Maui Vacation Rental Zoning · Updated August 19, 2026
Bill 9, Bill 88 & the Minatoya Phase-Out: Where Every Maui Condo Stands
Roughly 7,000 apartment-zoned vacation rental units are being phased out — and about a third of them now have a path to permanent hotel zoning. Search your complex below, then read the plain-English guide to what’s actually happening.
Status as of August 19, 2026. The Council’s Housing and Land Use Committee resumes testimony on the flood-list resolutions today at 9 a.m. Lists change often — always confirm your property’s zoning with the Maui County Planning Department before making decisions.
Look up your condo
140+ complexes tracked across every list, resolution, and recommendation. Type a name, or filter by region and status.
The five lists, decoded
Every apartment-zoned complex falls into one of these buckets right now.
How we got here
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2001The Minatoya opinionDeputy Corporation Counsel Richard Minatoya issues a legal opinion concluding that condos in apartment districts predating the county’s late-1980s zoning changes may operate as short-term rentals without special permits. The resulting “Minatoya list” grows to roughly 7,000 units — the backbone of Maui’s condo vacation rental market for two decades.
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Dec 15, 2025Bill 9 becomes Ordinance 5909After more than a year of hearings following the 2023 wildfires and the housing crisis they deepened, the Council passes — and Mayor Richard Bissen signs — Bill 9, removing short-term rental as a permitted use in A-1 and A-2 apartment districts. Multiple lawsuits challenging the ordinance are pending; no injunction has been granted.
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Jun 19, 2026Bill 88 becomes Ordinance 6008The Council passes Bill 88 on a 7–2 vote, creating two new hotel districts — H-3 and H-4 — purpose-built to receive apartment-zoned condos that the Council decides should keep operating as vacation rentals.
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Jul 24, 2026First rezoning resolutions adopted, 7–1Resolutions 26-110 and 26-111 refer ~2,056 units to the Maui Planning Commission. Floor amendments removed Māʻalaea Kai from 26-110 (it moved to the flood list) and added Kauhale Makai; an attempt to strip Luana Kai and Mahina Surf from 26-111 failed 2–6. Council Member Keani Rawlins-Fernandez cast the lone no votes.
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Aug 7–19, 2026Flood-list resolutions in committeeThe Housing and Land Use Committee took hours of testimony on Resolutions 26-129 and 26-130 on August 7, recessed with about half of the 31 testifiers still waiting to speak, and reconvenes August 19 at 9 a.m. to resume testimony and possible amendments.
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NextPlanning Commission hearings → final ordinancesThe Planning Commission holds public hearings on the referred properties, then sends recommendations back to the Council, which must pass zoning map amendment ordinances to make any rezoning final. No timeline has been announced.
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Jan 1, 2029 / Jan 1, 2031Phase-out takes effectShort-term rental use ends in apartment districts — West Maui first, the rest of the county two years later — for every property that hasn’t been rezoned by then (barring changes from litigation or further legislation).
Bill 9 and Bill 88, in plain English
Bill 9 (Ordinance 5909): the phase-out
Bill 9 does one big thing: it removes “transient vacation rental” from the list of permitted uses in Maui County’s A-1 and A-2 apartment districts. The stated goal is to return Minatoya-list units to the long-term housing supply. It does not touch properties in hotel or resort districts. The phase-out is staged — January 1, 2029 for West Maui and January 1, 2031 for the rest of the county — giving owners a window to sell, convert to long-term rental, or pursue rezoning.
Early market data cuts both ways. Of the first 101 affected properties sold after Bill 9 took effect, about 25% went to local buyers — evidence supporters cite that the policy is working. Opponents point out that most Minatoya-list units were never occupied by residents: per testimony from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, about 85% of affected apartment-zone owners have out-of-state mailing addresses.
Bill 88 (Ordinance 6008): the escape hatch
Bill 88 answers the obvious follow-up question: what about complexes that were built as, and have always functioned as, resort properties — just with the “wrong” zoning? It created two new hotel districts that the Council can move those properties into:
| District | Comes from | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| H-3 | A-1 (low-density apartment) | Hotel district for low-rise complexes; keeps A-1 low-density bulk standards, permits vacation rental use outright |
| H-4 | A-2 (medium-density apartment) | Hotel district for mid-rise complexes; keeps A-2 medium-density bulk standards, permits vacation rental use outright |
Because the new districts preserve existing bulk standards, buildings don’t become nonconforming when they move — the zoning changes, the building doesn’t have to.
How a condo actually gets rezoned
- Council resolutionThe Council names properties in a resolution and refers them for review. This is where Resolutions 26-110 and 26-111 are complete, and where 26-129 and 26-130 are still pending.
- Planning Commission reviewFormal land-use public hearings on each referred property. This is the stage the adopted-list properties are entering now.
- Back to Council for final ordinancesThe Council passes zoning map amendment ordinances. Only then is a property actually in H-3 or H-4 — and actually clear of the phase-out.
What this means for owners and buyers
If your complex is on the adopted list: you have the most defined path in the county, but you are not rezoned yet. Keep operating legally, watch the Planning Commission calendar, and be careful how any sale is marketed — “headed to hotel zoning” is accurate; “hotel-zoned” is not.
If your complex is on the flood list: your outcome likely turns on the next few committee sessions. The Planning Department has acknowledged the sea-level-rise criteria are applied inconsistently — some named properties barely touch the exposure area while more vulnerable ones were left off — so expect amendments, additions, and removals before any vote.
If your complex is recommended but unnamed (tier one): you’re in genuine limbo — a favorable signal with no legal force. Value and financing conversations should assume the phase-out applies until a resolution says otherwise.
If your complex is unnamed or not recommended (tier two): plan around the deadlines. That means modeling the property as a long-term rental or primary/second home after 2029 or 2031, following the pending lawsuits, and understanding that the lists have already changed multiple times — in both directions.
If you’re buying: the market is already pricing the difference between a defined rezoning path and full phase-out exposure. Confirm zoning and list status independently with the county for any specific unit — listing descriptions lag the legislative process, sometimes by weeks.
