Council postpones ‘monster’ house’ vote

By a 5-4 vote the Honolulu City Council decided to postpone for two weeks a vote on a bill that would temporarily stop the city Department of Planning and Permitting from issuing building permits for larger-­scale houses.

The goal of Bill 110 (2017) is to curb the proliferation of “monster houses” that have been sprouting up in older Oahu neighborhoods. Critics of the larger houses say they are out of character in their neighborhoods, cut corners with zoning and building codes, illegally try to squeeze in too many occupants and tax a community’s roads, sewers and other infrastructure.

But representatives from the building and architectural communities urged a deferral, warning Council members that the bill, as written, would unintentionally place constraints on ordinary people seeking to build extensions to accommodate multiple generations of family members.

The Council will now take up the bill Feb. 28 at its regular monthly meeting.

A moratorium would last for up to two years to allow DPP to come up with more permanent regulations aimed at curbing abuses by unscrupulous property owners and builders.

The bill likely will include restricting the size of homes based on floor area ratio, or density. Stricter requirements on parking and the number of bathrooms, based on size, also may be incorporated.

At least four different versions of the bill are on the table, and that played into the reason for a delay, Council Chairman Ron Menor said later. The delay also will give the public a chance to review the different versions.