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From: Heidi Jaworski <mskonasunshine@gmail.com>
<br />Sent: Sunday, March 24, 2019 3:38 PM
<br />To: Charter Commission
<br />Subject: Regarding lack of enforcement by county planning dept.
<br />Aloha Charter Commission,
<br />I would like to address the lack of enforcement by Hawaii County Planning Department, in regard to the
<br />overwhelming problem of junkyards, trashed properties, and un -permitted dwellings, (many without proper sanitary
<br />waste disposal systems), in Ocean View.
<br />In the case of junkyards and many trashed properties, it currently works like this: I see a property in my neighborhood
<br />that is being used to dump junk cars, furniture and other trash on (as in at times, 50-100 vehicles) per acre, or I see a
<br />property where there are numerous shacks, housing many, many people living communally within the shacks, trash,
<br />RVs, or junk vehicles. There are obviously no provisions for sanitary waste disposal on these properties. I look up the
<br />location number and owner of the property on the county property tax records, then fill out a complaint form, and
<br />submit it to the County of Hawaii Planning Department. These folks send out an inspector to check on the property in
<br />person, they then send a letter to the listed owner of the property, stating what the violations are, and what the steps
<br />are for the owner to take, to get in compliance with the county zoning code. The letter also states the possible "Civil
<br />Fines" and "Daily Fines" which will be assessed. There are a number of different outcomes that are possible in this
<br />situation, that I've run into so far. #1 The owner lives off island, often on the mainland , #2 The owner has died, the
<br />property is in "limbo" #3 The letter from the county comes back unopened, #4 The letter is ignored. At this point, it
<br />seems, the process stops. As far as I can tell, there is no enforcement, nor any means available to enforce these empty
<br />threats of fines. I've been told that the goal of the county in this exercise, is compliance, but without any means for
<br />enforcement - compliance just doesn't happen. I have had more than one county employee tell me, over a number of
<br />years, that there is no good answer to this problem. In the case of junkyards, no one wants to deal with these
<br />properties, because they are too high of a financial liability to deal with. Off island owners who bought an acre lot for
<br />$5,000 are not interested in paying many thousands of dollars more to have abandoned vehicles towed and recycled,
<br />and have (literally) many truck loads of trash removed, to clean the properties up. The county does not want to take the
<br />the properties from the property owners, for back taxes owed, for the same reason. There are no buyers who would
<br />want to take (financial and other) responsibility for cleanup, so in the meantime the vehicles and the trash, along with
<br />the environmental hazard they pose, continue to pile up in our subdivision. There are no consequences for the dumpers
<br />or the property owners. There are only consequences for the rest of the community, that gets stuck having to live with
<br />these trash heaps and the hazards that come along with them, including more trash and vehicles being dumped,
<br />environmental and health hazards, and the criminals and unsavory people who are drawn to live and frequent such
<br />places. Our community police officers acknowledge that many of these locations are where there first go to seek out
<br />known criminals.
<br />I think that it's important for us to have a County Planning Dept working for us, but the department also has to have
<br />powers of enforcement, otherwise it's pointless. Please take this opportunity to make some kind of change in the county
<br />charter to address this obvious oversight.
<br />Mahalo,
<br />Heidi Jaworski
<br />Ocean View Neighborhood Watch Coordinator
<br />PO Box 377251
<br />Ocean View, Hawaii 96737
<br />1
<br />GT -008
<br />
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