Maui County

Operating rules

Primary residence

No

Min stay (nights)

—

Max nights / year

—

Max occupancy

Maximum 6 bedrooms used for STRH use on Maui; maximum 3 on Lānaʻi and Molokaʻi. Total guests at any one time may not exceed two times the number of approved bedrooms (i.e., max 12 guests on Maui at 6 bedrooms). MCC 19.65.030(K).

Zoning-restricted

Yes

Cap on licenses

Yes

Grandfathering: SUBSTANTIALLY BEING ELIMINATED. Ordinance 1797 (1989) required apartment-district buildings to be occupied on a long-term residential basis (6+ continuous months/year) but exempted structures with certain County approvals as of April 20, 1989; Ordinance 4167 (2014) codified those exceptions at MCC 19.12.020(G), creating the ~6,200-unit 'Minatoya List' of lawful nonconforming apartment-district TVRs. Ordinance 5909, signed and effective December 15, 2025, repeals 19.12.020(G) and adds MCC 19.12.070 amortizing those nonconforming uses: continuation allowed until December 31, 2028 (West Maui community plan area) and December 31, 2030 (all remaining areas), with the uses ceasing January 1, 2029 and January 1, 2031 respectively. MCC 19.500.110(A) was amended so nonconforming uses may be continued 'unless the nonconforming use has been amortized or phased out by ordinance, as authorized by subsection 46-4(a), Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes.' EXEMPT from the phase-out: 'Validly existing time share units, uses permitted and operating within the terms of a variance, and uses otherwise permitted by law' (19.12.070(C)). Ord. 5909 §11 also preserves rights accrued under pre-existing binding agreements with the County. Separately, on Lānaʻi, valid STRH permits for more than three bedrooms may continue to be renewed (19.65.030(K)).

Zoning: TVRs are prohibited by default in all zoning districts, with enumerated exceptions only (MCC 19.37.010(A) as amended by Ord. 5909 (2025)): B&B homes (ch. 19.64), short-term rental homes (ch. 19.65), TVR units under a ch. 19.40 conditional permit, TVRs permitted under chs. 19.14, 19.15, 19.18, 19.22 and 19.32, and hotels permitted by applicable zoning. Note Ord. 5909 deleted '19.12' (apartment districts) from that exception list. STRH permits are additionally capped by community plan area (19.65.030(R)); Molokaʻi's cap is zero. No new Paʻia-Haʻikū STRH permits may issue within the Special Management Area. Dwelling units developed under HRS ch. 201H or MCC chs. 2.96, 2.97 or 16.28 (affordable housing) may never be used as an STRH (19.65.030(T)). Apartment-district (A-1/A-2) 'Minatoya' TVRs are being amortized out of existence under new MCC 19.12.070.

• 'Short-term'/'transient' in Maui County means rental for periods of LESS THAN 180 DAYS — a far longer threshold than the typical 30-day line used elsewhere. MCC 19.04.040: '"Short-term rental home" means a residential use in which overnight accommodations are provided to guests for compensation, for periods of less than one hundred eighty days...'.
• NO owner-occupancy/primary-residence requirement for an STRH permit — the permit holder must hold >=50% legal title AND serve as manager, but may satisfy the manager duty with an office or residence within 30 driving miles, or designate an immediate adult family member, a licensed Hawaii real estate agent (except in the Hāna and Lānaʻi community plan areas), or a temporary manager for up to 45 days per 12 months. By contrast, a ch. 19.64 B&B permit DOES require owner-proprietor occupancy.
• No minimum-night stay is imposed by ch. 19.65 — the binding constraint is the 180-day upper bound that defines transient use. Set to null because no primary source establishes a minimum.
• STRH permit caps by community plan area (MCC 19.65.030(R), as last amended by Ord. 5473 (2022)) total 195 countywide: Hāna 15; Kīhei-Mākena 46 (no more than five in the Maui Meadows subdivision); Makawao-Pukalani-Kula 15; Paʻia-Haʻikū 48; Wailuku-Kahului 6; West Maui 50; Molokai 0; Lānaʻi 15. CAUTION: several widely-circulated secondary sources still cite superseded higher caps (e.g. Kīhei-Mākena 100, Paʻia-Haʻikū 88, West Maui 88, Wailuku-Kahului 36, Makawao-Pukalani-Kula 40). Those figures are OUT OF DATE; the numbers above are quoted from the current codified text.
• TVRs operating with a ch. 19.40 conditional permit count against the 19.65.030(R) community plan area caps. The council must review the caps when approved STRHs exceed 90 percent of the restriction number.
• One STRH permit per lot; no owner may hold more than one STRH permit. Condominium units are each treated as a separate lot unless the applicant owns all units on the lot (19.65.030(A)).
• An STRH permit may not be issued to any person who holds a valid B&B permit or who has been prohibited from applying for one (19.65.030(U)).
• Ordinance 5909 also repealed MCC 19.12.025 (the voluntary declaration mechanism for permanently converting a TVR property to long-term residential use) and narrowed the ch. 19.32 planned-development TVR exception by deleting the A-1/A-2 April 20, 1989 site-plan-approval pathway.
• MUNICODE CURRENCY CAVEAT: the Municode-hosted Maui County Code (Supplement 75) is 'Codified through Ordinance No. 5908, passed December 8, 2025' — it does NOT yet incorporate Ordinance 5909. For chs. 19.12, 19.32, 19.37 and 19.500.110, the enrolled Ord. 5909 PDF is controlling.
• Permit revocation grounds include three or more neighbor complaints within a 12-month period from owners/lessees/residents on two or more different lots within a 500-foot radius; after revocation no new STRH application is accepted from that permit holder for two years (19.65.080(A)).

Enforcement

Active enforcement

yes

Fines

Operating a bed and breakfast home, short-term rental home, transient vacation rental, or other transient accommodation without a required permit carries an initial civil fine of up to $20,000 plus a daily civil fine of up to $10,000 for each day the violation persists (MCC 19.530.030(B)(1)(c)–(d)). Ordinary zoning violations are capped at $1,000 initial and $1,000/day. These elevated STR-specific fines were authorized by a 2018 Maui County Charter amendment (proposed via Resolution 18-125) and implemented by ordinance effective in late 2019 — previously both initial and daily fines were capped at $1,000. Separately, failure to hold the required State TAT registration is a County civil violation punishable by up to $1,000 per infraction (MCC 3.47.050). Orders become final unless appealed to the Board of Variances and Appeals within 30 days; an appeal does not stay the order. Unpaid civil fines may be added to any County taxes, fees, or charges.

Notes

Enforcement is materially aided by evidentiary presumptions: under MCC 19.65.080(B)–(C), merely advertising a property as a short-term rental home is prima facie evidence that an STRH is being operated there, and the burden shifts to the owner/operator/lessee to prove the use is legal or not in operation. Advertising without a valid permit number and TMK is itself a violation, though the County must first give a 7-day warning to terminate the advertising before fines commence (19.65.080(D)). Permits may be revoked for false application information, tax/fine delinquency, non-responsive management, police reports of noise, or three or more qualifying neighbor complaints in 12 months; revocation bars reapplication for two years. Refusal to allow a compliance inspection within one hour of notice may result in revocation (19.65.070(C)). The County warns that applying for a permit does not legalize an existing unlawful operation. Looking forward, Ord. 5909 tasks the director of finance with noticing all amortized owners by March 1, 2026 and transmitting a parcel list with real property tax classifications by March 15, 2026, updated annually through March 15, 2030 — an explicit enforcement/tracking apparatus for the Minatoya phase-out.