Hawaii Real Estate – Feeding Pigeons Create Neighborhood Feud, Possible Legislation

Jason Nagashima is a resident of the Coconut Grove subdivision in Kailua. His next-door neighbor, Eric Poohina, has been feeding several hundred feral pigeons multiple times per day over the last six years, despite repeated requests to stop. Nagashima stated, “It’s exasperating. We’ve called the Department of Health, Humane Society, vector control companies, nobody raises an eyebrow. (There’s) no way you can get something done.” Poohina, stated that he connects with the birds because he is a descendant of Queen Kaahumanu, whose name means “bird cloak”. Poohina added, “It’s a cultural thing for me to see them, and I only see them in my area in my house.”

Rodney Cambra, who lives on the other side of Poohina’s lot, obtained a permit from the Department of Land and Natural Resources to shoot wild birds on his property. According to Cambra, in the past 18 months he has shot about 100 birds in his yard. Cambra stated, “He (a DLNR representative) told me, ‘As long as the birds are wild, he has no cage, they’re ruining your property, you have the right to protect your property.” This has made Poohina very unhappy and has created friction in the neighborhood.

State lawmakers are working on a legislation that could address concerns like Nagashima’s and Cambra’s, and would make similar problems a potential nuisance violation and would authorize the Department of Health to investigate complaints made by the public. State Representative Karl Rhoads, commented, “It was just appalling what was going on. There were feathers everywhere, and bird excrement, and big flocks of birds flying around all the time. I thought it was more than just a minor annoyance.”

Opponents to the bill feel that this would be a “personal and private problem” between neighbors and the Legislature should not become involved. The Department of Health also commented that it does not have enough staff to investigate complaints of feral bird nuisance feedings. Deputy Director for Environmental Health, Gary Gill, added, “In order to find something is injurious to public health, which is what the threshold to public nuisance is, you have to show that it has an impact; for example, it could cause disease. So because something is dirty or noisy or ugly, which is the common use of the word ‘nuisance,’ doesn’t mean that the Department of Health will have the ability to enforce against that behavior.”

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 4-11-2013, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor®
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Kakaako Real Estate – Hawaii Community Development Authority Releases New Guidelines

The Hawaii Community Development Authority, the state agency which guides all development in Kakaako, has released a draft of new guidelines and rules for future development in the neighborhood. In general, the plan is to build denser, taller buildings close to the two rail transit stations that will be built in the neighborhood. One major subject of change being proposed is an increase in the maximum height of buildings. Currently, the maximum height of building in Kakaako is 400 feet. However, under the new proposal of development rules, a few buildings will be allowed to be maximum of 700 feet, while others 550 feet tall. The HCDA stated, “By reinforcing strong land use and complete streets that access rapid transit, HCDA will develop economically vibrant neighborhoods, improve public health, lower vehicle miles traveled, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, all while increasing sociability.”

The state will now hold four open-house meetings at 461 Cooke Street to discuss and review the Kakaako development plans. These will be on May 23rd (5:30 to 7:30 PM), May 24th (5:30 to 7:30 PM), May 25th (10:00 AM to 1:00 PM) and May 30th (3:30 to 5:30 PM). Go to dbedt.hawaii.gov/hcda for additional information.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 5-11-2013, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor®
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Kailua Real Estate – Target to Arrive October 2014

Target Corporation has announced that their long anticipated Kailua store will be scheduled to open in October 2014. The Kailua Target was scheduled to open in July 2012, but construction was halted after an archaeological study discovered two unidentified native Hawaiian skeletal remains. Target is working with the State Historic Preservation Division and the Oahu Island Burial Council to approve a burial plan. Donna Egan, the spokewoman for Target, stated, “We’re working closely with both of those organizations (Historic Preservation Division and Burial Council) and ultimately are deferring to them out of respect for the cultural descendants. We’re waiting to hear what the next steps are. Until then we are in a holding pattern, but certainly we’re anticipating moving forward sooner rather than later.”

