News & Market Insight · June 2026
Bill 88 Clears Its First Hurdle: What Maui’s New Hotel-Zoning Proposal Means for Condo Owners and Buyers
By Harrison McCandless
For more than a year, one question has quietly shaped nearly every conversation I’ve had about Maui’s condominium market: what happens to the thousands of vacation rentals caught in the middle of the island’s housing debate? On May 27, the County Council’s Housing and Land Use Committee gave us the first real piece of an answer — and while it changes the tone of the conversation, it’s important to understand exactly what it does and does not do.
6–1 Committee Vote to Advance | 2 New Districts (H-3, H-4) | ~4,500 Grandfathered Units | 0 Properties Rezoned So Far |
Section One
What actually happened on May 27
The Council’s Housing and Land Use Committee voted 6–1 to advance Bill 88, a measure that would create two brand-new hotel zoning categories — H-3 and H-4 — designed to match the way roughly 4,500 grandfathered vacation rentals at 104 properties on the so-called Minatoya List are already being used. Notably, the committee did so over the unanimous objection of all three county planning commissions (Maui, Moloka‘i, and Lāna‘i), which had recommended the bill be rejected.
Council Members Alice Lee, Yuki Lei Sugimura, Nohelani U‘u-Hodgins, Tom Cook, Shane Sinenci, and Tamara Paltin voted in favor; Keani Rawlins-Fernandez cast the lone dissenting vote. The bill now moves to the full Council for the first of two formal readings — meaning it is still several steps away from becoming law.
Section Two
What Bill 88 does — and, just as importantly, what it doesn’t
This is the part I want to be precise about, because it’s where I’ve seen the most confusion. Bill 88 is a framework, not a switch.
What it does • Creates two new zoning designations — H-3 and H-4 — modeled directly on the existing A-1 and A-2 apartment standards. • Establishes a structured pathway for owners of qualifying, longstanding vacation rentals to seek hotel zoning in the future. • Gives the county a “like-for-like” category that didn’t previously exist for properties that function as visitor accommodations. | What it does not do • It does not automatically rezone a single property. Not one. • It does not reverse or undo Bill 9, the vacation-rental phase-out. • It does not create any new short-term-rental inventory. |
Rezoning any individual property into an H-3 or H-4 district would be an entirely separate, second-step process — one that would go through the Planning Department, the commissions, and the Council on a case-by-case basis. In the words of the Planning Department’s administrative planning officer, Bill 88 is simply “the first of a two-step process.” Owning a unit on the Minatoya List does not, by itself, mean that unit will end up hotel-zoned.
Section Three
How this connects to Bill 9
To understand why Bill 88 matters, you have to hold it next to Bill 9 — the law Mayor Bissen signed on December 15, 2025, which begins phasing out transient vacation rentals in apartment-zoned districts. Bill 9 sets phase-out deadlines of January 1, 2029 for West Maui and January 1, 2031 for the rest of the county, with the stated goal of returning those units to long-term housing for local families.
Bill 88’s supporters frame it as the logical companion piece to Bill 9 — a way to acknowledge that a subset of these properties have genuinely operated as hotels for decades, and to give them a zoning home that reflects that. Mayor Bissen, who backs the bill, called it “an intentional next step in implementing Bill 9,” and was careful to stress that it “does not unilaterally reclassify any properties, nor does it undo Bill 9.” Several council members, including Chair Lee, went further, suggesting this framework probably should have existed before Bill 9 was enacted.
The dark cloud that has hovered over so many of these properties hasn’t lifted — but for the first time in a year, the wind has shifted direction. That distinction matters enormously if you own, or are considering buying, a Maui condominium.
Section Four
Two amendments that narrowed the bill
Before advancing the measure, the committee adopted two amendments, both 7–0. The first requires that, before Bill 88 takes effect, an owner must have notified the Planning Department and the department must have confirmed that a vacation-rental use existed in the structure prior to September 24, 2020. This was specifically intended to keep roughly 1,700 properties not on the Minatoya List from using the new zones as a backdoor to begin vacation-rental use. The second amendment exempts Moloka‘i entirely, at that island’s planning commission’s request.
Section Five
Both sides of the table
While I have my opinions, I think it’s important to represent this honestly, and my clients deserve the full picture rather than a sales pitch.
Supporters — including the Maui Vacation Rental Association, the Maui Chamber of Commerce, and a number of individual owners — argue the bill is straightforward zoning modernization that honors commitments made when Bill 9 passed, preserves visitor spending and tax revenue, and recognizes that many of these units were never realistically going to become workforce housing. One owner testified she had dropped her unit’s price from $875,000 to $650,000 over two years without a single offer from a local buyer.
Opponents — including Lahaina Strong, the advocacy group Our Hawai‘i, and the planning commissions — counter that most of these properties are residential condominiums operating as rentals, not true hotels, and that converting them to hotel zoning would circumvent the intent of Bill 9 and erode hard-won progress on housing. Their own on-the-ground surveys found only a small handful of buildings with the front desks, staffing, and infrastructure of an actual hotel. Council Member Rawlins-Fernandez argued the bill conflicts with the county’s adopted land use, housing, and climate policies.
If you’re buying Nothing about Bill 88 is settled, so I’d resist the urge to treat it as a green light or a discount signal. What it does offer is a clearer sense of which properties may eventually have a path to hotel zoning — and that distinction will increasingly separate values across the condo market. The smartest move right now is to underwrite each specific building on its actual zoning, its place on the Minatoya List, and its realistic operating future — not on a headline. I’m happy to walk through any complex you’re considering, line by line. | If you own or are selling If you’ve felt the pricing pressure of the last year, this vote is a genuine, if early, shift in sentiment. It is not a reason to reprice your unit overnight. But it does mean buyer hesitation may begin to ease for properties with a credible path to H-3 or H-4 zoning. Positioning, timing, and an honest read of your building’s standing matter more than ever — and that’s exactly the kind of analysis I’d rather do with you privately than guess at in a blog post. |
The honest outlook Bill 88 has cleared a committee — that’s one step on a road with several more turns. Ahead of it are two full Council readings, the mayor’s signature, and then the entirely separate second step of actually moving individual properties into the new districts. Layered on top is ongoing litigation: within days of Bill 9 becoming law, a group of Kā‘anapali condo owners filed suit in 2nd Circuit Court alleging an unconstitutional regulatory taking. In other words, the destination is still genuinely uncertain. What changed on May 27 is the direction of the conversation — and on Maui, where so much value hinges on zoning nuance, direction is worth paying close attention to. I’ll be following each reading closely and will update you as the picture sharpens. |
This article reflects my professional analysis as of June 2026 and is based on reporting from Maui Now and public records of the Maui County Council. Legislative situations evolve quickly; details should be independently verified against the official record at mauicounty.us. Nothing here constitutes legal, tax, or financial advice — for guidance specific to your property or purchase, please consult the appropriate licensed professional.
