Kaʻū News Briefs March 21, 2024

Vacation rentals like this one in Volcano could become unavailable should passage of a state law allowing
counties to phase them out becomes successful. Photo from Love Big Island

A BILL THAT COULD LEAD TO A BAN ON VACATION RENTALS IN ALL BUT RESORT and some commercial-zoned places is gaining momentum in the state House of Representatives. Attorney Sherry Broder, known for working on causes that support local initiatives, submitted testimony "strongly opposing" SB2919, which would allow counties to phase out vacation rentals, with the aim of the units becoming long term housing.
   Her testimony contends that instead of vacation rentals, building more hotels is is one of the problems of affordable housing. Broder writes that "The counties keep approving more hotel rooms, more tourists keep coming, and then many tourists want to have a home in Hawai'i." She points to the Punalu'u development proposal here, the proposed Coco Palms and Koloa/Po'ipu units on Kaua'i, and a new hotel planned in Wailea on Maui. On O'ahu, she notes plans for several large hotel projects and numerous smaller ones. She objects to the argument that a vacation rental ban will solve the affordable housing problem.

Hawai'i Hotel Alliance supports the ban
on vacation rentals.

    Broder claims that the bill to ban vacation rentals "is great for the lucrative hotel industry and bad for local people who have the opportunity to access a very small portion of the tourism dollars through short term rentals (STRs)." She notes that Planning Directors around the state are recommending "approvals or more hotel rooms, more expensive housing for non-locals and more golf courses." She writes that "The super wealthy and international corporations receive the tourism dollars in Hawai'i. Private equity companies own almost 30% of Hawai‘i’s hotel rooms." She says Hawai'i continues to be attractive for private equity buyers because it’s one of the highest performing hotel markets in the country. "Local people do not share in the real tourism dollars because of the high barrier to entry," says Broder. "All local people bear the burden of tourism. It is unfair that only hotels can make money from tourism. Today the hotels are mostly owned by hedge funds and multinational corporations. For the most part, local people earn low wages at the hotels."
    Broder contends that short-term rentals bring positive economic benefits to local people and to county governments.
    "Many STRs are owned by local people who do not have access to the capital needed to build a hotel

American Hotel & Lodging Association supports
ban on vacation rentals.

and local people should be supported in their efforts to engage in making money from the tourists. The STR market provides new income channels for State and county governments. Prohibiting STRs will contribute to the continuing decline of economic opportunities for local people.
    "Many local people seek to stay at STRs as most often they are a more affordable option.
    "Short term rentals bring tax dollars to the state and local governments," writes Broder.
    She writes that building affordable housing is difficult because: Land ownership is concentrated in a very few landowners in Hawai'i which drives up the price of land. The cost of materials is very high because of the shipping costs and the competition for materials.
    "Hawai'i is like the national trend of the rise in economic inequality making it harder for lower-income

Hotel workers union supports
ban on vacation rentals.

households to buy secure housing. The PEW Foundation reports that the rise in economic inequality in the U.S. is tied to several factors. These include in no particular order, technological change, globalization, the decline of unions and the eroding value of the minimum wage. Whatever the causes, there has been an uninterrupted increase in inequality in wealth since 1980. A greater share of the nation’s aggregate income is now going to upper-income households and the share going to middle- and lower-income households is falling. See https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/01/09/trends-in-income-and-wealth-inequality/. This bill perpetuates this economic inequality by prohibiting ordinary local people from participating in the lucrative tourism market," concludes Broder.
    The Senate Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, Energy, Economic Development, Tourism & Public Safety reported that "short-term rentals can be disruptive, not only to Hawai'i's traditional and economically essential lodging industries, but to the character and fabric of local residential neighborhoods. Further, while short-term

Rental by Owner Awareness Association opposes
ban on vacation rentals.

rentals may not be legally inconsistent with the land uses that they are intended for, they must be regulated properly so that users of short-term rentals and communities alike can mutually benefit from these transactions.           Therefore, this measure establishes a comprehensive regulatory scheme for short-term rentals of dwelling units and expands the zoning powers of counties to phase out future nonconforming uses over time, in order to promote the orderly development of each county and ensure the greatest benefit for the State as a whole."

Expedia Opposes Ban on vacation rentals.

    

    Testimony supporting the bill to allow the phase out of vacation rentals came from such organizations as Hawaiʻi Hotel Alliance, The American Hotel & Lodging Association, Hawaiʻi State Association of Counties, Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi, Lahaina Strong, Housing Hawaiʻi's Future, UNITE HERE Local 5, International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 142, one member of the Honolulu City Council, two members of the Maui County Council, and more than 290 individuals.
    Testimony opposing the bill came from Hawaiʻi Association of REALTORS, Airbnb, Rental By Owner Awareness Association, Expedia Group, and more than 120 individuals.
    See all the testimony and follow the progress of the bill at https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=2919&year=2024

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USGS VOLCANO EXPERTS HELP EQUATORIAL GUINEA TO FORECAST ERUPTIONS. Establishing a Nascent Monitoring Program on Pico Basile Volcano, Equatorial Guinea is the title of the latest Volcano Watch, the weekly article and activity update written by U.S. Geological Survey 
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists and affiliates:
    In 2012, steam began to rise from beneath the cracked concrete of a telecommunication station at the summit of Pico Basile volcano on Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea, in western Africa. The steaming lasted several days and extended to two nearby summit craters.

