A case that challenges whether or not short-term rentals are allowed on farmland in Hawaiʻi County has made its way to the state’s highest court.
In 2019, Hawaiʻi County implemented a law that required any property renting under 31 days, if not in a short-term rental zoned area, to apply for a non-conforming use permit.
But it also prohibited any farmland from being eligible for the permit if the home was not built before 1976.
The Hawaiʻi Supreme Court heard oral arguments from the state Land Use Commission, Hawaiʻi County and a group of landowners known as the Rosehill petitioners.
The Rosehill petitioners argued that if agricultural land from 1976 in the county was allowed to be rented for less than 31 days, then the new 2019 law was more restrictive. That meant the agricultural landowners that were operating STRs before 2019 could be grandfathered in.
They added that the law wouldn’t allow the agricultural land to be rented for farm use for under 31 days, but would be allowed to rent it as a vacation rental if it was for over 40 days.
The state argued that the petitioners didn’t advertise their short-term rentals for farm use. And that if the Land Use Commission had allowed the non-conforming use permit, it would allow for short-term vacation rentals on agricultural land without public oversight.
The court will make its decision later in the year.
