Bill 9 TIG Report: the STR Saga Continues
Maui has been working through some massive, perhaps existential, legislation. If passed in it's initial form, it would rock this rock's economy, and not in a good way, at least in my opinion. The people of the island have been split, and the county council, the body tasked with getting the mayor's bill into law, has been split. Vice-Chair of Maui's Housing and Land Use Committee said, this bill has been driving people both for and against the bill, crazy. It's driving us crazy.
The mayor introduced the bill because Maui people need house hope IMMEDIATELY. That was about a year and a half ago. And as our county council has diligently tried to work through this, one of the proposed ways to try and make it go down, has been to add amortization periods of up to 5 years.
Clearly, meeting the goal of immediacy is off the table.
So, when the mayor offered his comments to open the latest meeting of the Housing and Land Use Committee, I was surprised by his comments, especially thinking back to his initial comments when he introduced Bill 9.
Back on May 2, 2024, he said, "We come before you to announce our collective intent to phase out and repeat the transient vacation rentals in the apartment district, also referred to as Minatoya list. It is important to note that most, if not all, of these TVR's were previously built and designed for workforce housing in West Maui, and our goal is to return them to their intended purpose."
I remember thinking giving him the benefit of the doubt at the time, somebody is giving the mayor bad information. Most of these were built and operated as condo-tels - TVR's.
And what the mayor said at the opening of last week's meeting was, "From the very beginning we recognized that Bill 9 would require thoughtful conversation, community input and most importantly balance. It is clear that not all TVR's in apartment districts are appropriate for long term residential use."
So, we went from "most, if not all," to "it is clear that not all." In fact, the TIG found that over 4,500 of the condos on the Minatoya list are not appropriate for long term residential use, that's 63%, another batch of Minatoya condos have exemptions and still others that are in resort areas will likely petition for zoning changes if the bill and the TIG recommendations are passed.
So, based on the initial assumptions and the facts that have been discovered, it seems like we are going down the wrong path. Be that as it may, Bill 9 is still the path we're on.
The council has been split. Some adamantly for, some strongly against, and then there are those constituting the fluffy creme filling in the center.
In such a situation, an option open to the council is to form what's called "temporary investigative group". A TIG.
So, what's a TIG?
A Temporary Investigative Group is basically a small working group the County Council can form to dig into a complicated issue and come back with recommendations. They don't make laws - they study, listen, and report back so the full Council can decide what to do next.
Their job was to look at the situation from every angle:
- Which apartment complexes might still make sense for vacation rentals - even if Bill 9 passes?
- What would happen to the local economy, property values, and job if those rentals go away?
- How could the County make any zoning or permitting changes simpler, faster, and fairer for everyone involved?
The group met several times in September 2025, heard from planners, economists, housing advocates, and business owners. Oh, and a Realtor. They then pulled everything together into a final report that the Council is now using to shape the next phase of Bill 9 discussions.
What the TIG Found
First, the financial impact. The County's Real Property Tax Division ran the numbers. The properties on the TIG's exhibit 2 list, currently bring in about $27.7 million a year in property-tax revenue. If those same units were reclassified as non-owner-occupied, the revenue would drop to around $14.5 million. That's almost a 50% drop for those of you comfortable with rounding.
And if every one of them became owner-occupied homes, the take would plunge to just $4.2 million. That's about an 85% drop.
That's a big gap - a reminder that the fiscal hit could be far worse than TIG's report made it sound.
Next, the ripple effects. Fewer vacation rentals means fewer visitors - and that touches everything from restaurant tips to TAT and GET collections, to jobs in cleaning, maintenance, and guest services.
But, there's another side. If some of those condos return to long-term housing, that could help local families, especially in West Maui, where many residents are still displaced after the fires.
The TIG acknowledges that even if Bill 9's intent is to free up housing, plenty of those properties will still likely remain in the hands of their current owners, off-island and on-island, rather than local buyers looking for "affordable housing" - so the housing benefit isn't guaranteed. And then there is the question of whether the HOA fees in those condos are affordable.
After all those meetings, field trips, and late-night spreadsheets, the TIG came back with two big recommendations - kind of a "two-step" plan.
Step One: Create new hotel zones - H-3 and H-4.
Think of this as a lateral move for properties that have basically been running like hotels for years.
Instead of fighting over whether those places belong in apartment districts, the TIG said, let's be honest about what they are.
The idea is to basically wave a magic wand and convert A-1 and A-2 apartment districts to H-3 and H-4 hotel districts, where short-term rentals are clearly allowed.
No expansion of rooms, no extra density - just putting those complexes in the right bucket so everyone knows the rules.
No, that would be too easy. It's still going to take at least 2 steps.
If the Department of Planning introduces the legislation itself, it skips a few Council steps and gets reviewed by the Planning Commissions right away - which could save months of process time. If...
Step Two: Rezone the properties that make sense.
Using a list of about fifty-plus properties - that's the infamous Exhibit 2 - the TIG recommended that the County rezone those from apartment to the new H-3 or H-4 hotel categories once they exist.
