Kailua Tourists ‘Stay Away' From City, Residents Want Locals Only? [VIDEO]
A group of residents in Kailua, Hawaii have asked the state tourism agency to stop promoting their town as a tourist spot because they are sick of what tourists bring to their neighborhood.
According to The Inquisitr, the residents chief complaint is that most homes are now converted into illegal vacation rental properties, with an estimated 500 rental properties marketed to tourists, although only about 100 have proper permits.
The Kailua Neighborhood Board argues that turning so many family homes into vacation rentals and bed and breakfasts not only limits the supply of homes for native families, but increases prices for the ones who do still reside there as well.
Board member Lisa Marten said the neighborhoods no longer feel like such and that she has safety concerns, especially now that the two homes which neighbor hers are both rental properties.
Marten cited an example of a time earlier this year when a large group renting one of the houses next to hers, used marijuana right out in the open in their front yard, and refused to take the drug inside when she asked.
However, not everyone agrees with the board on the tourists.
Angie Larson, of the Hawaii Vacation Rental Owner's Association, said "it's too late to keep Hawaii in a box," because everyone already knows it as a tourist destination.
Ikaika Anderson, who represents the town on the Honolulu City Council, called the idea "an embarrassment" and made sure it was clear that not all locals share the sentiment.
