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Let’s hope violators will be penalized — finally.
In a joint aerial operation, city and state officials recently got the lay of the land of the 854-acre project called Kunia Loa Ridge Farmlands. Though zoned and intended for agricultural uses only, many parcels’ lessees have made a growing mockery of the Farmlands, erecting structures for a variety of blatant misuses, including a Buddhist temple, dog day-care business and vacation rentals on Airbnb.
Nonconforming uses have been abetted by law loopholes that invited murky jurisdictional lines and enforcement laxity. Last week, using a Honolulu Fire Department helicopter, some 23 interagency inspectors made a detailed survey of the area. Now that they’ve seen the extent of violations, officials expect to start issuing citations in June. It’s about time.
UH baseball season ends with a whimper
OK, so the latest University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors baseball season didn’t go as well as hoped. In February, Coach Mike Trapasso’s team was only slightly above average overall, but fans were hopeful that it would be inspired by how well the UH men’s volleyball and basketball teams were doing at that time.
Now, after three consecutive losses to Arizona over the weekend to close out its 2016 run, the team is still basically average, ranking sixth out of nine in the Big West Conference with a 12-12 record, but below average overall at 23-30 — the fourth year in a row with 30 losses.
It would be great to see the home team win more often.
