Cleanup of Makiki property reveals fourth vehicle

An eight-person crew from Oahu Junk Removal began clearing out tons of metal, rubbish and overgrown foliage from a Pensa­cola Street property, where a fourth vehicle was unexpectedly discovered among the debris Monday.

“We’ve found everything and anything,” said Chris Diaz of Oahu Junk Removal, which bid $13,120 to clear the outside of the property for the city. “Most of it is junk: TVs, iceboxes, washers, dryers, coolers, crates, buckets. … Everything is rubbish.”

By 10:30 a.m. the Oahu Junk Removal crew already had filled one truck and sent it to the dump, and two more were rapidly getting packed with trash and foliage.

Oahu Junk Removal also is responsible for exterminating rats, cockroaches and other vermin on the property. The crew expected to remove three vehicles but discovered a fourth one on their first day Monday morning.

“They found another vehicle buried under junk and wasn’t easily seen,” said Curtis Lum, spokesman for the city Department of Planning and Permitting. “That’s the fourth vehicle on the property — that they know of.”

The city on July 5 won a court victory to clean up the property at 1421 Pensa­cola St., across from Hawaiian Mission Academy, following years of complaints.

Homeowner Rollin Yee is responsible for reimbursing the city for the cleanup. As of this week he already faces more than $364,000 in additional fines.

Trash and a vehicle blocked the front door Monday, but the home is connected to utilities and neighbors had reported seeing Yee climbing in and out of a window.

“But the neighbors haven’t seen him in a while, so we don’t know if it’s occupied,” Lum said. “We tried to serve him last week, and no one answered when we called out.”

The cleanup represents only the second time the city has gone to court to gain access to a property to clean it up. The previous effort occurred at a 2nd Avenue property in Kaimuki in July 2015.

“Right now we don’t have any other house in line to be cleaned up,” Lum said. “The process can take a while and involves going to court.”

To report a property, call DPP at 768-8000.