covers a particular building, and every unit in it, is a property-specific question.

The key point: Bill 88 created the door. But it didn’t let anyone in. Each property still needs a community plan amendment where required, a Planning Commission recommendation, and a final vote of the County Council.

The Timeline

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Council's September 25 meeting was recessed and pushed to September 29 because of Hurricane Nolo, which is why the second referral landed a week after the Commission vote.

The First 48: Five Yes, Forty-Three No

In July the Council referred 48 properties, roughly 3,402 units, through Resolutions 26-110 and 26-111. These covered timeshares, leasehold buildings, single-owner properties, mixed timeshare and rental complexes, and properties that operate like hotels.

On September 22, after roughly five hours of public testimony, the Planning Commission voted 6 to 2 to recommend hotel zoning for five of them:

Everything else, including large and well-known complexes such as Kamaʻole Sands, Papakea, Maui Eldorado, Maui Sunset, Maui Hill and The Palms at Wailea, received an unfavorable recommendation.

Why the Commission said no

This is the part every owner should understand, because it tells you how the next group will likely be judged. The Commission did not reject properties because they had been vacation rentals. It rejected them because, in its view, they still had potential as housing, or because the record did not give it an objective way to call them hotels.

  • Leasehold properties and buildings with a mix of timeshares and vacation rentals were seen as having housing potential.
  • Single-owner properties were denied because the Commission lacked information on features such as kitchens and laundry.
  • Properties that operate like hotels, with front desks, housekeeping and resort staff, were denied because commissioners wanted more objective standards for what counts as a hotel.

In other words, a 24-hour front desk was not enough by itself. A variance or a fully timeshare structure was. That is a meaningful signal.

The Second Group: 32 Shoreline Complexes

One week later, on September 29, the Council voted 5 to 4 to refer Resolution 26-129, CD1. It sends two bills to the Commission covering 32 complexes in Māʻalaea, Kīhei and West Maui: 19 A-1 properties proposed for H-3 and 13 A-2 properties proposed for H-4.

This group was chosen on different grounds than the first. To qualify, a property needed:

  • More than 50% of its building footprint inside the state's 3.2-foot Sea Level Rise Exposure Area, a special flood hazard area, or the shoreline setback area; and
  • Buildings that were not originally intended for affordable or workforce housing.

The committee also screened out properties based on long-term residential use in 2008. Housing and Land Use Chair Nohelani Uʻu-Hodgins said these criteria apply only to this resolution and do not control future rezoning proposals.

Supporters argued that oceanfront buildings facing flooding and erosion are poor candidates for permanent housing, and that the phaseout puts a large share of the County's property tax base at risk. Opponents, including the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, argued that hotel zoning would permanently remove potential housing, and some Council members questioned sending another long list to a volunteer Commission that had just rejected most of the first one.

A date to verify before you rely on it

You may see November 24 reported as a hearing date for the 32 shoreline properties. The November 24 date we can confirm in County reporting is the deadline for the Commission to return the first group's bills (Resolutions 26-110 and 26-111) to the Council. We have not confirmed a posted Planning Commission hearing date for the shoreline group. When it is noticed, we will share it.

October 23: Four Properties Left Out

Council Chair Alice Lee made one more attempt to add properties. Resolution 26-160 covered Nohonani and Hoyochi Nikko on Lower Honoapiʻilani Road, and Resolution 26-161 covered Māʻalaea Kai and Island Sands. Both failed 4 to 5.

Lee, Vice Chair Yuki Lei Sugimura, Tom Cook and Kauanoe Batangan voted yes. Gabe Johnson, Tamara Paltin, Keani Rawlins-Fernandez, Shane Sinenci and Nohelani Uʻu-Hodgins voted no.

The swing vote was Uʻu-Hodgins, who supported the 32-property referral but said these four did not meet the criteria she wrote for it. She read their declarations as showing an original residential purpose, with transient rentals allowed only occasionally. She also questioned the timing, noting that the Commission's review of any new referral would run past the end of this Council's term.

Supporters argued the four face the same coastal hazards as their neighbors and that their 1970s declarations allowed transient rentals. Cook raised the risk of litigation if similar properties are treated differently.

To be precise: this vote ended these two referral resolutions. It was not a final ruling on every possible future rezoning request for those buildings.

The Math That Matters: Six Votes and a New Council

If the Planning Commission recommends against a rezoning, the Council needs a two-thirds vote, six of nine members, to approve it anyway. The referrals that passed this fall each had five votes, and the October 23 resolutions had only four.

