It’s good to see that a surge of community stink — aka complaints — has prodded city and state officials into action to prevent a larger, literal stink that had been festering in Kaimuki.
We speak of the situation involving Happy Days Chinese Seafood Restaurant, which has been shuttered since the ceiling and roof of its aging building suddenly collapsed midday on Aug. 18. Luckily, no one inside the popular eatery was seriously injured, but the damaged storefront has been sitting abandoned since then — and that meant a restaurant full of rotting food emanating foul odors outward and toward neighboring businesses. The situation had grown worse with each passing hot, humid day — and area businesses and passersby began complaining of the stench.
Further, the potential of vermin attracted to the abandoned site full of spoiled food was a growing health hazard, but jurisdictional entanglements stymied action at first. Various difficulties included insurance challenges initially encountered by the building’s owner, SIS Ventures LLC; and structure-safety concerns after the damaged roof collapsed further as a contracted crew attempted to go in for cleanup in mid-September.
Fortunately, many of the obstacles started to clear Tuesday — with city, state and various private stakeholders working toward responsible actions.
The city Department of Planning and Permitting (DPP), with the state Department of Health (DOH), coordinated with the private entities to identify a safe path forward: authorizing limited access to a portion of the restaurant to allow the restaurateur and property owner to remove spoiled food and conduct professional cleanup. This is expected to occur through Friday.
And DOH’s vector control branch was on-site Tuesday to “provide recommendations and ensure rodent and pest harborages were removed” — very welcome indeed, after its initial hands-off posture.
“We understand the impact this situation has had on the Kaimuki community, particularly for nearby residents and businesses who have been affected by the conditions at the restaurant,” said DOH Director Kenneth Fink in a statement Tuesday.
Flies and gnats had been seen buzzing in and around the closed restaurant — leading to deeper concerns that other vermin like roaches, rodents and cats would soon start invading. Stemming the problem before it spread is imperative, to ease public health and safety concerns.
The damaged Happy Days restaurant sits in the heart of Kaimuki in a 91-year-old building that houses other popular small businesses that are trying to continue operations. Many eateries are neighbors, as is a beauty salon, and across 11th Avenue sits Kaimuki Community Park.
Yellow tape still cordons off the closed restaurant’s entrance at the corner of Waialae and 11th avenues; on 11th Avenue, metal fencing blocks the sidewalk and pole-buttressing is helping to stabilize the restaurant’s side wall.
The limited-entry for cleanup aside, DPP emphasizes that the “Notice of Unsafe Structure and Order to Vacate” remains in effect. Among the next steps is keeping the area as pest-free as possible, now that much of the rotting food will be cleared, and making decisions about the structural integrity of the restaurant and the whole building. The site certainly cannot be left abandoned and become an eyesore, as the old Queen Theater building across Waialae Avenue has become.
The unfortunate cave-in of Happy Days’ roof is one thing, perhaps due to factors that included forces of nature — an old roof compromised by this year’s heavy rains. But this episode has many Kaimuki denizens and customers on edge, and cooperation must continue for the sake of this charming, close-knit community of small businesses.
