LIHU‘E — The Kaua‘i Planning Commission approved Tuesday a bill that would ultimately give the county Planning Department the power to impose civil fines on zoning-ordinance violators, plus allow revenues to go to the county general fund. If the bill
LIHU‘E — The Kaua‘i Planning Commission approved Tuesday a bill that would ultimately give the county Planning Department the power to impose civil fines on zoning-ordinance violators, plus allow revenues to go to the county general fund.
If the bill becomes an ordinance after due process, the department will be able to levy $1,000 fines on those found to be in violation of zoning ordinances. If the issue is not corrected, violators could be assessed additional fines of $1,000 per day.
Planning Director Ian Costa said the bill still has to go through the County Council. The commission’s approval is just a recommendation.
Under current law, the department notifies violators that they have to comply with zoning ordinances. If the violator refuses to take action, the department then refers the case to the county attorney or to the prosecuting attorney, for civil or criminal action.
These agencies still have to contact the violator and give him a chance to comply. If the violator still refuses to do so, then a suit can be filed, and it’s up to the judge to fine the violator. The current law calls for a $500 maximum fine, according to Costa.
The entire process could take years from beginning to end, he said.
If the bill becomes an ordinance, the process would potentially shorten. The first letter notifying the violator would also state that he is being assessed a $1,000 fine, and should contact the department to provide a plan to correct the violation, Costa said.
Besides simplifying the process and raising the penalty, the proposed bill mandates collected revenues would stay in the county coffers. In the current law the collected revenues go to the state general fund.
“The civil fine (bill) keeps the money here, and has a little bit more teeth,” he said.
Those cited could still appeal their case before the commission, Costa said.
The bill is patterned after similar bills in the City & County of Honolulu, Maui County and Hawai‘i Maui County, said Costa.
The department, working alongside the County Attorney’s Office, crafted the final version of the Kaua‘i bill.
Honolulu and Big Island counties can impose fines of up to $500. Maui County’s version is closer to the Kaua‘i version, because it can impose a straight fine of $1,000.
Costa said the other islands’ planning departments told him that after the bill was implemented in their counties, they felt they had a “much greater upper hand.”
The bill would lessen the workload of the department’s staff, said Costa, since it would be easier and faster to deal with violations, and the staff has no say in the amount of the fine.
“In the long run it will result in less effort to resolve things,” Costa said.
The department will send the bill to the council sometime this week, but Costa doesn’t expect that it will be introduced soon, especially during election season.
The last bill sent to the council, dealing with shoreline setbacks, has been sitting at council for about six months, after the department spent three and a half years to complete a coastal-erosion study that mapped the whole coastal area of the island, complete with detailed satellite pictures of every beach.
Go to www.kauai.gov for more information.
