Action on seven bills establishing rules for bed-and-breakfast and transient vacation units were postponed Tuesday by the City Council Planning Committee after more than 2-1/2 hours of testimony.

More than 50 people testified on the measures, and impassioned testimony came from both supporters and opponents of short-term vacation rentals.

“I don’t believe we have consensus on any way forward,” Planning Chairman Ikaika Anderson said after none of his colleagues proposed that any of the bills receive committee approval.

Anderson said he intends to hear the bills again at a committee meeting next month and is hopeful the longtime logjam on vacation rental legislation can clear by then.

The issuance of certificates for vacation rentals was stopped by the city in 1989. The Department of Planning and Permitting estimates there are only 816 legal ones outside resort zones (where they are legal without certificates) but between 6,000 to 8,000 illegal ones on Oahu.

The most discussed of the measures Tuesday was Bill 89, Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s attempt at an omnibus proposal that would simultaneously create a permit system for more vacation rentals to become legitimized while establishing stiffer rules and penalties on them.

Under the Caldwell proposal:

>> Up to about 4,000 B&Bs and TVUs would be permitted, with a cap of no more than 1 percent of all dwelling units in each district.

>> Legal B&B and TVU properties would be taxed under their own rate category rather than residential rates, making it likely they would be taxed closer to the higher rates of resort properties.

>> Stiffer fines would be imposed against violators of vacation rental laws, starting with a $1,000 initial fine and then $1,000 for each additional day for a first offense but then a $25,000 initial fine and $25,000 for each additional day for a first recurring violation, $50,000 for a third recurring violation and then $100,000 for a fourth violation.

>> Advertisements would need to include the registration number for a TVU or B&B, or face fines.

Councilman Ron Menor introduced Bill 85, which would allow a neighbor to seek legal action against a B&B or TVU operator that’s violating city laws. On Tuesday, Menor amended his bill to include holding Airbnb and other hosting platforms — those who create a means for promoting vacation rentals such as a website “through advertising, match-making or any other means” — liable for illegal transactions.

It also would require hosting platforms to provide pertinent information on short-term rentals including their hosts’ names, addresses, dates booked and registration numbers.

Anderson said after the meeting that he wants more time for himself, his colleagues, the administration and the public to study Menor’s latest proposal and to think about other possible solutions that might work.

A common theme during public testimony was the role that vacation rentals play on Oahu’s tight housing market.

Kailua resident Michelle Look said she’s a recently single mother of three who relies on her family’s short-term rental to survive. “I’m a fifth-generation Oahu resident. I work four jobs to stay afloat, and I can barely make it,” she said tearfully. “If we shut down, I will be another statistic moving away. We’re not doing it to become rich; we’re doing it to survive. … I don’t want to leave my children. I don’t want to be the first generation of our entire family to leave the state because I can’t afford it.”

Look said her family lives on the property and doesn’t condone loud partying by their guests. “Some of these people save their entire lives just to come for this one visit, and we get to help them.”

But Paula Ress, another Kailua resident, said the renters she knows live here full time and include nurses, naval officers and a family with 10 foster children. “They all eat in restaurants, pay taxes,” Ress said. “It’s not like they’re just dropping in. They’re members of the community and they volunteer.”

Ress said she supports reducing the supply of short-term rentals. “We’re not saying don’t rent it out, just rent out to these people. They need a place to live,” she said. “If you care about homelessness and if you care about our residential neighborhoods, you won’t allow our residences to be used as vacation rentals, as hotels.”