(BIVN) – All short-term vacation rentals, bed and breakfasts, and time-shares on Hawaiʻi island must cease operations as of this Monday, April 13, by order of a new rule signed by Mayor Harry Kim.

Visitors already staying at a STVR, B&B or time-share may stay until the end of the pre-booked period.

The office of the mayor provided the full text of the new “COVID-19 Emergency Rule No. 1”, which reads:

Pursuant to the authority vested in me by Hawai’i Revised Statutes (HRS) sections 127A-12(a)(5)(D), 127A-12(c)(42), 127A-12(c)(14), and 127A-25, and due to the public health concerns related to COVID-19, I hereby find that immediate promulgation of the rule is necessary, and I promulgate the following rule to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the people:

I. The Governor’s Third Supplementary Proclamation, Part 1.A. 23, issued on March 23, 2020, identified hotels and motels, to the extent used for lodging and delivery or carry-out food services, as being essential businesses or operations.

II. Bed and Breakfasts, short-term rentals and time-shares were not identified as essential businesses or operations under the Governor’s Third Supplementary Proclamation. The bed and breakfasts, short-term rentals and time-shares are spread-out throughout the island, with many of them within residential communities, and many of their occupants, who are visitors, possibly not complying with the Governor’s Proclamations to self-quarantine for fourteen days at their places of stay. Therefore, all of these specified businesses or operations, including advertising, must cease for the period specified in the Governor’s Emergency Proclamation(s). Current occupants of bed and breakfasts, short-term rentals, and time-shares may stay until the end of the pre-booked period.

III. This rule shall have the force and effect of law. Violation of this rule is a misdemeanor, subject to penalty per HRS §127A-29. HRS §127A-29 states:

Any person violating any rule of the governor or mayor prescribed and promulgated pursuant to this chapter and having the force and effect of law, shall, if it shall be so stated in the rule, be guilty of a misdemeanor. Upon conviction, the person shall be fined not more than $5,000, or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

IV. Upon publication of this Rule, this Rule is effective April 13, 2020 at 12:01 a.m., and shall continue throughout the present emergency caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic or until sooner terminated by my Order.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the County of Hawaiʻi to be affixed. Done this 10th day of April 2020 in Hilo, Hawaiʻi.