Mayor supports temporary ban on ‘monster houses’
HONOLULU (AP) — Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell is backing a temporary ban on large-scale houses that have sprouted up in older Oahu neighborhoods.
The so-called “monster houses” should be banned in residential zones until limits can be imposed on them, said Caldwell on Tuesday.
Opponents to the houses that sometimes tower over neighboring homes claim these structures can overburden streets, sewers, water lines and other infrastructure. They claim these homes are essentially small apartment buildings constructed in areas that are not designed to accommodate them.
Under Bill 110, the Department of Planning and Permitting would stop issuing building permits for these houses for up to two years or until the City Council can adopt stricter regulations.
A moratorium would buy officials time to evaluate the impacts of the new dwellings, Caldwell said.
Supporters say the large homes are used by multigenerational families that can’t afford the condominiums being built.
Erosion threatens temple on Maui
WAILUKU, Maui (AP) — Rapidly increasing erosion on the Maui shoreline threatens a cemetery temple building and has swept away close to 100 gravestones.
The Mantokuji Soto Zen Mission of Paia temple, established in 1906, holds more than 600 grave markers in its cemetery along the coast of Mantokuji Bay.
Climate change coupled with stronger surf claimed at least 3-4 acres of the property through the years.
Temple and community members recovered gravestones along the shoreline and piled them up in the middle of the cemetery. But community members said they fear the temple itself could be swept away.
A planning consultant was hired last month to research viable solutions to protect the temple, cemetery and minister’s residence.
Trump nominates Jill Otake to be a federal judge
HONOLULU (AP) — President Donald Trump nominated prosecutor Jill Otake to be a federal judge in Hawaii.
She will succeed Susan Oki Mollway if she is confirmed by the Senate. Otake has been an assistant U.S. attorney in Honolulu for three years. She was previously a prosecutor in King County, Wash.
The ‘Iolani School graduate was born and raised in Hawaii. She obtained her undergraduate degree at Georgetown and her law degree from the University of Washington Law School.