LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i County Councilman Tim Bynum is facing misdemeanor charges related to zoning permits at his Kapa‘a residence. “I don’t believe that I will be found guilty of anything,” Bynum said. “The planning issues have been fully resolved with
LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i County Councilman Tim Bynum is facing misdemeanor charges related to zoning permits at his Kapa‘a residence.
“I don’t believe that I will be found guilty of anything,” Bynum said. “The planning issues have been fully resolved with the Planning Department. The prosecuting of this kind of zoning violation is unprecedented.”
Bynum is facing four counts of Kaua‘i zoning code violations and will be in court Feb. 28 to enter a plea on the charges. He was not present for a hearing Wednesday, choosing instead to be near his wife who was in surgery, but said by phone he has acted within the law and is confident he will prevail.
According to the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, about 40 agricultural-land zoning complaints were brought to district court on Dec. 7, the day Bynum was arraigned on two misdemeanor charges of creating a division in a family or ranch-style dwelling, and for using a structure in a manner not permitted on agricultural land.
It is reportedly a sweeping effort to address ongoing agricultural-land dwelling violations that were not enforced in the past. Bynum’s charges were filed on Nov. 9 and stem from complaints filed in April 2010.
Bynum contends that construction on his home was done by a contractor and in accordance to the County Planning Department. He said that problems during inspections were minor, corrected and resolved. Nothing had changed structurally at the time of the November complaint, Bynum said.
He would not speak to whether he felt the charges were politically motivated.
The real question, Bynum said, was whether the Planning Department requires the assistance of the prosecutor’s office with violations that do not meet the threshold of an egregious offense.
In 2010, the violations against Bynum presented no more than a $500 fine. The county has since upgraded them to a misdemeanor with a $2,000 fine.
On behalf of Bynum, defense attorney Daniel Hempey was in court Wednesday to present a motion to deem the new charges as violations rather than misdemeanors which bring the possibility of jail time.
Hempey argued that a violation does not constitute a crime and therefore cannot be labeled as a misdemeanor.
District Court Judge Trudy K. Senda of the Fifth Circuit denied the motion, saying the term “misdemeanor” carries with it the applied range of penalties, be it imprisonment or fines. Lawmakers do not create the language uniformly, she said, but it is clear within the code and related state statutes.
County First Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jake Delaplane said the ordinance is plain and properly classifies the offense as a misdemeanor.
