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Waialae resident Charles Huang and a handful of his relatives thought they were investing in a legacy for their children when they purchased 17 acres of former sugar cane land in Poamoho above Waialua for $700,000. Read more

Waialae resident Charles Huang and a handful of his relatives thought they were investing in a legacy for their children when they purchased 17 acres of former sugar cane land in Poamoho above Waialua for $700,000.

But the property has turned into a nightmare for the family, accruing nearly $1 million in fines for city zoning violations, looming fines for state health violations and more than $300,000 in attorneys’ fees to evict a tenant who turned the agricultural property into what looks like a junkyard.

Huang leased the property off Kaukonahua Road to David Kromer, who, unbeknownst to Huang, had amassed more than 300 vehicles, including three fire engines, and random junk on the land.

The city Department of Planning and Permitting and the state Department of Health received complaints and investigated.

The city issued a notice of violation on April 20, 2015, to the owners and Kromer for violating city laws and regulations governing litter, citing excessive pieces of lumber, sheets of metal, derelict vehicles and other items discarded on the lot. They were also cited for storing items not used for agricultural purposes on an agricultural- zoned property.

The city ordered the removal of the items within 30 days, or they would be fined $1,000 a day. The fines so far total roughly $965,000.

The matter is under appeal before the Zoning Board of Appeals, so the city has declined comment.

The state Department of Health’s Solid and Hazardous Waste Branch filed a notice of violation for items in disrepair that appear to be creating a public nuisance, including boats, tires, equipment/machinery, building materials, mopeds, golf carts and vehicles. The violations also include hazardous materials like burlap bags of sandblast grit, leaking 5-gallon waste thinner containers, 55-gallon drums of a fine powder of an unknown substance, and paint containers.

Huang filed a complaint on May 27, 2015, to evict Kromer after the Health Department and the DPP investigated the property and found the violations. He said Kromer violated the terms of his lease by misusing the agricultural property as alleged by the city and the state, not paying rent and not providing insurance for the property. Kromer argued he should not be sued because he was not the lessor, but merely a trustee of the trust that was leasing the property.

Huang then hired an attorney and refiled the complaint on March 8, 2016. Kromer argued he was farming — growing palm and coconut trees, Japanese tea plants, gardenias and dryland taro. The problem, Kromer said, was there was no water suitable for irrigation. “I had to truck in water,” he said. “I couldn’t use polluted water. Then I realized I can raise livestock.”

Kromer said he brought the vehicles to the property as props to train horses for a business he envisioned that would use horse-drawn carriages to transport visitors from future Honolulu rail stations to Waikiki. The vehicles, he said, were for a course that would be used to desensitize the animals to traffic sounds.

“I was building the materials I needed to do this,” Kromer said. “I was lining up a contractor to finish and set up the course. I was forced to do dry farming. There are no derelict vehicles. They are props.”

Although Kromer claims he has an abundance of knowledge in farming from his own research and learning farming techniques from the University of Hawaii’s Poamoho agricultural station, Huang said it was a small part of what the property was being used for.

“He was running it as a dump and a junkyard. That’s where he got his money from. He doesn’t make any money from the ag products. … They were there as a disguise,” Huang said.

He estimates half the property was covered with equipment, a third covered with junk, a sixth of it is a roadway and 1 percent of the property was used to grow plants.

“People come in all the time to ask for parts for their car,” Huang said. “They knew he was in the business.”

The parties settled the eviction case on Sept. 13, 2016, in Honolulu District Court — with Huang agreeing to pay $40,000 to Kromer in a desperate attempt at getting him off the property along with all the vehicles and hazardous materials among mounting fines.

Huang said Judge Michael Tanigawa in chambers warned that if he didn’t agree to the $40,000 settlement amount he would run the risk of Kromer running up $1 million in attorneys’ fees that Huang might have to pay — as happened to a plaintiff in an unrelated civil case against Kromer.

Kromer has since alleged that Huang violated the agreement by failing to pay him the $40,000, and without the money he couldn’t find another property to relocate all the vehicles and other belongings.

Huang said that Kromer demanded he pay the $40,000 in cash, which he said was unreasonable and not in the written agreement, and that Kromer failed to hold up his end of the deal by clearing the property.

In 2017, Huang hired a tow company to remove 300 of the vehicles and help with cleanup. Kromer allegedly had a helicopter follow the tow company workers and threatened them, so the company quit. Now Huang said he can’t find anyone to complete the work, as the $1,000-a-day city fines continue to mount.

The property owner said he has had to cut up the vehicles into smaller pieces and place them into metal recycling bins.

Meanwhile, Huang says he lives in fear — taking care when he comes and goes and often sees Kromer parked near the property.

Huang said he has video surveillance of a man, armed with a handgun, trespassing on the property.

He has filed police reports, he said.

Kromer said he neither has knowledge of Haung’s allegations nor any intention to commit violence.

Huang said he’s had to pay thousands of dollars in attorneys’ fees to respond to Kromer’s court filings.

The city continues to assess $1,000-a-day fines until the property is cleared, so Huang spends his days selling off pieces of equipment and other junk, bit by bit.

Huang estimates that as of Friday about 15 percent of the original stockpile of junk that Kromer had amassed remains.