Bill Text: HI HCR204 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Property and health ordinances; fines; multiple violations

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-03-10 - (H) Referred to JUD, referral sheet 45 [HCR204 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2010-HCR204-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

204

TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2010

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU TO INCREASE FINES and liens FOR MULTIPLE VIOLATIONS OF county PROPERTY and public health ordinances.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, Hawai’i is the most beautiful state in America and Honolulu is the loveliest capital city, and tourists and residents alike enjoy the beautiful scenery and charming neighborhoods; and

 

     WHEREAS, most residents take pains to maintain their properties, but there are those who neglect their homes and allow them to become run-down; and

 

     WHEREAS, there may be cases where a person/corporation may own three or more separate properties within a one-mile radius that has been allowed to remain vacant, to be broken into and used by vagrants, to become overgrown, and cause neighboring homes to lose value; and

 

     WHEREAS, as an example, the City has issued 53 citations to a property owner in one neighborhood who had failed to obtain demolition permits, and allowed the properties to become overgrown and blighted, and when other county ordinances were violated; and

 

     WHEREAS, the State Department of Health has also been called in to investigate potential health violations on the properties of this property owner; and

 

     WHEREAS, a few violations may not seriously impact one neighborhood, but when an owner allows several properties to amass multiple uncorrected violations in a relatively short period of time, then the sheer number becomes an egregious insult to other owners and reduces the value of nearby homes; and

 

     WHEREAS, a reduction in the property value of homes in an area also provides grounds for the reduction of real property taxes, creating a perfect storm of events in a time of global recession when the City and County of Honolulu, like other counties and the State, are facing budget problems; and

 

     WHEREAS, if a person owns at least three properties within a one-mile radius, then it is incumbent on the City to assess a sufficiently significant fines or liens to encourage that person to maintain his/her property in accordance with community standards or subdivision covenants; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2010, the Senate concurring, that the City and County of Honolulu is requested to increase fines and issue liens within a specified period of time when an owner is cited for multiple violations for property violations within a certain area; and

 

                BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Honorable Mufi Hannemann, Mayor of the City & County of Honolulu, Honolulu City Council members, the Kahala Community Association, the Kahala Business Association, and the Waialae-Kahala Neighborhood Board No. 3.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Property and health ordinances; fines; multiple violations

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