“Kihei and Lahaina among top vacation rental spots” plus 1 more

Kihei and Lahaina among top vacation rental spots

Posted: 25 Feb 2011 03:42 AM PST

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Feb 25, 2011

Renowned travel site TripAdvisor has named Kihei and Lahaina, Maui, to its Top Vacation Rental Hot Spot list for 2011.

The list is based on search data and input from site editors.

"Vacation rentals can offer families and groups of travelers significant savings over other accommodation options," said Hank Hudepohl, director of vacation rentals, in a statement. "Our list shows off some of the best vacation rental destinations in the U.S. where travelers can save big, ranging from prime summer beach spots to areas with first-rate ski resorts."

Kihei was ranked No. 4, behind Kissimmee, Fla., Big Bear Lake, Calif., and Gatlinburg, Tenn. Destin, Fla., Palm Springs, Calif., and Outer Banks, N.C., ranked fifth, sixth and seventh, followed by No. 8 Lahaina. Hilton Head, S.C., and Cape Cod, Mass., fill out the top 10.

The list cites the number of vacation rentals TripAdvisor lists in each destination as well as the potential savings a family could realize for a weeklong trip.

Despite the high profile of a particular annual vacation rental guest, Kailua, Oahu, is not among TripAdvisor's top 10. Its site lists only 94 vacation rentals in Kailua and 19 in neighboring Lanikai.

Disaster app shakes newsroom

Moments after the newsroom confirmed an earthquake south of Oahu yesterday, an e-mail popped in from the Maui-based Pacific Disaster Center touting its new "Disaster Alert" app for the Android operating system.

Formerly available only for the iPhone, iTouch or iPad, "Disaster Alert" links users to active hazards tracked by PDC that are "potentially damaging," said Executive Director Ray Shirkhodai. The PDC is a nonprofit, managed by the University of Hawaii under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense.

PDC's was the first app of its kind. There were previously hazard-specific apps, such as hurricane trackers or wildfire finders, but none that integrated all disaster genres, Shirkhodai said. "We found it astonishing at the time that you could find apps about finding tennis courts but no integrated, live hazard information."

Yesterday's magnitude-3-and-change earthquake would not have alerted the app to alert you. "Because mobile applications offer a limited display area, we basically filter all of the other smaller incidents (out), then only zoom in on the ones that are potentially hazardous" to life or property. That way the app doesn't cry "wolf" to its users. If an earthquake is only enough to rattle dishes and jostle nerves, algorithms filter it out.

It is not yet customizable by region of interest, so you will be alerted to Disaster Y in Country X. Because the app is offered free and no registration information is collected, the system has no way to home in on only those regions of interest to a user.

PDC first released the app as an experiment to "see how well the public may be receptive to it, and by the second month we were convinced," Shirkhodai said. Some days saw 300 downloads. In two months the app hit the 10,000 mark, and now "Disaster Alert" is "upward of 65,000 downloads." For those without a smart phone, the PDC also has a Web-enabled application allowing online visitors to "interactively see all the events," Shirkhodai said.

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Board backs ban on vacation rentals in GB residential areas

Posted: 17 Feb 2011 07:32 PM PST

By April Charlton/Senior Staff Writer

A split Grover Beach Planning Commission will recommend the City Council ban vacation rentals in residential areas — a majority of the city.

After listening to numerous pleas from residents to keep vacation rentals out of their neighborhoods, the commission voted 3-2 Tuesday to recommend the ban.

Commissioners Chris Long and John Laferriere dissented.

"I certainly had my eyes open listening tonight," said Commissioner Janet Roberson.

Roberson said her job as a planning commissioner was to make Grover Beach a better place to live, and she didn't believe permitting vacation rentals in residential areas did that.

"Who would benefit from a vacation rental?" Roberson asked. "Not the people in Grover Beach."

Grover doesn't have an ordinance regulating vacation rentals, and residents recently started lodging complaints with city officials about myriad homes in their neighborhoods they believe are being used as illegal vacation rentals.

"If only I knew ... I wouldn't have moved here," said Tom Carter, who lives in the 500 block of Newport Avenue next to a home that's used as a vacation rental.

Carter and his wife, Janine, bought what they thought would be their retirement home four years ago and have endured nightmares with the transient neighbors ever since.

The couple have considered moving because of what they have experienced.

Carter said the individuals who rent the home next to his are usually loud, create parking problems and leave their trash behind when they go home.

"It's all weekend and it's late," Carter told the commission. "It gets a little bit old. I want to live here for a long time. Nothing has been done and something has to be taken care of here."

Numerous other city residents agreed.

Tricia Witt lives in the 300 block of North 14th Street and said a vacation rental on her block also has created similar nightmares for herself and her neighbors.

"It's not just the weekends," Witt said. "It's during the week. It's for a month at a time. It continues on and on. At what point do we say enough is enough?"

According to city staff, there are 14 vacation rentals in Grover Beach that pay bed tax to the city, although staff and others said there's no way to know for sure how many such rentals exist.

"It's hard to get a handle on how many are out there," said Community Development Director Bruce Buckingham.

Buckingham said a recent search by city staff of Craigslist showed 19 advertisements for vacation rentals in Grover Beach.

Longtime Grover resident and local Realtor Jack Hardy suggested the commission develop a new zoning area, such as North Fourth Street, where vacation rentals could be operated.

"It's a good answer to a problem," Hardy said. "Those properties would then be vacation rental properties, and you wouldn't be endangering the peace and quiet of homeowners (across the city)."

Commissioner Evans liked the idea of developing a specific zone for vacation rentals but believes the city doesn't have anywhere for such an area since most of Grover is zoned residential.

"I don't know where you'd do it in this town," he said.

Along with adopting the resolution that could ban vacation rentals in the city's residential areas, if approved by the council, the commission also passed an ordinance regulating the rentals.

Buckingham expects the City Council to hold a public hearing in late March on the commission's recommendations for vacation rentals in the city.

Pismo Beach doesn't permit vacation rentals in residential areas of the city and parts of Shell Beach.

Vacation Rentals

Friday, February 25, 2011