A landlord’s nightmare in Poamoho

The strange saga of Charles Huang’s 17 acres of agricultural land in Poamoho should serve as a warning to landlords everywhere: Keep an eye on your tenant.

Depending on whom you believe, former tenant David Kromer turned the property into a junkyard, dump and wannabe farm; or, implausibly, a training area for carriage-pulling horses that would bring tourists from future rail stations to Waikiki, with 300 or so derelict vehicles serving as “props.”

It’s more junkyard than farm, from the city’s point of view: Huang’s family has accrued nearly $1 million in fines for allegedly violating the city’s agricultural zoning rules. Let’s hope the land, eventually, can be put to its proper use: sustainable agriculture, which Hawaii needs for the long term.

Private partner might spruce up Ala Wai Harbor

If cleanliness is next to godliness, then the Ala Wai has always leaned toward the devil. And that’s when the sun’s been shining. When the rains come hard, as they have in recent weeks, we see the worst of it: All kinds of rubble flows into the harbor, and just sits. The state Department of Land and Natural Resources has been searching for an affordable contractor to handle cleanup, but the wait is excruciating for boaters. That’s why finding a private partner to spruce up the harbor has merit.

Nothing motivates like a big investment to keep things looking nice.