City has no
permit for project
The housing has been under
By Gordon Y.K. Pang
construction in lower Manoa
since April
Star-BulletinA city-sponsored transitional housing project in lower Manoa has been under construction since April, even though no building permit has been issued. "It's true we don't have an approved building permit," said Mike Shiroma, housing development branch chief for the Department of Housing and Community Development.
"It wasn't a situation we anticipated being in," said city Housing Director Robert Agres Jr.
The $4.73 million project on 26,700 square feet of land is for a two-story building with 34 units. It will be run by Homeless Solutions Inc. and is targeted for disadvantaged families.
The City Council gave the Housing Department approval for the Vancouver Drive project in late 1995.
Officials refused to call the building illegal, choosing instead to use the word "improper."
City ordinances call for the Building Department to send a notice of violation to a party violating city building codes and giving the party 30 days to rectify the situation before facing either criminal or monetary penalties.
Ordinances say criminal prosecution could result in a fine of up to $1,000 and imprisonment of up to a year.
The ordinances say building codes may also be enforced administratively.
If violations are not rectified, the Building Department could charge a violator up to $1,000 per day.
Building Department officials could not be reached for comment late yesterday.
A building permit application has been pending before the Building Department since last October.
Most state and city agencies, which are required to check off on the application, did so in July, months after work began.
Approval from one city agency -- the Department of Land Utilization -- stands between the project and a permit.
Shiroma said he expects the department to approve and the housing agency to receive its building permit within the next two weeks.
The Department of Land Utilization likely is taking some time with its approval because of key changes made to the project's architectural designs made to reduce project costs, Shiroma said.
Tower Construction, contractor for the project, was given written notice to proceed on April 7. Neighbors said construction began later that month.
Shiroma said Tower was given the OK to move in for logical reasons.
"There was a responsibility to the contractor to get this thing going to save the city potential delay claims," Shiroma said.
Tower's contract says it must complete work on the project by Jan. 31, 1998, and the city could be blamed for holding up the project and be liable to the contractor for not sticking to the schedule, he said.
"We also have a responsibility to Homeless Solutions and its clientele to get this thing out as soon as possible," Shiroma said.
The Housing Department projects Homeless Solutions to start the operation in April 1998.
He noted that the public was in no danger and that public safety agencies such as the Fire Department and Department of Transportation Services and the state Health Department had signed off on the permit.
Tower has done primarily grading and foundation work to this point, but the city has failed to get approvals for such work.
Shiroma said that if the city would have had such approvals if grading and foundation permits were sought separately.
"The portions that are being worked on are the portions that are being approved," he said.
Agres acknowledged there should be a building permit before construction begins.
"We, like everybody else, should apply," he said.
Shiroma said it would be difficult at this point to have the contractor stop work until a permit is received.
"If we tell the contractor to stop, every day would be several thousands of dollars (in delays)," he said.
Councilman Andy Mirikitani, who represents the area and opposed the project when it was before the Council, said he was outraged when he learned the Housing Department had no building permit.
"No city department is above the law and should be held to the same regulations as expected of all other developers, private or otherwise," Mirikitani said.