Once complete, Target is expected to employ about 300 workers and generate another 250 construction jobs.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 5-11-2013, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor®
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Hawaii Tourism – Number of Air Seats to Decrease

According to the latest estimates released by the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the number of air seats to the islands is expected to decrease from previously predicted highs. Vice president of brand management for the HTA, David Uchiyama, stated, “What we’re seeing in the fall after the peak summer period is you’ll start to see a drop-off in seats. I don’t know if the overall number of seats will be fewer than in previous years, but it will be fewer than what we originally projected for the year. You’ve got a lot of things changing in the market, our product price positioning, over saturation in some markets of seats, and the adjustments are being made in the fall. Competitive markets are also starting to take a piece of market share.”

Uchiyama added that he is still very optimistic about the remainder of 2013. Uchiyama stated, “I don’t think it’s that dramatic a drop-off. We’re still seeing a very healthy international market, and with our marketing partners we’ll be able to implement some initiatives to help minimize any depletion of arrivals. I don’t think our record visitor arrivals and spending targets are in jeopardy as of yet.”

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 5-11-2013, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor®
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Hawaii Tourism – Strong Dollar and Weak Yen May Hurt Hawaii’s Tourism Industry

The United State’s dollar rose to just over the 100-yen level for the first time in four years. However, the Hawaii tourism industry is not pleased with this development as a weak yen makes travel to Hawaii more expensive for Japanese visitors. The weaker yen may have contributed to a 2.9 percent decrease in Japanese visitors to Hawaii during Golden Week, a string of national holidays in Japan. Hawaii Tourism Authority vice president of brand management, David Uchiyama, commented, “We monitor numerous variables when it comes to the sustainability and success of tourism for the state. The currency exchange rate, as well as fuel surcharges and global economic stability, are all factors. We continue to work with our industry partners to balance our efforts with these factors in mind in order to ensure that our tourism economy remains stable and sustainable.”

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 5-10-2013, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor®
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Homeless Situation – Mayor Offers Plan for Homelessness Problem

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell presented the first draft of a plan to the City Council on how to deal with the homelessness problem that has been affecting the island of Oahu. Under the Caldwell administration’s plan, Honolulu will follow New York City’s concept of “housing first”, which would initially provide permanent shelter. Additional issues affecting homeless, such as mental illness, drug abuse, and joblessness, will be addressed after permanent shelter had been found. The city’s executive director on housing, Jun Yang, stated, “Many times treatment can actually be the barrier that stops a homeless person from getting into housing. Re-housing should be the central goal of working with our homeless.” According to a recent study, there are a total of 4,556 people on Oahu who are defined as homeless. Out of these, 14,65 were “un-sheltered homeless” and 505 of them were considered to be “chronic homeless”.

One question being asked is where the funding to provide permanent shelters would come from. There are no funds currently set aside in the mayor’s 2014 operating budget for this initiative. It is possible that if the city sells some of their affordable housing projects to a private developer that some of those proceeds could be used for this project.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 5-9-2013, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor®
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New Development – Ho’opili Community Update

Judge Rhonda Nishimura, a Hawaii Circuit Court judge, has upheld the state’s Land Use Commission’s decision to allow urban use of farmland in the Ewa plains. This decision will allow developer D.R. Horton to build the Ho’opili community, which will be an 11,750 home project.

The dispute centered around the fact that the land that the Ho’opili community is scheduled to be built on is zoned as agricultural land. The Land Use Commission gave D.R. Horton a variance and changed the zoning to urban use, allowing the building of residential homes. However, the Sierra Club of Hawaii and state Senator Clayton Hee filed a lawsuit opposing the Land Use Commission’s decision. D.R. Horton hired expert witnesses who stated that some farming on the land would be able to continue and displaced farmers would be able to relocate to other suitable and available farmlands on Oahu. They also noted that the state’s overall agricultural production would not be significantly impacted by the building of the Ho’opili Community. Senator Hee and the Sierra Club brought in their own expert testimony to dispute the developer’s claims.

According to Judge Nishimura, the Sierra Club and Senator Hee failed to show that the D.R. Horton’s expert witnesses were not credible or that their evidence significantly outweighed the evidence provided by Horton’s experts. Nishimura further stated that the Land Use Commission did not violate the Constitution and they were allowed to change the zoning from agricultural to urban. The Sierra Club and Senator Hee have stated that they will further appeal the case.

Developer D.R. Horton will now have to go to the city’s Department of Planning and Permitting to file an official zoning change application. The Honolulu City Council would then give the final approval for the Ho’opili project.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 5-9-2013, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
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