O'ahu homeowners could get permits for new bed-and-breakfast establishments under a bill that won a preliminary 4-1 vote by the City Council's Zoning Committee yesterday.

The bill has a long way to go before it gets final approval from the full council, which is split on the issue. At least four members of the nine-member council said yesterday they have strong reservations about repealing the prohibition on new B&Bs that has existed since 1989.

Under the latest draft, a B&B operator would:

• Be allowed up to four rooms for guest rentals, each of which could have no more than two adults and one child 12 or under.

• Need to provide off-street parking for guests and adhere to noise levels.

• Need to be the fee simple owner of the establishment and reside on the same lot, and also not own more than one B&B permit at a time.

• Not be required to go before the area neighborhood board or notify neighbors before obtaining a B&B permit.

Zoning Committee chairman Rod Tam called the bill "a work in process" that addresses concerns about parking and noise, the major concerns raised by the Department of Planning and Permitting, which is tasked with enforcement.

The bill will get another public hearing Oct. 27 when the full council is scheduled to take the second of three votes on the measure.

Yesterday, 62 people testified — 31 who said they are against any new B&Bs and 31 who said they favor B&Bs.

The committee voted out a version of Bill 7, which would allow for residential and agricultural property owners to obtain special-use permits for a B&B from the Department of Planning and Permitting.

Councilman Romy Cachola, the sole dissenting vote yesterday, said the timing is wrong for the council to repeal the ban, noting that people in the tourism industry are losing their jobs or seeing their hours reduced because of the bad worldwide economy.

"They're hurting," he said. "And now we're trying to legalize and reward those who are operating illegally."

Cachola also voiced strong reservations about a provision of the bill that requires the planning and permitting director to issue a temporary permit to the owner of a non-conforming B&B that was in operation prior to Feb. 14, 2008, until the city acts on a regular permit request. The bill also gives the operator a permanent permit if the city fails to act on an application within 45 days.

LIMITATIONS URGED

Councilman Gary Okino, who voted for the bill yesterday, said he will not support it on a final vote unless there is a limit on the number of B&Bs within a neighborhood. Okino had earlier proposed a spacing or distance requirement that a B&B not be allowed any less than 500 feet from another one.

"It's a bad idea to open it up. It's a free-for-all," Okino said, noting that planning and permitting director David Tanoue also strongly recommended a spacing restriction.

Those joining Tam and Okino in voting to advance the bill were council members Ikaika Anderson and Nestor Garcia.

Three of the four members of the council not on the committee said they have reservations as well.

Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi, like Okino, said she would like a spacing restriction. She said there also need to be other safeguards protecting neighbors.

Councilman Charles Djou, like Cachola, said he doesn't like the "blanket legalization" of existing B&Bs that would be offered at the onset of the repeal. Further, he said, "I don't see additional enforcement mechanisms" in the bill, such as a requirement that additional inspectors be hired.

Councilman Donovan Dela Cruz said he opposes any repeal of the B&B prohibition until the council first passes tougher enforcement laws on existing B&Bs and transient vacation units, vacation rentals of 30 days or more.

Council Chairman Todd Apo said, "I'm willing to open it up some (to new B&Bs) as long as we've got a reasonable set of rules and regulations that can be enforced."

That could take the form of a spacing requirement, or it may not, he said. "There needs to be some kind of check to make sure when a community doesn't want too many of them, that is taken into account."

Tanoue, the city's planning and permitting director, said the Hannemann administration opposed the initial resolution calling for a repeal of the B&B prohibition.

Recognizing that there may be enough votes to repeal the prohibition, the administration would like to see a spacing provision and a requirement that only owner-occupants who live on-site be allowed to operate a B&B, said Tanoue.

"Having someone there provides a stability," Tanoue said.

HEATED TESTIMONY

Stu Simmons, of the group Keep It Kailua, said the bill moving forward in the council is the worst of several versions before the committee.

"It strips all of the restrictions — there's no public hearings, there's no separation of businesses," Simmons said. "And the most insulting thing was they want to award illegal operators, people who have been breaking the law."

The four hours of testimony at yesterday's meeting were heated, with yellow signs from those favoring a repeal and red signs from those against any change.

Kailua resident Neal Fraser, who said he opposes the bills, said he wants a provision that would require a potential B&B operator to have the written permission of every landowner within 500 feet. "We'll take care of this," he said.

North Shore resident Chris Godwin questioned why council members are even contemplating the bill when the city Planning Commission and affected neighborhood boards had recommended against repealing the ban.

Pauoa resident Hanaka'ulani White Holt said "the 'no' policy doesn't work." Bed-and-breakfasts exist worldwide and Bill 7 would allow rules for vacation rentals that can be enforced, she noted.

"Our visitors need the alternative of a Hawaiian experience — be it with food, music or hospitality," she said.

Waimanalo resident Alan Wehmer also said he supports a lifting of the B&B prohibition. "It's a residential experience," he said. "The small business owner is really the very foundation of what the United States is built on."

Lanikai resident Maureen McKeague said, "I don't want to see the Kailua neighborhood become nothing but tourists."

However, she said, "We've worked in the industry as house cleaners, cooks and handymen as we raised our children and took care of my mother-in-law. We are now ready to supplement our income now that we're retired, with renting out our little cottage."