Pico Basile volcano, located on Bioko Island in Equatorial Guinea in western Africa. USGS photo

   Fortunately, the event didn't escalate beyond some baked vegetation and the slightly fried nerves of station personnel. The volcano had been in a state of quiescence, slumbering peacefully for nearly a century, and this event served as a not-so-subtle reminder that Pico Basile could wake up at any time—and it was completely unmonitored.

    Pico Basile is a shield volcano located at the center of the enigmatic Cameroon Volcanic Line (CVL) in western Africa. Like the volcanoes in Hawai'i, it features basalt lava flows, scoria cones, and tuff rings. Pico Basile is the second-most active volcano on the CVL, after Mount Cameroon, which is 65 km (40 mi) to the northeast on the African continent. The most recent series of recorded eruptions on Pico Basile took place from the 1890s to 1923. These eruptions impacted population centers on the South and East flanks of the volcano. Malabo, the capital city of Equatorial Guinea with a population of approximately 300,000 people, is located on its northern flank.

    Potential eruption hazards from Pico Basile are similar to those in Hawai'i and include earthquakes, lava flows, ballistic projectiles, and volcanic gases including sulfur dioxide (SO2). Even in its current quiescent state, hazards on Pico Basile include carbon dioxide (CO2) accumulation, landslides, and wildfires.
    Since 2017, international researchers had been working to assess the state of activity at Pico Basile and piece together its eruptive history. The 2021 disaster on La Palma, Spain, where Cumbre Vieja erupted after 50 years of quiescence destroying over 3,000 buildings and displacing over 7,000 people, highlighted the importance of monitoring quiescent volcanoes. Following that eruption, it became apparent that foreign research was not enough; the people of Equatorial Guinea needed the ability to monitor their volcanoes from within their own country.
    In 2023, the National University of Equatorial Guinea (UNGE) partnered with a Research Corporation of the University of Hawai'i affiliate staff member of the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory through the Fulbright Specialist Program. With support from the U.S. Agency for International Development–USGS Volcano Disaster Assistance Program (USAID-USGS VDAP), they created the first volcano monitoring program in Equatorial Guinea for Pico Basile volcano.

UNGE team with a newly installed seismic station. Also pictured is Dr. Christine Sealing (Fulbright Specialist), top row second from left, and Aaron Rinehart (USAID-USGS VDAP) bottom row second from right. USGS photo

    The backbone of the new volcano monitoring program is a team of eight UNGE staff and two students who participated in a month-long workshop where they gained a broad understanding of volcanology and volcanic hazards, including the history and hazards specific to Pico Basile. They also learned essential field engineering techniques and installed four broadband seismic stations around the volcano to detect earthquakes. Using data from previous research stations, the UNGE team received training in seismic analysis and learned to recognize signs of volcano seismic unrest. Although in its infancy, the new monitoring program has already served as an important source of information by reassuring officials that recent remote wildfires on Pico Basile were not caused by volcanic activity.

    Collaborative assistance programs such as the Fulbright Specialist Program and USAID-USGS VDAP are integral in building technical capacity and diplomatic relationships overseas through education and science. These programs work by invitation such that host countries and institutions lead the collaboration, cultivating trust and goodwill between all partners.
    The Fulbright Program is an international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government for the purpose of fostering enduring connections between U.S. Americans and people from other countries around the world. The mission of USAID-USGS VDAP, funded through an interagency agreement with the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance within USAID, is to mitigate volcanic risk overseas by assisting scientists with volcano monitoring, hazards assessments, and eruption forecasting. At Pico Basile, this collaboration between the UNGE, the USAID-USGS VDAP, and U.S. scientists through the Fulbright Specialist Program has culminated in the first volcano-monitoring program in Equatorial Guinea and hopefully the beginning of lasting scientific relationships.
    Volcano Activity Updates: Kīlauea is not erupting. Its USGS Volcano Alert level is ADVISORY.Low levels of disbursed seismicity continue at Kīlauea's summit and along the Koa'e fault system southwest of the caldera. Earthquake counts in this region increased slightly over the past two weeks but remain well

below those detected during the January–February intrusion or prior to recent summit eruptions. Tiltmeters near Sand Hill and Uēkahuna bluff have continued to record modest inflationary trends over the past week. No unusual activity has been noted along the rift zones.
    Mauna Loa is not erupting. Its USGS Volcano Alert Level is at NORMAL.
    Webcams show no signs of activity on Mauna Loa. Summit seismicity has remained at low levels over the past month. Ground deformation indicates continuing slow inflation as magma replenishes the reservoir system following the 2022 eruption. SO2 emission rates are at background levels.
    Five earthquakes were reported felt in the Hawaiian Islands during the past week: a M2.9 earthquake 3 km (1 mi) NNW of Kukuihaele at 13 km (8 mi) depth on March 20 at 6:18 p.m. HST, a M3.0 earthquake 10 km (6 mi) ENE of Pāhala at 32 km (20 mi) depth on March 19 at 9:38 p.m. HST, a M3.2 earthquake 3 km (1 mi) S of Pāhala at 32 km (19 mi) depth on March 15 at 8:37 p.m. HST, a M3.3 earthquake 4 km (2 mi) SSW of Pāhala at 31 km (19 mi) depth on March 15 at 8:11 p.m. HST, and a M2.0 earthquake 14 km (8 mi) NE of Pāhala at 4 km (2 mi) depth on March 15 at 7:01 a.m. HST.
   Email questions to askHVO@usgs.gov.

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