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SECTION 4. Chapter 20, article 2, section 20-21 through section 20-23, of the Hawai`i
<br /> County Code 1983 (2005 Edition, as amended) are amended to read as follows:
<br /> "Section 20-21. Removal of refuse, [ate] undergrowth, and unsafe flora required.
<br /> Every owner of any occupied or unoccupied lot the frontage of which abuts or adjoins
<br /> any public street or highway within the County, shall clear the lot of all refuse, [and]
<br /> uncultivated undergrowth, and unsafe flora thereon to a depth of not exceeding one hundred
<br /> feet from any street or highway adjoining, whenever on the lot there is refuse [er] uncultivated
<br /> undergrowth, or unsafe flora to an extent that the lot [h sIILTs beLeenie] poses or is likely to [beeeme
<br /> a] pose an imminent danger for fire, health, safety, property damage, or crime hazard.
<br /> Section 20-22. Complaint by adjacent or abutting [owners]rs] owner(s); request to clear.
<br /> cal If a majority of all the adult residents within a radius of five hundred feet from any
<br /> boundary of, or the property owner of a property adjacent to or abutting, [e€] any
<br /> occupied or unoccupied lot, in writing to the mayor requests that the lot be cleared[;] of
<br /> refuse, uncultivated undergrowth, or unsafe flora, the mayor shall investigate the
<br /> complaint. If the mayor certifies that there is refuse [er] uncultivated undergrowth or
<br /> unsafe flora on the lot complained about to an extent that the lot [has become] poses or
<br /> is likely to [became-a] pose an imminent danger for fire, health, safety, property
<br /> damage, or crime hazard, the mayor shall notify the owner of the lot to clear the
<br /> occupied or unoccupied lot of the refuse, [er] uncultivated undergrowth, or unsafe flora.
<br /> (b) If the offending uncultivated undergrowth or unsafe flora is registered as an endangered
<br /> or protected species or is listed as "exceptional" pursuant to chapter 14, article 10 of this
<br /> Code, or if the owner wants to keep the offending uncultivated undergrowth or unsafe
<br /> flora, the owner shall submit in writing a treatment plan for its continued safe existence
<br /> to the mayor's office, the department of public works, the arborist advisory committee,
<br /> the offended property owner(s), and, if applicable, the homeowners association. The
<br /> treatment plan shall be approved by the department of public works and, if applicable,
<br /> the homeowners association.
<br /> If a building is constructed in close proximity to an existing stand of trees used for wind
<br /> block, boundary markers or ornamentals, the property owner may not file a complaint
<br /> under this section and may seek other legal remedies should an emergency situation
<br /> arise.
<br /> (d) If a person files three unsubstantiated complaints about the same refuse, uncultivated
<br /> undergrowth, or unsafe flora, that person may not file a complaint for that same
<br /> property, providing that property is under the same ownership at the time that the three
<br /> unsubstantiated complaints were filed.
<br /> Section 20-23. Clearance by County; costs.
<br /> (a) If any owner, after notice to clear any occupied or unoccupied lot has been mailed to the
<br /> owner and posted by the mayor, fails or refuses to comply with the order within thirty
<br /> days after the notice, the County may proceed to clear the lot at the expense of the owner.
<br /> (b) The expense of clearing any lot shall be a lien on the property so cleared, and the
<br /> County may recover the amount of the lien and the expense and costs of the clearing by
<br /> action at law in assumpsit, or by any action allowed by law in equity, or that may be
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