Many are oceanfront. Some are high-value complexes where long-term affordable housing is an oxymoron. Although that didn't hold true across the board.
Some are right in the Sea Level Rise Exposure Area, where there is never going to be any new building, but that list, especially the West Side list, is inconsistent.
It was stated that areas that are predominantly tourism and resort areas were exempted, but that is certainly not the case in Kapalua.
And some have timeshares, so those made the safe list.
The TIG did say that property owners who aren't on the...I'll call it the safe list...could still apply individually for rezoning if they believe they fit the same criteria.
Of course, rezoning takes time - lots of time. And surely longer than the current Council's term.
I'm sure they are hoping that if it's done right, this can be settled once and for all, as many of us thought it was last time and the time before that.
Timing Matters - Which Comes First?
And so remember, I said the magic wand would be too easy, here's where things get tricky. Even if everyone agreed on the TIG's recommendations, the big question is which comes first - passing Bill 9 or creating the new H-3 and H04 hotel zones?
Bill 9 is already scheduled for its first reading on November 12, while the new zoning categories still need to go through a long approval process - planning commission reviews, public hearings, and finally, Council adoption. That could easily take four to six months or longer. So, if Bill 9 passes first, technically, those 6,700 short-term rentals in apartment zones could lose their legal standing before there's any mechanism to save the properties the TIG wanted to rezone.
That uncertainty has a lot of people nervous. Lynette Pendergast, speaking on behalf of the Realtors Association of Maui, put it plainly in her written testimony. She said this sequencing would "effectively remove the lawful TVR use in apartment districts while offering no clear, timely pathway for property owners to apply for new land-use designations or continued operation." RAM's concern was that this could create backlogs, inconsistent enforcement, and even legal disputes as owners scramble for clarity.
And they absolutely have a point. It's like closing the road for repairs before you've built the detour - even if the end goal makes sense, the timing could make or break the outcome.
Several Council members, including, Chair Alice Lee, raised the same issue; passing Bill 9 now might be a "leap of faith" that future councils will follow through on those new hotel districts.
Everyone agrees that balance is the goal - but how we sequence the steps could decide whether this transition feels orderly and fair, or like a hard cutoff that sparks chaos.
What Happens Next?
So, what happens now?
Bill 9 is lined up for its first full Council reading on November 12. That's the moment when the Council will decide whether to move the measure forward or send it back for more work. If it passes, it heads up to a second and final reading before it can become law.
But here's where things get murky. It's not guaranteed that the Planning Department will even draft the new H-3 and H-4 hotel-zoning bills - step one.
Both Planning Department rep, Greg Pfost, and several Council members made it clear:
If Bill 9 fails, there' s no reason to create those new zoning categories at all. And even if Bill 9 passes, there's still some debate about who should introduce the H-3/H-4 legislation - the administration or the Council itself.
That uncertainty is making a lot of people uneasy. A few Council members all but said straight out that they won't vote for Bill 9 unless those new hotel zones are already drafted and moving forward.
Others feel the opposite - that you have to pass the bill first before worrying about the exceptions.
It's a bit of a standoff; most seem like they want to reach a worthy goal - balancing housing for locals and fairness for property owners - but they can't quite agree on the order of operations. And even if they succeed, they are still taking property rights away from some people, and I can't see how that will ultimately have much benefit for those who need housing right now.
So, as of now, the timeline and the process are still in flux. If Bill 9 passes, we'll likely see a second wave of legislation to create H-3 and H-4. If it stalls or fails, those hotel-zoning ideas probably disappear right along with it. Either way, the next few months are going to tell us a lot about how Maui County handles complex housing and land-use issues when so much - and so many - are affected.
As I said, I think this is the wrong path to get to dignified affordable housing. We're wasting time, we're spending tax money and we're stuck.
That said, I was so impressed, as were many in attendance, by the testimony of one particular Lahaina woman. She spoke of the need for cooperation, and the need for community. She exuded Aloha.
People who bought property that has the legal right to be rented short term, should not lose their property rights.
And.
Everyone should have a place to live. Everyone should be housed and feel safe. That is good for the mental health of our community and it's good economics.
What's next?
All eyes are on the November 12 Council vote.
If Bill 9 passes, the clock starts ticking for the County to create the new H-3 and H-4 hotel zones and begin rezoning the properties in the TIG's Exhibit 2. If it fails or gets deferred, those zoning ideas likely vanish, and the debate over short-term rentals will go back to square one.
Either way, the next few months will reveal whether Maui's leaders can find a path that truly balances housing for locals with a sustainable visitor economy - and how willing the community is to navigate that balance together.
If the Council can't agree to pass Bill 9 as written, members can introduce amendments during the first or second reading.
- Minor amendments (small wording or timing tweaks) can be adopted right on the Council floor and the bill can move forward that same day.
- Major amendments - anything that changes the scope or intent of the bill - usually trigger a referral back to the Housing and Land Use Committee for more work, pubic testimony, and redrafting.
Once amended, the bill must come back to the full Council for another first reading, restarting the clock. That would likely push any final decision into early 2026.
