Kapolei permit delay sparks demonstration
By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser City Hall Writer
About 80 employees of a company that builds homes in a Kapolei factory demonstrated in front of City Hall yesterday morning until city officials met with them about a building permit they had been seeking since April.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
Art Smith, chief executive officer of Hawaiian Palisade Homes, said he took his people to Honolulu Hale because "we've been trying to obtain a building permit for months and months and months."
Employees of Hawaiian Palisade Homes line the sidewalk outside of Honolulu Hale asking for motorists' support of their request for a building permit for the business in Campbell Industrial Park. The permit for the pre-fab house plant was issued.
The city's head of the Department of Planning and Permitting, Randy Fujiki, said the company had received all the approvals needed by his department by June 27 and was talking to the city's Board of Water Supply about a valve that connects to a fire sprinkler system that the city is requiring.
Fujiki said the permit was issued yesterday after the two spoke, but he said the demonstration did not make it happen. Fujiki said he had explained the process to people from Smith's company on Friday.
At about 8 yesterday morning, Smith and his workers began waving signs that read: "Give us our permit," "Affordable Homes for Hawai'i" and "No permit, no job," prompting honking and waves of support from passing drivers.
Smith said he needed a permit to expand his factory at Campbell Industrial Park. He said his homes are federally inspected, high-quality structures that are affordable. He said a three-bedroom, two-bath home with appliances sells for $74,000.
Fujiki met with Smith at about 9:30 a.m. After the meeting, both Fujiki and Smith said the city would issue a building permit. Smith insisted that he does not intend to install a fire sprinkler system in his warehouse factory.
Fujiki said Smith's plans for his business indicate that sprinklers will be installed but that Smith has the right to appeal the sprinkler requirement to the city's Building Board of Appeals.
Smith said none of his neighbors in the industrial park have fire sprinklers.
"We would be the only open-air building in Campbell Industrial Park with sprinklers," he said.
Fujiki said the sprinklers are required and that other neighbors might have different systems based on when the buildings were constructed, what materials are used on the property and how big the buildings are.
Smith charged that the Carpenters Union pressured the city to stall the permits because he is hiring their members at non-union wages.
The Carpenters Union has endorsed Mayor Jeremy Harris in his run for governor next year.
Fujiki said, "I know that that's not the case." Fujiki said the union had supported the project earlier this year.
Sean Kim, a lawyer for the Hawai'i Carpenters Union, said the allegation that the union was behind the permit delay is "false, it's an outright lie."
"If Art Smith claims he has any evidence or any proof of that, bring it forward," Kim said.
