Question: There’s a house at 864 Hoomaemae St. in Pearl City that’s been slowly rotting away. While it seems to be uninhabited, someone’s been doing some basic yard maintenance to keep the weeds from overrunning the yard. It started to collapse the other day, and some of us were wondering if there’s a safety concern here, and how something like this can be allowed to happen.
Answer: A permit application to demolish the house is pending, according to Art Challacombe, deputy director of the city Department of Planning and Permitting.
A DPP inspector responded to a complaint on Dec. 9, 2014, regarding an abandoned, unkempt house that was missing a roof. The inspector determined that the dwelling was collapsing and issued a Notice of Violation to the property owner on Dec. 11, 2014, he said.
The property owner’s son worked with DPP to correct the violation, which in this case meant proceeding toward demolition. No Notice of Order or civil fines were assessed. On Aug. 11 the son notified DPP that he had obtained all the paperwork needed to apply for a demolition permit, Challacombe said. On Friday Kokua Line received your complaint and relayed your safety concerns to the DPP that day. On Saturday the demolition permit application was filed online, Challacombe said. The application is pending review.
Any Oahu residents who are concerned about dangerously decrepit homes or buildings in their neighborhoods should call DPP’s Residential Code Enforcement Branch at 768-8160.
Q: Can someone tell me why the beautiful trees that were on the median on Kalaeloa Boulevard in Campbell Industrial Park were cut down? It’s sad that trees that took decades to grow were destroyed.
A: Monkeypod trees were removed in early August as part of a major project by the James Campbell Co. to reconstruct Kalaeloa Boulevard in Kapolei. You can read more about the project, although not specifically about the tree removal, at 808ne.ws/1E3ZBUi. The $50 million project includes about $30 million for the roadway work, plus $20 million for a new sewer pump station at Malakole Street and Kalaeloa Boulevard.
A spokesman for Aina Nui Corp., a Campbell affiliate, told Kokua Line that because the road will be rebuilt and widened to meet Honolulu municipal street standards, the center median is being completely redone, and the trees would not have survived the construction.
Arborists were consulted prior to the tree removal. Trees that were suitable for transplanting were relocated. Some trees were too large or not healthy enough to survive transplanting. The lumber from those trees was donated to local nonprofit organizations for use in their programs. The company did not provide the number of trees affected.
New trees will be planted in both the new median and in tree wells in the sidewalk as part of the city’s Complete Streets concept, the spokesman said.
Auwe
Owners and managers of eating establishments need to impress on their food-service workers how important it is to practice good hygiene at all times. … A worker waiting on me sneezed in a napkin and then laid the napkin on the serving counter while she completed my to-go order, which I was crazy enough to accept. Yuck! Unsanitary conditions are extremely off-putting and need to stop. — Disgusted Diner
Mahalo
On a Saturday morning I made a quick stop at my workplace before intending to head to the golf course. Alas, I could not go, because I could not find my keys. Fortunately, a co-worker happened by and gave me a lift to my apartment to fetch a spare key, which I used to drive toward my destination — preoccupied with the whereabouts of my other keys. Then, at a stoplight, a driver alongside me exited his car, rapped on my window and gesticulated, pointing toward my rooftop. There sat my misplaced bunch of keys! The good Samaritan hopped back into his car and sped off. Mahalo, sir! — Anonymous
Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
