Question: With the bed-and-breakfast setup, is there a maximum number of guests?
Answer: Yes. “No more than two guest rooms shall be rented to guests, and the maximum number of guests permitted within the bed and breakfast home at any one time shall be four,” according to Oahu’s law, which you can read at 808ne.ws/bblaw.
Bed-and-breakfast homes, or B&Bs, refer to vacation rentals in which the homeowner or permanent tenant is present during a guest’s stay. By contrast, unhosted, whole-home rentals are known as transient vacation units, or TVUs.
Oahu’s law, Ordinance 19-18, will allow some new B&Bs in nonresort areas while continuing to prohibit TVUs in nonresort areas unless the property already holds a nonconforming use permit.
Q: Some acquaintances own vacation rentals here, and they’ve been referring to “what’s happening in Santa Monica.” What’s happening in Santa Monica?
A: They may be referring to the fact that about two weeks ago the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit reaffirmed its earlier ruling in favor of that California city’s strict vacation-rental law. Honolulu County has adopted similar restrictions. Hawaii is under the 9th Circuit’s jurisdiction.
In March a panel of 9th Circuit judges rejected Airbnb Inc. and Homeaway.com’s challenge to the city of Santa Monica’s Home- Sharing Ordinance, which prohibits rentals of whole houses for less than 30 days.
On Aug. 16 the 9th Circuit reaffirmed its stance, declining Airbnb’s and Homeaway.com’s request that either the earlier panel or an en banc panel of the full court rehear the case, the Santa Monica Mirror reported. “The city’s Home-Sharing Ordinance thus stands absent a petition by the platforms to the United States Supreme Court,” according to the story, which was published Aug. 20.
You can read it at 808ne.ws/sanmon.
Q: When I received my driver’s license in the mail, it said that you are required to notify the bureau of a change of address within 30 days. When you do this, are they going to send a new driver’s license, or is your driver’s license still good with the old address?
A: No, the city won’t automatically send you a new license when you update your address; the city simply updates your address in its database. Yes, your driver’s license is still good with the old address; you may continue to use it until it expires, according to the city. If you’d prefer to update the license itself with your current address, you can do so by applying for a duplicate license and supplying two forms of documentation to verify your Hawaii principal residence address. The fee for a duplicate is $6.
Q: I am outside the pilot project, but the bulky items aren’t getting picked up. Is there some other project going on?
A: No. If you usually have monthly bulky pickup and you live on Oahu beyond metro Honolulu (Foster Village to Hawaii Kai), your collection service should continue as usual. Perhaps there was a delay because of the Labor Day holiday. Bulky item collection may occur over three to four days within the collection period.
You can confirm your pickup schedule by inputting your address at opala.org. On the home page, under the green header that says “Residential Services,” click on the blue text that says “Collection schedules.”
Mahalo
On Aug. 12 I returned home from shopping at Times Mililani and realized I was missing my checkbook and credit card tucked in. While searching my car frantically, Kui of Mililani Tech Park drove into my driveway waving the missing checkbook. She had found it in the parking lot and went out of her way to return it. Her act of kindness is inspirational. — Barbara
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
