Kauai County

Operating rules

Primary residence

No

Min stay (nights)

180

Max nights / year

—

Max occupancy

—

Zoning-restricted

Yes

Cap on licenses

Yes

Grandfathering: Extensive and permanently closed. (1) Single family TVRs outside a VDA: only uses lawfully in operation prior to March 7, 2008 qualify for a Nonconforming Use Certificate (Sec. 8-17.10(a)-(c)); applications received more than one year after August 16, 2010 are not accepted and the use is deemed discontinued (Sec. 8-17.10(g)). (2) TVRs on State Land Use Agricultural District land: a NUC may issue only if the unit was built prior to June 4, 1976, or the applicant obtained an HRS Sec. 205-6 Special Permit specifically permitting a vacation rental; Agricultural-District applications were due within 60 days of August 16, 2010, with a $1,500 administrative late application processing fee thereafter, and the Special Permit application had to be filed within one year of August 16, 2010 (Sec. 8-17.10(d)). (3) Time share units, time share plans and multi-family TVRs existing on or before September 22, 1982 outside the VDAs may continue as allowed uses, but no additional ones may be created after that date; the use is lost if abandoned for a period in excess of two years (Sec. 8-17.5(a)). (4) The Planning Department publishes a 'List of Approved Homestays & Non-Conforming TVR's by TMK' (last modified 07/15/2026); a facility not on the list has been issued a Cease & Desist, an Order to Show Cause, or has an appeal in process and should not be in operation.

Zoning: Transient vacation rentals are prohibited by default countywide (Sec. 8-17.1) and single family TVRs are prohibited in all areas not designated as Visitor Destination Areas notwithstanding underlying zoning (Sec. 8-17.8(a)). Multi-family TVRs are allowed only in hotels in Resort or Commercial Districts and in Resort Districts and Residential Districts within the VDAs (Sec. 8-17.3). The VDAs are Po'ipū, Līhu'e, Wailua-Kapa'a and Princeville, designated on County of Kaua'i Visitor Destination Area maps attached to Ordinance No. 436 (September 22, 1982) and transferred onto the Official Zoning Maps. Time share units and plans are prohibited in the R-1, R-2, R-4 and R-6 Residential Districts (Sec. 8-17.2(c)). Homestays are prohibited outside the VDA (Sec. 8-18.1(b)). A guest house shall not be used for a TVR or homestay within or outside the VDA (Sec. 8-1.5, definitions). VDA boundary amendments run through the Sec. 8-3.4 amendment process with the burden of proof on the applicant (Sec. 8-17.7).

• Effective minimum stay: KCC Sec. 8-1.5 defines 'Transient' as any person who owns, rents, or uses a dwelling unit or portion thereof for 180 days or less and which is not the person's primary residence under the Internal Revenue Code; 'Transient vacation rental' means a dwelling unit provided to transient occupants for compensation or fees, including club fees, or as part of interval ownership involving persons unrelated by blood, with a duration of occupancy of 180 days or less. Outside a VDA (absent a NUC or historic-property Use Permit), rentals must therefore be 180 days or longer to be lawful — the Planning Department states plainly: 'Any short term rental of a room within a home, or a home, less than 180 days is not permitted, nor can it be applied for. This limitation does not apply for properties within the Visitor Destination Area (VDA).' Inside a VDA there is no county minimum-stay floor stated in Article 17; the min_stay_nights value of 180 encodes the outside-VDA rule, which governs the overwhelming majority of the island's land area.
• primary_residence_required is false for TVRs/NUCs (no owner-occupancy requirement), but TRUE for the separate Homestay track: during homestay operations the owner benefiting under Sec. 5A-11 for a homeowner's exemption for the homestay site 'must be physically within the County of Kaua'i, residing at the homestay operation site, and physically available for the needs and concerns of their respective homestay guests', and no other individual or designated representative may act on the owner's behalf (Sec. 8-18.1(a)(3)-(4)).
• Homestay occupancy limit: 'Homestays shall be limited to no more than three guest rooms per homestay operation' and 'Transient accommodations are provided for visitors for 29 days or less' (Sec. 8-18.1(a)(1)-(2)). Each homestay bedroom requires one additional paved and designated off-street parking stall, and the structure must at minimum be serviced by a State Department of Health-approved septic system (Sec. 8-18.2(a)-(b)). No comparable numeric occupancy cap is stated in Article 17 for TVRs — max_occupancy_rule left null rather than guessed.
• cap_on_licenses is true in effect rather than by a stated numeric ceiling: no statutory cap number exists, but the NUC application window closed permanently one year after August 16, 2010 and no new TVR use may be applied for outside a VDA, so the outside-VDA population is a fixed, attriting set. Inside a VDA, registration remains open with no stated numeric cap.
• Renewal is strict-liability on timing: 'There is no grace period. A Cease & Desist and Notice of Forfeiture will be issued for the failure to renew. Ordinance No. 950 approved 7/23/2013 eliminated the reapplication ability for those submitting late.' Renewal packets must be mailed by certified mail, return receipt requested, at least 2 months prior to the renewal date to the Planning Department, 4444 Rice Street, Suite A473, Lihue, HI 96766; counter drop-off is no longer accepted.
• On sale of a TVR property, the new owner should complete the current year renewal application form (minus attachments or payment) with updated information and submit it to the Planning Department within thirty (30) days of the recordation of the sale to keep the TVR file current.
• Upon renewal the Planning Department may re-inspect the property for compliance with other provisions of the chapter or other pertinent land use laws, and may withhold renewal approval and issue cease and desist notices until all violations are resolved (Sec. 8-17.10(h)(2)).
• Kaua'i County Code Chapter 8 is current through at least Ord. No. 1187, adopted 2026-03-30 (which amends Art. 8-27, Shoreline Setback and Coastal Protection — unrelated to STRs). The definitions section Sec. 8-1.5 carries amendments through Ord. No. 1173, May 19, 2025. Article 17's most recent amendment is Ord. No. 1119, July 7, 2022; Article 18's is Ord. No. 1002, May 18, 2016. No 2023–2026 ordinance changing the TVR framework was found in the codified chapter.

