Editorial: Get tougher on monster houses

As Honolulu Hale pushes forward with an effort to address the city’s monster- house problem from the front end — drafting necessary tougher and more-precise policy — some back-end troubles are lingering.

In March, Mayor Kirk Caldwell signed into law a moratorium on building permits for oversized houses in order to give the city Department of Planning and Permitting time to craft permanent rules that better protect neighborhood character and infrastructure limits. The DPP is expected to deliver its first shot at a proposal to the city’s Planning Commission this week.

Meanwhile, the City Council Zoning Committee last week advanced two bills to target builders and property owners failing to comply with current rules. Both put in place steeper fines. But, of course, scofflaws will not be shaking in their boots unless the city also enforces the laws in a swift and consistent manner.

>> Under Bill 53, the penalty for building without a permit starts at five times the current rate of $2,000. The initial civil fine would be set at 10 times the amount of a building permit fee or $10,000, whichever is greater. A similar fine would follow for each day the violation persists, and the fines could not be reduced or waived by city officials.

What’s more, the measure notes, in vague terms, that violators could be required to demolish a building, or the portion of a structure tagged in violation. The City Council should nail down specific terms for that fate.

In older neighborhoods — due to bureaucratic snags — hulking houses that look more like apartment dwellings or boarding homes than zone-specified single-family units have rapidly wedged their way into the lineup. Some residents rightly say a wrecking ball is in order in cases of persistent deception. In the past, DPP typically tried to work with property owners failing to conform with the land use ordinance rather than threaten a tear-down.

Under the moratorium, for the most part, DPP does not approve building permit applications for houses that cover more than seven-tenths of a lot. For example, a 5,000-square-foot lot could not have a living space that’s 3,500 square feet or larger.

>> Bill 60 would make it a misdemeanor to violate a stop-work order, subject to a fine of up to $2,000 and the possibility of up to a year in jail.

In recent years, the monster- house trend — property owners replacing single-family homes with significantly larger structures to accommodate several families — has been spurred, in part, by Oahu’s limited housing inventory.

Current zoning allows one- and two-family detached dwelling units in residential areas. Properties with three of more units are tagged as “multifamily” and designated for apartment districts, which allow walk-ups and high-rises.

When reviewing building plans, DPP flags the eyebrow-raisers and requires property owners to file an affidavit or restrictive covenant stating that the permitted use will be adhered to — no altering of plans for other uses. In some cases, though, neighbors persuasively maintain that the monster houses are being used on the sly as illegal long-term apartments and short-term vacation rentals.

Another weak point current in city rules is that there’s no set limit on the count of bedrooms allowed in residential districts. This has resulted in questionable cases, such as a property on Houghtailing Street with apparently more than two dozen bedrooms. That could mean two dozen cars vying for street parking, strains on sewer and storm runoff apparatus, and more neighborhood noise, among other headaches.

Even in cases where such buildings are packed with legit extended-family members, there should be at least a gauged occupancy ceiling for each property on a street.

To slay this monster, the City Council should quickly armor-up with unambiguous land-use policy and hard-hitting penalties for building-permit violations.