Raze unpermitted Date Street home, says Honolulu councilman

City Council Planning Chairman Ikaika Anderson said Tuesday he is looking at introducing legislation giving city officials clear authority to tear down structures that are built while under a stop-work order for constructing without a building permit.

Anderson made the remarks after a Planning Committee meeting where members voiced frustration that the Department of Planning and Permitting has not done more to address a nearly completed two-story house that was built along the bus line and across from Ala Wai Golf Course recently, first without a permit and then later while under a stop-work order.

Acting DPP Director Kathy Sokugawa, in a written statement, said “the administration agrees there’s a need to address situations when the applicant purposefully circumvents the process, and we look forward to reviewing any bill the City Council introduces.”

The 2930 Date St. project was not on the committee’s original agenda Tuesday. But Anderson told Sokugawa that he felt it necessary to have a discussion because it had stirred up discussion and concern in the community after a Honolulu Star-Advertiser story on Friday drew attention to the project.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Anderson told Sokugawa, “Until we show these scofflaws that we as a city are not going tolerate this, I think it’s going to continue. And this property owner not only gave the finger to the city, but it also gave the finger to their entire neighborhood by doing this. … How do we look the community in the eye with a straight face and tell them that we mean business?”

Anderson urged the Caldwell administration to consider “making an example out of this property owner, forcing them to tear down this structure, and hopefully that will serve as a warning to anyone else who decides to give the finger to their neighborhood and to their community.”

The owner, contractor and processor for the Kapahulu project are drawing civil fines of $1,050 a day until the building gets a permit. As of Tuesday the applicant owed the city $32,850.

An application for a building permit was submitted for “a new, two-story two-family detached dwelling” on Nov. 15, 2016, by ProWork Pacific Inc. But the permit was not approved because of two unresolved zoning code issues that need to be addressed.

Sokugawa said DPP officials are working with the owner’s representative, and not with either contractor Brilliant Construction or owners the Gary Chan Trust and the Jenny Yeh Trust.

Sokugawa said she did not think current laws would allow her to force a demolition of the structure. “I’m not really sure that we have that ability to tear down a structure,” she said.

She noted that the two-unit structure is being built on an apartment-zoned parcel, which allows for a height limit of 150 feet. “So the development is way under the amount (allowed) under the Zoning Code.”

The city does have “other tools” to get those involved to act, including placing a lien on the property or barring them from renewing their vehicle registrations or driver’s licenses until they do, she said.

Anderson urged that if a building permit is eventually issued to the property owner, “100 percent of the accrued fines be attached to the real property tax bill,” which would enable the city to begin foreclosure action if the fines are not paid.

But Sokugawa said that in some cases owners are unwitting victims of unscrupulous agents or contractors.

Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi, who represents the Kapahulu area, said she agreed with Anderson. “Once a stop-work order is issued, I think that any construction after that should be removed because they were already given a stop-work order,” she said.

Councilwoman Carol Fukunaga said she can appreciate the frustration faced by her constituents when they view their neighbors flouting city laws while they themselves have to struggle to add an ohana unit or make other home renovations.

Lance Luke, owner of Construction Management Inspection LLC, told the Star-Advertiser that city laws could allow for an unpermitted structure to be torn down, “but it is a long haul” because it would involve the city taking the property owner to court just as it would for derelict and abandoned houses.