county inspectors used for harassment

[Mimosa]

Birchl - This is happening daily all over Hawaii the Island.
We even had the county inspectors come to our home at 4nD as we had applied for a permit for a 20x40 garage - stand alone. This was last week Tuesday about 9:10am. The same county vans ( 3 ) . Maybe they had a long list of other inspections to do,and each needed separate vehicles to do each inspection.
Upon the surprise visit from the building inspectors we were informed that the garage doors that were included in the original plans,were not to county specs by a mere 1/4 of an inch .
Now we are re doing the plans and taking out the garage doors in order to get the needed permit up to their standards. Soon to get the final - The solar - plumbing - framing and everything else already passed and done all by known licensed and bonded general contractors , as required by law. At every phase we do call the inspectors in but in same breath,it has been a relief to know our county building inspectors are doing a good job in all they do.
We do not think this is harassment,they are doing this all over the county . It has nothing to do with being on any board or anything else. It could be a neighbor who may be upset with your dogs,maybe called the humane society who may of visited when you were not home and saw something a miss,who then called the inspectors .
Or as you say,an art student and may not be home if dogs bark all day long when you are not home. Stuff happens - it is not just a Hawaiian Acres issue,but a county of Hawaii issue. It has been in the news many times in the last few years,maybe now they are finally doing something about it . We have heard of similar spot inspections in HPP - Leilani - H.A. - Orchid Land - Tiki Gardens - Honomu town - Volcano - Pahala - H.O.V.E and beyond . Chalk it up to the inspectors just doing their job Hawaii Island style.
Mrs.Mimosa

[rainyjim]

I'd like to see their department as well as all county departments investigated to see if they are complying with the rules before they start checking up on random people in the boonies.

Additionally the decrepit buildings in Hilo could use some improvement even despite their probable grandfathered status before making people replace garage doors that are 1/4 in off code - not that I really believe that anecdote anymore than the other drive that individual spews.

[kalakoa]

garage doors that were included in the original plans,were not to county specs

Yes, and we're supposed to believe that the licensed engineer who stamped the plans didn't know the requirement, and that nobody at County offices noticed the discrepancy when they were drawing up the permits.

all county departments investigated

I'll settle for seeing the alleged "complaint" ... or an explanation of how the Director "has reason to believe".

[Mimosa]

Rainy Jim - You are recent arrival here from Florida if we recall correctly. Have you bought your property yet and applied for the building permits needed to build a code structure ?
Once you do - actually own your own piece of Hawaii the Island - then and only then will this make more sense to you.
The down town Hilo buildings will be a non issue when the next tsunami takes out most of them.They are what Hilo is famous for,the quaint green moldy style of various shades of yesteryear . Many of these structures are under the national historic buildings recognition and can not be ever dismantled. The tsunami of future will take care of this and create many a job ,or maybe a lava flow other natural disaster . With the rising of the ocean and at high tide, most of bayfront buildings are currently submerged with at least a foot of water in each structure.
Plus the land is subsiding an just termites holding hands.
Mrs.Mimosa

[MattKarma]

When I looked at the Ana pics of the wind-destroyed roofs my first thought was: yeh, those were up to code all right.... the owners saw the storm coming, felt secure in the knowledge of their county-approved structures and did nothing. I was fine through Ana because I spent the previous four days battening down hatches.

[shockwave rider]

"With the rising of the ocean and at high tide, most of bayfront buildings are currently submerged with at least a foot of water in each structure."

This is entirely false, my office is on the Hilo Bay front and has been for years, I also do business with many downtown businesses and am in and out of them on a regular basis. I have NEVER seen a foot of water in any of those places, even the makai side parking lot, bandshell, playing fields and bus station do not get high tide flooding anything like that. I do see flooding in the soccer fields near the Kamehameha statue when we have days of heavy rain, and at times the Bay front Highway is closed due to high surf, but there is no tidal flooding that puts a foot of water in Bay front businesses.

The rest of the post sounds pretty accurate, but credibility goes out the window when someone makes that kind of blatantly false statement.

[Kapoho Joe]

quote:

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Originally posted by Mimosa

Rainy Jim - You are recent arrival here from Florida if we recall correctly. Have you bought your property yet and applied for the building permits needed to build a code structure ?
Once you do - actually own your own piece of Hawaii the Island - then and only then will this make more sense to you.
The down town Hilo buildings will be a non issue when the next tsunami takes out most of them.They are what Hilo is famous for,the quaint green moldy style of various shades of yesteryear . Many of these structures are under the national historic buildings recognition and can not be ever dismantled. The tsunami of future will take care of this and create many a job ,or maybe a lava flow other natural disaster . With the rising of the ocean and at high tide, most of bayfront buildings are currently submerged with at least a foot of water in each structure.
Plus the land is subsiding an just termites holding hands.
Mrs.Mimosa

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More Mimosa pish posh. Just slander the entire bayfront with no facts or first hand knowledge to back it up. Have you been on Craigslist again and are just reposting more nonsense?

[lquade]

Tink, thanks for the great info. I thought you were not allowed to live in home until the final. Could that be the issue? I still feel sorry for this lady, but how will the county handle that?. I think about the infamous house of cards... Didn't that go on over 12 years?

[Tink]

You are quite welcome Iquade. Technically you are correct on the no occupancy until final, on new construction. Although this depends on your inspector, and how good of a relationship on a professional level you have with them. Once the project is to "next inspection final" stage you can usually negotiate with them, but be reminded once a move in occurs and especially if utility companies are involved a non final becomes a battle as it is usually not corrected, if a final is ever called and then it goes to expiration, after a long battle of trying to close the project.
Remodels usually have continual occupancy, even if the family is holed up in the master bedroom, and using a bathroom for kitchen and hygiene maintenance until its completion.
Side note in that I , different than most inspectors did not care for the enforcement part, and usually did not do anything until either blatant, or requested by the boss.
My approach was that now the homeowner and I have a problem to solve, and explain after hearing their side what my boss want to enforce, and how can we solve it together to make all happy.

Community begins with Aloha

[Punatic007]

This seems kinda weird, sorry if I'm wrong. I've built a few houses in Puna and found the inspectors, to be absolutely lovely and professional.

Another thing that doesn't make sense is if you have an open permit why would you tell the inspectors to bugger off? It's only logical to be very respectful and helpful towards them.