Question: Last year, Mayor Kirk Caldwell approved Bill 52, regarding the removal of hazardous property. What do residents need to do to have one of their neighbors cited in relation to this bill?

Answer: Complaints can be made to the city Department of Planning and Permitting via email, info@ honoluludpp.org, or by calling 768-8159.

However, Bill 52 won’t be implemented any time soon, because no funding was provided.

The City Council passed Bill 52 — which allows the city to remove materials deemed to be a "public nuisance" from residential properties if the owners do not — in November, and it was signed into law by Caldwell on Dec. 2.

It amended Chapter 27 of the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu, giving DPP more legal power to enforce the Housing Code for properties that went beyond neglect and junk, and were determined to be a threat to public health and safety.

DPP now can seek a court order authorizing a building official "to enter private property to abate a public nuisance by seizing, removing, repairing, altering, demolishing, or otherwise destroying private property."

Previously, no matter what condition a property was in, the best DPP could do was issue notices of violation, followed by notices of order, which are accompanied by fines.

If the owner ignored the citations, the city could seek a court order for foreclosure.

However, that process can drag on for years. A case in point was the Ewa Beach property Kokua Line described in 2004: bit.ly/1GVnhtR.

DPP so far has received six complaints that alleged properties had reached the level of a "public nuisance."

"However, when our inspectors investigated, they determined that the complaints were litter and overgrowth problems and did not meet the definition of a ‘public nuisance,’" said Art Challacombe, DPP deputy director.

Under the new ordinance, a "public nuisance" is defined as "any unsafe or unsanitary use or condition on real property that harms or threatens to harm the health, safety, or welfare of the general public."

That includes anything that creates a fire hazard; substandard structures; uncultivated, flammable weeds more than 18 inches high within 30 feet of any building; materials that impede/

obstruct entry or exit to a building or driveway; accumulations of dead vegetation on the roof of a building; anything that emits "offensive, disagreeable or nauseous odor"; stagnant pools of water; an infestation of insects, vermin or rodents; human habitation of structures or vehicles not intended for living, sleeping, cooking or dining; occupancy of a building in excess of permitted limits; storage of personal property covering 30 percent or more of any required yard, unless fully enclosed in a legal structure; abandoned or unused refrigerators unless the door/lid is closed and locked; one or more junked, inoperable vehicles at least

3 years old and extensively damaged; and any building that presents a "reasonable risk of harm" to its occupants or the public.

No Enforcement Funds

Even if DPP deems a property a "public nuisance," it wouldn’t be able to take action under Bill 52 provisions for now because there is no funding available to hire firms to clean cited properties.

"Because funds were not included in the fiscal year 2016 budget, we do not see implementation of the new law until funds are added to the fiscal year 2017 budget," Challacombe said.

DPP is working to develop new operating procedures regarding citing violators, entering a property and selecting a company to do the cleanup, inventory and storage of confiscated items, he said.

In the meantime, Challacombe said, DPP will continue to respond to complaints about litter, overgrowth and public nuisances but deal with them under existing rules calling for notices of violation and order.

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Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.