Friday, January 21, 2011
So where is the Prez going to stay in Hawaii? Waikiki?
by Larry Geller
Civil Beat has posted a letter from the Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting to the owner of the fancy Kailua house where President Obama has been staying when he visits Hawaii (Civil Beat, City Reminds Winter White House Owner of Rental Law, 1/21/2011).
Basically, rental of a property for less than 30 days is not allowed. Tsk, tsk. If that’s what the property owner has been doing, it will just have to stop.
So where will Obama and his family stay when the chill comes to Washington next winter? Waikiki? It’s not his style, and probably would be a security nightmare.
My guess is that they’ll work it out. Possibly the president will be allowed to stay for free. That wouldn’t be considered a rental, I assume,if no rent is paid.
Now, when will the Department of Planning an Permitting get letters out to all of the illegal B&Bs in Kailua? Why is this one so special? They’ve shown that they can do it, so when will they get busy with the other illegal rentals?
I suppose Obama could just pay up for 30 days and stay <30 days...
I'm kinda surprised some wealthy anti-Obama person has not reserved the property, and/or the neighboring properties where his security folks stay, for the dates around Christmas 2011 and 2012.
Doug,
While your proposal might make sense, it is apparently illegal. Even if the tenant pays for the entire month and NOT a pro-rated portion of the month's rent. This was announced by City officials in response to inquiries about the Obama rental. It also came up in the City Council race for East Honolulu, when a realtor representing Rich Turbin agreed to rent one of Turbin's North Shore properties for less than 30 days.
An argument in support of that interpretation is that very few people are looking to rent for a full 30 days.They usually want a vacation house for a week or ten days. Therefore, the 30 day requirement greatly reduces the opportunity for non-permitted properties to be rented at all, thereby preserving the "residential character" of the community and keeping these properties on the market for longterm rentals by residents.
: January 21, 2011 at 11:01:00 PM HST Bellows would be the ideal vacation spot. There is already a separate house for Admirals/Generals that could be used. Close by cabins could be used for support personnel. This would be less disruptive to the neighbors. Just take a helicopter to the Marine Corps Base...I am wondering what is the legal responsibility of the realtor who arranged the rent deal?
: January 22, 2011 at 8:12:00 AM HST I don’t see where the city said that at all Kolea. The only thing they say is you can’t rent for less than 30 days. They don’t say you must occupy it for the entire time or pay such and such. In other words it apparently doesn’t matter how long the tenants actually physically occupy the house or how much they pay, only that the rental agreement is for 30 days. I’ve said all along it seems much ado about nothing since it’s only the way the representation is made and executed that matters. All the city seems to be saying is your rental agreement must state you are renting it for a 30 day stay.
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