WAILUKU - The Maui Planning Commission approved permits Tuesday for a bed-and-breakfast on agricultural land that members and county officials said could be the model for others to follow, The Maui News reported today.

Claudia and Kevin Ledesma of Pauwela were among a handful of homeowners with applications for both state Land Use Commission special use and county conditional use permits already in the pipeline before the county approved a new ordinance governing B&Bs.

The new law streamlines the permitting process for bed-and-breakfasts, while expanding where they will be allowed to include agricultural land. The new permit law also sets caps and new definitions of what a B&B is. The intent is to address the concerns of operators, neighbors and farmers alike.

The approval of the Ledsmas' permit may help mend some community fissures over the controversial issue of short-term rentals located outside of hotel or resort areas, observers said. But a second application that was deferred illustrated some of the issues raised by critics of bed-and-breakfasts.

Planning Director Jeff Hunt said there are maybe 50 short-term rental applications already in the works, of which he estimated 20 would fit under the definitions in the new code. As of Monday, 503 people had downloaded B&B applications from the Maui County Web site, Hunt said.

He said his staff will prioritize the applications by who's been waiting longest and who fits best within the new ordinance. Hunt added that some of the applications are "curious."

He said he's heard rumors that people would fill out the paperwork with no intention of running a B&B in order to keep others away or get their names in before cap limits are met.

With a B&B, the owners live on site. Under the new law, they can live in one house on the property and offer up an ohana unit as a short-term rental.

Still pending before the County Council are proposals to allow transient vacation rentals - short-term rentals on properties outside the hotel zone with no owner on site.

Mayor Charmaine Tavares began a crackdown on unpermitted B&Bs and transient vacation rentals last year after issuing warnings to operators that they would be shut down if they are not permitted.

Many shut down. Some, including the Ledesmas, applied for permits when the process required a lengthy review, public hearings and approvals from the Planning Commission and the County Council.

The Ledesmas run their three-bedroom Hale Mauka Makai at 279 Pauwela Road. On 4 acres, they also manage a nursery and tree farm that generated $35,500 in gross revenue last year, Claudia Ledesma said.

"They are literally the poster child of how it should work, and they are doing agriculture," said Dave DeLeon of the Maui Realtors Association. "These are honest, straightforward people doing a really good job."

The couple also was active in formulating the new law with County Council members, said Tom Croly of the Maui Vacation Rental Association.

Claudia Ledesma, at the behest of planning commissioners, said they may switch over to the new B&B application process. They have the option under the law.

The move - which puts the decision whether to approve the permit in the hands of the county Planning Department - would potentially avoid months of waiting before the traditional conditional use permit even gets on the County Council agenda, Hunt said. Under the new law, which Tavares signed into law last week, the permits can be good for up to three years.

"I think it's a very good bill," Hunt said in briefing commissioners on the new law. "Nobody got everything they wanted, so I think that shows it's fair."

In the case of the Ledesmas, Hunt commended them for immediately complying with the county's directive in the summer of 2007 to stop running their short-term rental until they get a permit.

"I think you've been a model applicant in more ways than one," Hunt said.

But the law also can pose obstacles. If an application draws opposition from 30 percent of its neighbors or if another B&B exists within 500 feet, the application goes to the planning commission for a public hearing.

A second application for a B&B in the agricultural district ran headlong into those kinds of obstacles at Tuesday's planning commission meeting.

Frank Gummich, who's owned Hale Maliko Bed and Breakfast at 166 Apuwai St. since 2001, asked for and received a deferral until an undetermined date, after he faced objections from two neighbors and some questions from the county water department.

Gary Coleman lives next door and shares a long driveway with Gummich. Coleman said he is a farmer who grows palms and has a nursery. There is also a dispute over Gummich's water use among neighbors.

The primary complaint, Coleman said, is that the B&B has hosted as many as 20 guests at a time. They come and go at all hours, he said.

He also claimed his neighbor defies county orders and operated his B&B as recently as November, an accusation Gummich denied. Coleman said county inspectors would give Gummich a warning, he'd shut down the B&B and its Web site and then open again later.

Gummich said that's untrue, and that he's been renting out to long-term tenants and has the leases and receipts to prove it. The accusations are unfair, he said.

"I did not have short-term rentals," Gummich said under direct questioning.

Hunt said that along with the Ledesmas, Gummich may also qualify under the new law.

Planner Robyn Loudermilk noted that Gummich's B&B has become a flash point among nearby residents, and she's still sorting through the letters for and against the application. With the deferral, Gummich's application will be rescheduled for another hearing before the commission.

* Chris Hamilton can be reached at chamilton@mauinews.com.