A large dwelling pops up where a modest single-story home once stood in a quiet, old neighborhood. Immediately, many cry, “Monster home!”

Although they may be unsightly, or worse, intended for illegal uses like short-term rentals or unlicensed care homes, more often than not they were built according to the building and zoning codes that were in place at the time of a building permit being issued. By law, the city Department of Planning and Permitting is required to issue a building permit if the plans meet all codes. We cannot arbitrarily deny a permit just because a home may not “fit” the rest of the neighborhood, or we don’t like the contractor. By right, an owner can build to the maximum allowed by law.

There are a lot of misconceptions when it comes to these large detached dwellings, aka, monster homes. I’d like to clear up a few of them.

Some houses may have just started construction, but their building permits were obtained much earlier, before new regulations took effect.

No building permits have been issued for new large detached dwellings since the moratorium (Ordinance 18-6), and final regulations (Ordinance 19-3) were adopted.

In the past nine years, fewer than 1% of the single-family homes built on Oahu were considered large detached dwellings.

Since the permitted size of the house is tied to the size of the property, there will still be rather large houses on larger lots. On a 5,000-square-foot lot, the maximum amount of floor area is 3,500 square feet. On a 15,000 square-foot lot, the home can be as large as 10,500 square feet, as long as other requirements, such as parking, are met.

Looks can be deceiving; what looks like one large house, may actually be an approved duplex, or a main house with an attached ohana unit, or an accessory dwelling unit (ADU). Also, some of these large structures are actually built on land zoned for uses other than single-family residential. The infamous Date Street dwelling, for example, was built on apartment- zoned land and could have been higher, or featured more units, than what was approved

There have been demands that we require the demolition of dwellings that are larger than the new limit. We cannot do this. With approved permits, they become “grandfathered,” and are allowed to remain, but cannot be further enlarged. Remember, new laws are always forward-looking and cannot reach into the past.

To satisfy the public’s curiosity, we are looking into creating an online list of properties that some believe are “monster homes,” and whether they are legal or illegal.

There seems to be common talk that the department should deny permits for projects not well-liked. However, building permits are not approved based on popularity or a director’s preference. They are issued based on laws and regulations.

If the community does not like these regulations, they can be changed, just as was recently done for monster homes. While the people create the laws through their representatives on the City Council, it’s the task of the DPP to implement those laws and enforce them.

Kathy Sokugawa is acting director of the city Department of Planning and Permitting.