Enforcement

Active enforcement

yes

Fines

Three overlapping penalty regimes. (1) Article 17 penalty (KCC Sec. 8-17.6): an owner of any unit operated in violation of Article 17, and any other violating person or entity, 'shall each be fined not less than $500 nor more than $10,000 for each offense'; this civil fine may be in addition to any criminal fines; if a person fails to cease the violation within one month, each day the violation continues is a new and separate violation. All Article 17 fines are paid to the Director of Finance to the credit of the Development Fund. The County Attorney may file a civil action to enjoin violations and collect penalties. (2) Zoning misdemeanor (KCC Sec. 8-3.5(a)(3)): any person convicted of violating the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance is guilty of a misdemeanor punished by a fine not exceeding $2,000, with a separate offense committed each day the violation occurs or continues after conviction; a violating use is also declared an unlawful public nuisance the County Attorney must move to abate. (3) Administrative civil fines (KCC Sec. 8-3.5(b)(1)): on non-compliance with a notice of violation, the Planning Director may order the responsible party to correct the violation, pay a civil fine not to exceed $10,000, and/or pay a civil fine up to $10,000 per day for each day the violation persists; fines are deposited to the Planning Enforcement Account within Fund 251, and the order becomes final 30 calendar days after delivery/posting unless appealed to the Planning Commission. Separately, failing to hold a State certificate of registration is a County civil violation punishable up to $1,000 per infraction for KTAT purposes (Sec. 5-4.5), and KTAT delinquency of 60+ days lets the County Finance Director seek a fifth circuit court injunction restraining further furnishing of transient accommodations until all taxes, penalties and interest are paid (Sec. 5-4.14).

Notes

Enforcement on Kaua'i is well-funded, structurally institutionalized, and advertising-triggered — this is not a paper regime. Evidence of active enforcement: (a) Advertising is prima facie evidence of operation and shifts the burden of proof onto the owner (Sec. 8-17.11(b)), which makes Airbnb/Vrbo listings themselves the enforcement lead source; (b) the Planning Department maintains and regularly updates a public 'List of Approved Homestays & Non-Conforming TVR's by TMK' (last modified 07/15/2026) and states that a facility not on the list 'has been issued a: Cease & Desist, Order to Show Cause, or an appeal is in process. The facility should not be in operation.'; (c) the county solicits public complaints and staffs inspectors; (d) up to $250,000/yr of TVR renewal fees is earmarked to the Planning Department Transient Vacation Rental Program Account expressly for 'personnel costs and/or independent contractors' for renewals and 'the enforcement of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance and other Codes, Statutes, or regulations the Planning Department has the authority to enforce as it relates to possible illegal transient accommodations', and these fees do not lapse at fiscal year end; (e) a parallel Transient Accommodation Enforcement Account (Fund 251) funded by homestay renewal fees retains independent contractors 'to assist in the enforcement of illegally operating transient accommodations'; (f) both the Planning Director and any member of the public with standing may initiate proceedings to revoke or modify a NUC; (g) the Planning Department may physically inspect a TVR before a NUC is issued and may re-inspect on renewal. Note the internal cross-reference error in Sec. 8-17.9(b), which cites 'Sec. 8-13.10' for Nonconforming Use Certificates; the operative NUC section is Sec. 8-17.10.