LIHU`E -- Twelve years after it was opened and a mere eight years after its owners first applied for a use permit, Gloria's Spouting Horn Bed and Breakfast in Koloa has been officially blessed with a permit by the Kaua`i Planning Commission.

The Spouting Horn, owner Gloria Merkle told commissioners last week, is the only B&B in Hawai`i and one of 25 in the United States to receive American Bed & Breafast Association's highest 4-crown rating.

At the same meeting, the commission shot down another would-be B&B permittee, Carrie Meyers of Lihu`e, who also had applied for a permit. Meyers poked a beehive of neighbor opposition with her request.

It's been like that over the past year as the Planning Commission has attempted to lure B&B operators in to obtain permits.

Without permits, the county can't extract B&B fees, since they don't officially exist.

And without B&B regulations, permitting has been strictly on a voluntary basis.

The catch has been that when the commissioners get a B&B to voluntarily seek a use permit, they sometimes turn it down.

So now the Planning Department staff has floated a set of proposed regulations aimed at smoothing out the process. It's a patchwork of B&B regulations from other islands and intended only as a starting point for debate.

The planning staff is asking the commission to set a public hearing.

What they're not offering, however, is amnesty -- grandfathering, allowing existing B&Bs to automatically receive permits -- although the planning staff hasn't closed the door on the idea entirely.

Without amnesty there may be little incentive for operators to come forward.

Some of the handful who have applied for permits in the past year have been sorry they did. They've run head-on into a stone wall from their neighbors.

One little Mom and Pop operation in Princeville drew the wrath of the entire Princeville Property Owners Association -- even though Princeville is an official visitor destination area.

Most neighbors complain to the commission of noise and traffic, but a lawyer for B&B applicants claims what some neighbors are really up to is using the Planning Commission permit hearing process to settle old scores in neighborhood feuds.

``If you're applying for a B&B permit and your dog pooped or peed on a neighbor's lawn five years ago, you can bet that neighbor is going to be at the commission hearing complaining about traffic at your house,'' said attorney Pat Childs.

The proposed regulations call for a continuation of the existing hearing process with opportunity for neighbors to object for each permit that is issued.

``We would also recommend, within this process, that the proper notification to and concurrence of adjoining land owners be assured,'' Deputy Planning Director Ian Costa wrote the Planning Commission.

Childs says that will be enormously time consuming.

Instead, he would like to see existing B&Bs given permits on request -- grandfathered -- and then require the Planning Department to investigate complaints.

If the gripes are valid, the county can shut down the offenders.

Which, of course, would require an enforcement effort.

Nothing in the proposal calls for a permit fee or the setting aside of funds for inspectors.

They do require both general excise tax and transient accommodations tax licenses. And they call for applicants to pay $1,000 per guest room for an environmental assessment.

The proposed regulations set limits on the number of guest rooms based on lot size (a maximum of five on a one-acre parcel). And it requires off-street parking for each guest unit. And cooking facilities limited to a coffee pot in each room.

If B&Bs are such a public menace, Childs wonders, why haven't they been shut down already?

They're easy enough to find: 63 are listed in the Yellow Pages.

Most, if not all, have web pages.

Costa estimates there are about 80 B&Bs on the island. Childs and many others say a minimum of 200.

Paul Daniels, who testified at a commission hearing Friday in support of his B&B application, said the extra money they provide can mean the difference between a homeowner making monthly payments or going into foreclosure.

``If you were to go to just about anybody's house on this island, you would find some kind of side business going on. That's all B&Bs are.''

Gloria Merkle obviously is happy she finally received a permit.

She and her husband Robert first applied in 1990 when it appeared the Planning Commission was about to adopt regulations. Nothing ever came of either their application or the proposed regulations.

Without a permit, she wrote the commission, she has continually had to defend her business against rumors that she wanted to remain ``underground'' to avoid paying taxes.

She said Friday the final version of the regulations probably will be very different from the draft put out by the Planning Department this week.

She also predicted adoption could still be years away.