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A bill making it tougher for unscrupulous builders to construct large-scale houses won approval Thursday from the City Council Zoning Committee. Read more

A bill making it tougher for unscrupulous builders to construct large-scale houses won approval Thursday from the City Council Zoning Committee.

It now goes to the full Council for a final vote, likely at its April 17 meeting.

Council members have been wrestling for years with how to curb the proliferation of the so-called monster houses that go up fast, often defy city building rules and dwarf other homes in older residential neighborhoods. Critics say the structures overburden street parking and infrastructure and are often used as illegal rentals, vacation homes or other nonconforming businesses.

The uproar over monster houses has also triggered a backlash from legitimate homebuilders and the Building Industry Association of Hawaii, who worry that new regulations might go too far and create delays in obtaining building permits from the Department of Planning and Permitting — a process they say already takes too long when there’s a huge demand for housing on the island.

FORMER Councilman Trevor Ozawa introduced Bill 79 (2018) last fall as a comprehensive policy for addressing the phenomenon.

Under the draft offered by Zoning Chairwoman Kymberly Pine and approved Thursday:

>> The maximum density of a detached dwelling would not be allowed a floor area greater than 70 percent of a lot’s size, or what’s known as a floor area ratio (FAR) of 0.7. However, any house with an FAR greater than 0.6 would need to be owner-occupied and be subject to additional rules. Specifically, they would have to have 8-foot side and rear yards and be able to obtain a temporary certificate of occupancy for only up to a year, during which time DPP could inspect the house.

>> A minimum of two on-site parking stalls would be required, plus one stall for each additional 750 square feet over 2,500 square feet (excluding carports and garages).

>> The definition of bathrooms would require either a sink, a toilet or both. Additionally, houses up to 5,999 square feet in size would be allowed up to 4-1/2 bathrooms under a sliding scale, although Pine said she wants to work further on lowering the number allowed for larger homes.

>> Converting or altering a wet bar, laundry room or bathroom would be prohibited unless specifically allowed under a valid building permit.

>> No more than 75 percent of a property could be covered with an impervious surface, such as concrete or asphalt.

Acting DPP Director Kathy Sokugawa opposes inserting into the bill a limit on impervious surfaces because she believes the issue is separate from monster houses and requires further study.

BUT OZAWA, who testified as a private citizen Thursday, urged Council members to keep a maximum imper vious surface percentage to reduce the potential for flood runoff into neighbors’ properties while creating more green space.

“A positive side effect of this would be there would be more trees, more greenery,” he said.

Representatives from HI Good Neighbor, the Outdoor Circle Manoa branch and Malama Manoa said they support the latest draft. Thalya DeMott, president of Malama Manoa, said the monster houses aren’t being built to house extended families.

“Those of us who have these as our neighbors, we can see all the strangers coming and going, we can see (owners) showing them as rentals, we can see the ads on Craigslist, and the homes are built specifically for this purpose,” DeMott said. “They have very little green space, and a lot of alterations are made to the homes after the permit has been issued, and there’s been no follow-up or enforcement on that. So what is necessary is to have this regulated from the very start, not through enforcement.”

Marshall Hickox, president of the Building Industry Association of Hawaii, called the bill a fair compromise and urged the public not to lump in those putting up large-scale houses with traditional homebuilders.

“They’re not from here; a lot of the buildings are done using illegal labor,” he said. “These are not your developers who are working to make Hawaii a better place. These are offshore people that are coming in and putting together a business plan.”

A two-year moratorium on the issuance of building permits for large-scale houses was adopted by Council members in March 2018 while they worked on more permanent legislation.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly summarized Acting DPP Director Kathy Sokugawa’s reasons for opposing including in the monster house bill a limit on impervious surfaces.