Maui vacation rental ban Bill 9 Signed Into Law: What the Short-Term Rental Phase-Out Means for West Maui, South Maui, and the Rest of the Island

Maui just entered a new chapter in its long-running housing debate.

Mayor Richard Bissen has officially signed Bill 9 into law, marking one of the most consequential zoning and housing decisions Maui County has made in decades. The legislation directly targets short-term vacation rentals (STRs) operating in apartment-zoned districts, with the stated goal of restoring housing availability for local residents.

For decades, certain apartment-zoned buildings were allowed to operate legally as vacation rentals due to historical zoning exemptions dating back to the late 1980s. These units are often…

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 Agenda Item D-10 and the Future of East Maui Water: What’s Really Going On, and Why Locals Should Care

For more than a century, East Maui’s streams have fed something bigger than ecosystems or fields — they’ve fed identity, tradition, and survival. Yet the authority over that water has rarely been in the hands of the people who live closest to it. That tension didn’t begin yesterday, and it hasn’t ended today.

Now, Agenda Item D-10 has brought it all back into the spotlight.

This proposal, before HawaiĘ»i’s Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR), isn’t just another procedural document. It represents a fork in the road: who controls East Maui’s diverted surface water going forward, under what terms, and for how long.

If you live on Maui —…

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