To slow ‘monster home’ construction, city revokes permit for Pacific Heights property
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The City and County of Honolulu has revoked the building permit for a Pacific Heights home as part of its crackdown on monster homes.
The city last year issued to permit to the owners of the home at 2761 Pacific Heights Road, but pulled it because the planned development apparently exceeded the square footage limits.
During his State of the City address last week, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said the permit was “wrongfully issued.”
“We will continue to be vigilant in this effort to ensure all home construction on Oahu complies with building codes and regulations,” Blangiardi said last week.
Neighbors had complained that the planned three-story, nine-bedroom home will be an eyesore -- blocking their views, clogging the street with parked cars and overtaxing the historic neighborhood’s aging sewer and water lines.
“This is an enormous problem. A lot of the neighbors were concerned because we have limited resources on the hill such as parking,” said Patrick Smith, chair of the Nuuanu Punchbowl Neighborhood Board.
The development has so angered are residents that they organized a Change.org petition that attracted more than 500 signatures.
“We want to make sure these are single family. They’re not Air BNBs, they’re not going to be rentals,” Smith added.
Owner Tony Shi said he plans to live in the house and not rent it out.
Shi said he plans to appeal the permit revocation because the city overestimated the size of his home.
“I’m not sure why they called it a monster home. I have no idea,” Shi said.
Monster home critics said they have been urging the city for years to take stronger actions like revoking permits.
“This sends a signal that the city administration -- the Department of Planning and Permitting -- means business and we’re really happy about that,” said Tyler Dos Santos Tam of HI Good Neighbor.
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