City building officials this week gave a Makiki homeowner a second notice to clean up his Pensacola Street property — which is littered with three derelict vehicles, old furniture and trash — within 30 days or face additional fines.
Rollin Yee, who owns the home at 1421 Pensacola St., has already accrued more than $153,000 in fines after he was issued his first housing code violation notice in 2007.
If the second notice fails to yield results, the city might use an ordinance that allows it to get a court order to clear properties that building and fire officials say have health and safety hazards.
Art Challacombe, city deputy director of the Department of Planning and Permitting, said Yee was warned Monday that unless the property is blight-free by April 6 the city will take action by cleaning it up and charging Yee for the work.
“If the city takes this action,” Challacombe said, “the owner will be billed for the services.”
If corrective action is not taken by April 6, Yee will be fined an additional $250. A daily fine of $250 also will be assessed until the property is adequately cleaned.
According to city citations, the 5,000-square-foot lot is “littered with trash cans, trash bags, buckets, coolers, mattresses, lumber furniture, household appliances, cages, bicycle tires, dried tree branches, window screens, three derelict vehicles and other miscellaneous items.”
The city Planning Department and fire investigators have found numerous housing and fire code violations.
Former neighbor James Ward, who now lives in Kaneohe, said he has complained to the city about the condition of the property, which is located across from the Hawaii Mission Academy. “The trash is piled up to the ceiling inside the house,” said Ward.
Curtis Lum, spokesman for the Department of Planning and Permitting, said building inspectors issued a notice of violation in 2006 because “the property was littered with television sets, mattresses, fish tanks and other miscellaneous items.” Some of the items were removed, Lum said, and no citations were issued.
However, after a follow-up inspection in August 2007, the city issued a notice of
violation in September 2007 and, a month later, began fining Yee $50 a day for failing to clean up his property. As of this week the fines amounted to more than $153,000.
The city has placed a lien on the Pensacola Street property and flagged the owner’s driver’s license and motor vehicle registration so neither can be renewed until the housing fines are paid.
The city was given the authority last year to seek a court order to enter private property and clean up what was determined to be health and safety hazards at another property. The city building department for the first time hired a private contractor in July to clean a home on 22nd Avenue in Kaimuki. The contractor spent six days removing 21.5 tons of waste and debris.
Through a court-appointed conservator, the owner of the house, Laura Matsuzaki, has since reimbursed the city $14,700 for the full cost of cleaning the property.
Based on the extenuating circumstances surrounding her case, the building department reduced the civil fines assessed for Matsuzaki’s violations. Matsuzaki has paid her reduced civil fine of $34,661 and the property is currently in compliance with the city housing code, Challacombe said.
The city said Matsuzaki’s property had violated city building and health codes since 2008. Initially, she had been fined nearly $200,000.
The Star-Advertiser has been unable to reach Yee.