The CoH has to rethink zoning and building codes

[kalakoa]

codes are not just bull****. They save lives

Correct: nobody died while evacuating from the lava.

They did, however, leave behind a tier-1 asset with full tax liability and insurance coverage.

Codes in this case are basically irrelevant.

[mella l]

THIS!

quote:

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Originally posted by kalakoa

figuring out their losses in tax revenue. $7 million they said

I thought it was $5M tax base + $2M/month overtime -- while also claiming the "official" total is only 130 homes (not counting Kapoho).

mobile homes which are not allowed in Hawaii

Still confused by this: I have seen mobile homes (both self-contained and 5th-wheel) here. Also "tiny homes" are being built locally.

allow what ever people want to build in zone 1

I'll say it again: stop issuing building permits in LZ1, designate the whole thing a "campground" and treat it as such. A tiny home on wheels (which can easily be removed) with a big lanai (which can be sacrificed) would be perfect.

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mella l
Art and Science
bytheSEA

[Clayjacks]

Kalakoa, you are completely on point.

“...allow what ever people want to build in zone 1
I'll say it again: stop issuing building permits in LZ1, designate the whole thing a "campground" and treat it as such.
A tiny home on wheels (which can easily be removed) with a big lanai (which can be sacrificed) would be perfect.”

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Back in 1970 Alicia Bay Laurel (still a Big Island resident?) wrote the book "Living on the Earth":

...she manages to cover every single aspect of survival, starting with camping, to "simple shelters"
... It tells you what you want to know. About cooking, carpentry, heat, cold, clothing and sewing, gardening, music, yoga, astrology, wood, water, the heavens, crafts, art, life, and even Death. How to waterproof your boots, turn an Army blanket into a Moroccan-style djilleva, or a long robe. How to bake bread, of course, but also how to make soap, hammocks, pillows, sandals, flutes, broccoli, mayonnaise and Space.
http://www.aliciab4.com/updates/book.htm

Maybe Alicia could change the name of her book from "Living on the Earth" to "Puna Building Code Guidebook for Hawaii County."

I alternate between thinking of the planet as home — dear and familiar stone hearth and garden — and as a hard land of exile in which we are all sojourners. Today I favor the latter view. The word “sojourner”... invokes a nomadic people’s sense of vagrancy, a praying people’s knowledge of estrangement, a thinking people’s intuition of sharp loss: “For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.” - Annie Dillard

[Gdhsquare]

Kinda curious, what do you do with all these tiny houses and Mobil homes once removed from the property to avoid being eaten up by lava? Where would they go?

[Punaperson]

I agree the the County needs to revisit the building codes required for LZ 1 & 2.

But I think the idea of making the whole area a 'campground', and/or letting people build whatever where ever is going too far in the opposite direction.

The problem no one brings up with this idea relates to sewage and its disposal. Having moved to OLE back in the earlier days, when building inspectors didn't have vehicles that could come up the roads to make sure every shack had a decent sanitation system, I can tell you true that more neighbor disputes arose out of dumped toilet buckets and nasty outhouse fumes in the wind than almost anything else. And that was on 3 acre lots with not many people.
Not everyone who would move to the 'campgrounds' will be responsible about such things, not every tiny house will be built with a composting toilet. Theory sounds great until the smell of sh*t hits the fan.

[kalakoa]

problem no one brings up with this idea relates to sewage and its disposal

I mentioned a "sanitation permit" in my original post (earlier version than above).

Composting toilet or septic system would work; the expense of a septic does amortize well over a long enough timeline.

Another alternative: containerized sewage treatment plant. These exist and are common for mining camps, etc. A 20-foot unit can handle 150 people. Install one every 10-20 lots as appropriate, remove during evacuation.

I also originally suggested "camping lease" as a means of maintaining control -- no cumbersome "investigation" process as with the codes, you can simply be evicted for violating the lease terms.

[MarkP]

I use a bucket/compost pile system. It works great. However I once saw a kid at my old apartment taking out the trash. He got about 10 feet from the dumpster from behind and heaved the bag over the wall. The lid was closed and he hit the corner anyway so the bag broke open and garbage flew everywhere. He was already walking away. Imagine junior emptying the composting toilet. It is unfortunate but I understand why the DOH only approves expensive foolproof composting toilets. Not everyone is willing or able to do what it takes to make a composting system work. Some people can't get their trash all the way to the dump. The county has to require a system that is foolproof and robust.

[DanielP]

It is absurd to issue any building permits in LZ1, ever.

there is a glut of vacant parcels in 2 &3

[Obie]

quote:

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Originally posted by Rob Tucker

What they were no longer matters.

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That's true but the conversation was about lava zone 1.

I accepted the risks of buying where I did because it was lava zone 2 and the highest elevation property in the house lots section of Vacationland.
It was also on the furthest corner of the subdivision from the tidepools.

Lava zone 1 should be totally unbuildable.