Maui County Council’s Housing & Land Use Committee voted 6–3 in July 2025 to advance Bill 9. Now, the bill must still go through 2 full County Council votes before the Mayor can sign it into law.
As the County moves forward with proposals to phase out short-term rentals in apartment-zoned condos (via Bill 9), a second conversation is quietly taking shape: a potential zoning reclassification process for property owners seeking to convert from Apartment to Hotel/Resort zoning.
This is what we know so far.
The Process: Two Readings, Possibly Drawn Out into 2026
Currently the County plans a two-step legislative process for finalizing and approving Bill 9:
- 1st Reading: Expected in mid-October 2025
- 2nd Reading: Scheduled for January 2026
- The process may be drawn out into 2026, depending on complexity, volume of applications, and political input.
First, What is Bill 9?
Maui is working on a new law called Bill 9 that would stop many condos from being used as short-term vacation rentals if they’re in areas zoned for apartments. That means some owners could lose the ability to legally vacation rent their units to visitors for less than 6 months.
There’s a possible solution that some complexes are exploring: changing the zoning from “Apartment” to “Hotel/Resort” so that vacation rentals can continue. To help complexes explore this option, the Maui County Council’s Housing and Land Use Committee came up with a potential means to create a clear path towards rezoning. This would apply primarily to complexes looking to preserve or formalize short-term rental use by reclassifying out of apartment zoning, which is currently under legislative scrutiny due to Bill 9.
An Temporary Investigative Group (TIG)
As part of the broader conversation around Bill 9 and short-term rentals, the County Council voted unanimously in August to form a Temporary Investigative Group (TIG). This group, made up of four Council members and possible community members, is tasked with:
- Interviewing County officials and planners
- Consulting with stakeholders (property owners, economists, housing advocates)
- Exploring carve-outs, exemptions, or conditional use permitting paths
- Delivering recommendations by December 31, 2025
Their findings could influence how rezoning applications are reviewed and whether additional paths (beyond outright reclassification) are made available for certain complexes.
What’s Likely to Be Considered
While details are still unfolding, several factors are expected to influence whether a property qualifies for rezoning:
- Overlay / rezoning alignment
- Proximity to coastline or flood zone status
- Whether the property is in a sea level rise vulnerability area
- Infrastructure burdens or project costs for the County
- Existing RPT (Real Property Tax) classifications and how closely they reflect actual use
Likely the TIG group will walk all complexes, to better understand how they operate and whether they align with current zoning and intended land use. Likely we’ll see this kind of hands-on approach could take time and further extend the timeline.
Our Take: This Is What We Know Currently
This process is still in motion. There’s no guarantee that every property seeking a zoning change will be approved and still no clear path yet for how long approvals could take or how complex the requirements will be.
But here’s what’s clear:
- Some properties may still have a path forward for short-term rental use, even if Bill 9 passes, but it will require zoning alignment or policy exceptions.
- This process will take time. Even the best-positioned complexes are unlikely to see decisions before 2026.
The Maui Market is changing, and understanding how those changes affect your specific property is more important than ever.
With Aloha,
