Bill would let city force demolition

City officials could require a structure built without a permit to be torn down, under a bill introduced Thursday by Councilman Ikaika Anderson.

Anderson said Tuesday that he was contemplating such legislation after he was told by Planning and Permitting Acting Director Kathy Sokugawa that she might not have the authority to force a Kapahulu property owner to demolish a two-story house that’s being built without a building permit and despite a stop-work order. That’s assuming it meets code, she said.

Bill 33 is scheduled to get the first of three Council readings when the nine- member panel meets for its regular monthly meeting Wednesday.

Anderson, who heads the Council’s Planning Committee, could not be reached for comment late Thursday. But at Tuesday’s Planning Committee meeting, he said, “Until we show these scofflaws that we as a city are not going to tolerate this, I think it’s going to continue. And this property owner not only gave the finger to the city, but it also gave the finger to their entire neighborhood by doing this.”

It’s not clear whether the bill could apply to the house at the corner of Date Street and Makaleka Avenue.

As of Thursday the owners — the Gary Chan Trust and the Jenny Yeh Trust— as well as contractor Brilliant Construction and agent/third-party reviewer Jimmy Wu had accrued $34,950 in fines for the infractions. Sokugawa said unless the matter is resolved soon, it could be sent to the city attorney.

An application for a building permit was submitted by ProWork Pacific Inc., Wu’s company, for “a new, two-story, two-family detached dwelling” on Nov. 15, 2016. But a permit has not yet been issued because the applicant still has to address two outstanding issues, Sokugawa said.

Brilliant Construction owner Benny Lee, reached by telephone Thursday night, said he couldn’t understand why it’s taken over a year to get a building permit for the project. Since the permit application was first submitted, he’s had it returned to him several times, each time with new comments and corrections he needed to make, Lee said.

The DPP plan checker assigned to his permit application is often unresponsive, said Lee, who has been out of the country and only returned to Hawaii on Wednesday. “I don’t know how much vacation he has,” he added.

Lee said he was hoping to meet with the plan checker today to finally get his permit. He called Thursday for an appointment, but no one answered the phone, he said.

If Anderson’s bill becomes law, many other contractors besides himself may be forced to tear down their buildings, Lee said.

Lee stressed that he is building a two-unit dwelling in an apartment zone where a complex with many more units is allowed.