Bill 147: Please Stop Calling This “Housekeeping”

I have tried throughout the Bill 147 process to stick to the facts, listen to the discussion, and raise concerns when I believe property owners could face unintended consequences. After Tuesday's Hawaiʻi County Council committee hearing, I need to be much more direct. Please stop calling Bill 147 “housekeeping.” At this point, that description minimizes the magnitude of what this legislation is actually doing and makes an already complicated bill even harder for the public to understand. This is not cleaning up a few words in the County Code. We are remodeling the entire house, moving walls, changing rooms, and adding new ones.

And you don't have to take my word for it. During Monday's hearing, Council Member Heather Kimball discussed four proposed amendments. She described the first as housekeeping and then said, “The other three are more policy oriented in nature.” Later, she explained that some of the amendments “would represent a shift in policy for us that is different than the housekeeping ones.” Read that again. A shift in policy. That is exactly what I and others have been saying for months.

The proposed changes are significant. One would change the future treatment of RM-zoned properties, potentially eliminating future STVR eligibility outside Resort Nodes while protecting certain existing uses. Another would remove CN zoning outside Resort Nodes from areas where unhosted vacation rentals could operate. Another creates a new permitting pathway for an estimated 300 properties renting for 31 to 179 days because Bill 147 changes the definition of transient rentals to 180 days or less. Then there is the proposed reclassification of hosted rentals as “Bed and Breakfasts,” which I testified could create mortgage and insurance consequences. Those are not housekeeping decisions. Those are policy decisions with real consequences.

Something encouraging did happen Monday. Council members questioned the B&B terminology themselves, and by the end of the hearing there appeared to be support for returning to the much clearer terms “hosted” and “unhosted.” Council Member Kimball indicated she was willing to draft that change. That is exactly what public testimony and Council deliberation are supposed to accomplish.

But what happened during the rest of the hearing should concern anyone following Bill 147. Council members asked question after question about definitions, zoning, agricultural properties, bedroom limits, parking, permitting and the effects of the proposed amendments. One Council member said some amendments were “a bit confusing.” Another discussion acknowledged that familiar terminology was being “completely upended.” Eventually, they ran out of time. Motions were withdrawn, Council members said they were still “unpacking” what was before them, additional amendments were still coming, and Bill 147 was postponed again until October 6.

And I am going to say something publicly that I am not embarrassed to admit: I was confused too. I have been providing testimony and following Hawaiʻi County's transient vacation rental legislation since 2017. I have sat through countless hours of hearings and read the bills, amendments, Planning Department documents and testimony. Bill 147 is the most confusing transient rental legislation I have dealt with.

Definitions are changing. Existing terminology is being replaced. Amendments modify provisions that are themselves proposed changes to existing law. Some amendments are called housekeeping while others are acknowledged to represent shifts in policy. Other Council members are preparing additional amendments. Even the Council members repeatedly had to stop and ask what particular language meant and what effect it would have.

At some point, we have to ask why legislation affecting property rights, land use and zoning has become this difficult to follow. I am beginning to question whether some of this complexity is intentional. I cannot prove anyone's intent, and I won't pretend that I can. But legislation this consequential should become clearer as it moves through the public process, not more confusing. Tell me your thoughts - see amendments

Bill 147 Proposed Amendments

806.5: Housekeeping Amendment https://www.hawaiicountytar.com/s/House-keeping-amendments.pdf

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806.6: Midterm Rental Amendment https://www.hawaiicountytar.com/s/Midterm-Rentals.pdf

806.7: CN District Amendment https://www.hawaiicountytar.com/s/CN-Amendment.pdf

806.8: RM District Amendment https://www.hawaiicountytar.com/s/RM-Amendment.pdf

Call the editorial corrections housekeeping. Call the technical cleanup housekeeping. But when legislation changes where a use is allowed, creates new permitting pathways, changes definitions, potentially changes future property rights, and contains amendments that its own introducer acknowledges represent a “shift in policy,” stop calling the whole thing housekeeping.

The Council deserves a clear explanation of exactly what it is being asked to change. Property owners deserve to know how those changes could affect them. The public deserves the same respect. If Council members are still trying to unpack Bill 147, and someone who has been following and testifying on this issue since 2017 is telling you he is confused by it, we have a problem.

This isn't housekeeping. It's time we stop pretending it is.

More on Bill 147

I've been following Bill 147 throughout this process. If you'd like more background, here are my other articles:

• September 17, 2026: Bill 147: Why Remove Bed & Breakfasts From CN Zoning? Read the article
• September 16, 2026: Bill 147: Please Stop Calling This “Housekeeping” Read the article
• August 3, 2026: Bill 147 Update: County Schedules Public TVR Webinar Read the article
• July 17, 2026: Bill 147 Moves One Step Closer to Becoming Law Read the article
• July 1, 2026: Bill 147 Deferred Until July 16 (Hawaii County Short Term Rentals) Read the article

Article tags:

#Bill147 #HawaiiCounty #STVR #ShortTermRentals #PropertyRights #LandUse #Zoning #HawaiiRealEstate #WestHawaii #PublicPolicy #HeatherKimball #JeffDarrow #housekeeping #PolicyChange

Originally published on LinkedIn. Republished here October 16, 2026.