Two members of the Council majority on these votes are leaving. Chair Lee is retiring, and Vice Chair Sugimura is not seeking reelection to her Upcountry seat because she is running for mayor against Mayor Richard Bissen, who introduced Bill 9. Sugimura opposed it. Other seats, including South Maui, are contested on November 3. The next Council takes office in January 2027.

Here is how the timing likely breaks down. The first 48 must come back from the Commission by November 24, which leaves the current Council room to act in December if it chooses. The 32 shoreline properties were referred later; if the Commission uses a review period similar to the 120 days discussed on October 23, they will likely reach the new Council. That is an expectation, not a published schedule.

Either way, six votes is the bar after an unfavorable recommendation. I am not predicting how any of these votes go. I am telling you that the makeup of the Council is the single biggest variable for the shoreline group.

Where Each Group Stands Today

Our Take

Since September, the conversation has shifted from "does hotel zoning exist?" to "which buildings will actually get it, and under what standard?" The early answer from the Planning Commission is: fewer than many owners hoped, and on narrower grounds than the Council majority intended.

Three things I would tell any owner or buyer sitting across the table from me:

  • Value the building on what it is allowed to do today. A referral is not a rezoning, and a favorable recommendation is not a rezoning either. Unless your building has a confirmed exemption, such as timeshare status or a variance, plan around Bill 9's deadline until the Council passes a bill for your specific property.
  • Read your declaration. The Commission and the Council have both looked hard at original intent, condo declarations, variances and ownership structure. Your building's paperwork is now part of its value story, for better or worse.
  • Watch the calendar, not the headlines. November 3, November 24 and whatever the Council does in December matter far more than any single soundbite. So does the date the Commission posts for the shoreline group.

If you own on the Minatoya List and are weighing whether to hold, sell, switch to long-term rentals, or wait for a decision, that is a conversation worth having now, with your numbers and your building's specifics in front of us. Our job is to help you make that call with the best information available, not to guess at a vote count.

Frequently Asked Questions

Has any Maui condo actually been rezoned to H-3 or H-4 yet?

Not as far as we can find in County records as of October 27, 2026. Bill 88 created the H-3 and H-4 districts, and the County Council has referred two groups of properties to the Maui Planning Commission, but no property-specific rezoning bill has received final Council approval.

My building was on the list of 48. What does the Planning Commission vote mean for me?

The September 22 vote is a recommendation, not a final decision. The Commission recommended hotel zoning for five properties and denial for 43. The Commission has until November 24 to return the bills to the Council, and the current Council can act on them before its term ends in early January. For the 43 properties with an unfavorable recommendation, the Council would need six of nine votes to approve hotel zoning anyway.

My building is in the group of 32 shoreline properties. Is it safe?

No. Being referred is not the same as being approved. The Planning Commission still has to hold hearings and make a recommendation, and the Council referred this group by a 5 to 4 vote, one vote short of what an override would require.

Did the October 23 vote end the road for Nohonani, Hoyochi Nikko, Maalaea Kai and Island Sands?

It ended these particular referral resolutions. Both failed 4 to 5. It is not a final ruling on every possible future rezoning request, but there is no active County referral for these four properties right now.

Are any apartment-zoned condos already exempt from Bill 9 without rezoning?

Possibly. The County code exempts validly existing timeshare units and uses operating within the terms of a variance, as well as uses otherwise permitted by law. The County Planning Department has confirmed in writing that at least one property, Maui Kaanapali Villas, is exempt under a variance. Whether an exemption applies, and how far it reaches, is specific to each property and each use, so confirm with the Planning Department and your own advisors.

Have the Bill 9 deadlines changed?

No. Transient vacation rental use in affected apartment-zoned properties ends after December 31, 2028 in West Maui and after December 31, 2030 elsewhere in Maui County, unless a property obtains hotel zoning or another legally applicable exception.

Why does the November 3 election matter for this?

The two groups may be decided by two different Councils. The current Council can still act on the first 48 properties once the Commission returns them, which must happen by November 24. The 32 shoreline properties were referred later and will likely reach the Council after the new members take office in January 2027. At least two members who supported the referrals are leaving. Any rezoning that returns with an unfavorable recommendation needs six of nine votes, whichever Council takes it up.

Sources

This update reflects publicly available information as of October 27, 2026. It is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice. Zoning status is property-specific; verify current details with the County and your own advisors before acting.