The dispute between Japanese billionaire Genshiro Kawamoto and his Kahala neighbors was aired at Honolulu Hale yesterday as neighborhood representatives implored the City Council to enlist the help of the Japanese Consulate to persuade Kawamoto to respond to a lawsuit and numerous complaints about 20 unkempt properties on Kahala Avenue.

The council tentatively agreed to ask the consul general of Japan in Honolulu to begin a dialogue with Kawamoto as part of an effort to resolve a dispute between the 1,700 members of the Kahala Community Association and Kawamoto regarding unkempt yards, broken walls, and other aesthetic issues.

Kawamoto bought up more than 20 properties in the area more than four years ago and rented three to needy families, but he has allowed many to fall into disrepair, according to Richard Turbin, an attorney and member of the association.

Turbin, who lives next door to a Kawamoto property, said vermin, graffiti and disrepair mar the Kahala properties Kawamoto owns and destroys the prestigious O'ahu neighborhood's image.

"This is a serious problem that has occurred there. He has torn down walls, he has filled up swimming pools, he has allowed the properties to be overcome by weeds," said Turbin, testifying before the council's executive matters committee. "My attitude is ... if the consul general knows there is a problem with a Japanese national I'm hoping he would talk to him and say, 'Hey, you have to fix up your property, you have to do something.' He has done it to so many of the houses and he has blighted the neighborhood."

At the request of the Wai'alae-Kahala Neighborhood Board and after numerous complaints about the vacant properties, Councilman Charles K. Djou introduced the resolution addressing the matter, according to a news release.

Djou's resolution will go before the council Oct. 15.

"I welcome Genshiro Kawamoto's investments in Hawai'i. Mr. Kawamoto, however, has not always been the best neighbor. Mr. Kawamoto owns over two dozen multimillion-dollar mansions in the Kahala area, but has utterly failed to follow legal property covenants to properly maintain his properties," said Djou in a statement. "I hope the Japanese Consulate can assist us in finally getting Mr. Kawamoto to respond to concerns from the Kahala community."

Consul General Toshio Kunikata, through a representative, declined comment.

OBJECTIONS NOTED

The city said it did not know how many formal complaints had been lodged against Kawamoto, but said that some permitting issues had been investigated and resolved.

"We have received some complaints and we always send an inspector out," said Henry Eng, director of the Department of Planning and Permitting. "(The complaints were) properties unkempt, work done without permits and pools not fenced."

Eng said he would check with his staff to see how many outstanding complaints exist.

Councilman Todd K. Apo said he objected to the city becoming involved in a dispute between neighbors because it created a dangerous precedent allowing neighbors to bring every dispute to the city.

"I think all of us in all of our districts could come up with situations like this. With obvious apologies to those in the neighborhood I am going to have to speak against this. I don't see this as something the City and County of Honolulu should get involved with," Apo said during council deliberations. "If we're going to say yes to this we're going to have to say yes to everyone. I just don't see this as the role of city government."

Council member Romy M. Cachola said the city should pursue each formal complaint against Kawamoto's properties, investigate them and fine him where appropriate.

"By asking the consul general to talk to him is an embarrassment to the City and County of Honolulu. It shows that we cannot do our job," Cachola said during the proceedings. "(Inspect, fine and permit) I think that's more effective than sending a resolution urging the consul general of Japan to talk to this guy. To me that is toothless."

Rep. Barbara Marumoto, R-19th (Wai'alae Iki, Kalani Valley, Kahala), said she had not explored intervention at the state level but asked the city to intervene. She accused Kawamoto of allowing similar situations to occur with properties he owned in the past in Kailua and Hawai'i Kai.

"We are asking you to give us a little moral support in our battle with Mr. Kawamoto in the Kahala area. Your areas might be next," Marumoto said. "The neighborhood board has been concerned because the neighborhood has been deteriorating. We're hoping the consul general would have a little moral authority to reach him somehow and communicate with him."

LAWSUIT FILED IN SEPT.

On Sept. 10, Turbin filed a lawsuit against the real estate tycoon on behalf of a Ma'ili woman who said she was injured by debris from a Kawamoto property.

Turbin, who lives next to a property owned by Kawamoto on Kahala Avenue, said Deborah Kekuawela Ramirez injured her back, knee and elbow after tripping and falling over pieces of a broken wall and palm fronds on the sidewalk in front of a Kawamoto home on March 30.

The suit did not specify damages being sought.

Turbin, in the complaint, alleges that Ramirez suffered severe and permanent physical injuries, emotional distress and lost wages (past and present) as a result of negligence by Kawamoto.

The suit also alleges that Kawamoto tore down walls on many of his Kahala Avenue homes to depress area property values that would allow him to buy more homes at reduced market prices. Kawamoto has yet to respond to the lawsuit.

Turbin, a Wai'alae-Kahala Neighborhood Board member, has been critical of Kawamoto, saying in January 2007 that he had asked area lawmakers to put pressure on state Department of Health officials to investigate conditions including stagnant swimming pools and remnants of walls at Kawamoto homes.

Other area residents also have complained about the condition of some Kawamoto properties that have graffiti, overgrown landscaping and pools filled in with dirt and debris.

The eccentric real estate investor acquired about 20 homes on Kahala Avenue mostly between 2002 and 2006 for close to $115 million, according to property records.

His spree followed the sale of most of the roughly 160 O'ahu homes he had bought in the 1980s — a selloff that triggered public concern over displacing such a large number of renters.

In October 2006, Kawamoto announced a plan to rent up to 10 of his homes to needy Hawaiian families, and said the plan would include filling in swimming pools and knocking down walls or fences to make the homes safer for small children and to give the tony neighborhood a less-exclusive atmosphere.

Kawamoto last year provided three homes to Hawaiian families for free, but didn't follow through on moving five more families into other homes as he said he would.

In April, Kawamoto faxed a statement that said he halted his charitable plan because of a complaint to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development alleging that he discriminated by providing homes to Native Hawaiians.

Even though HUD ruled late last year that federal fair housing law didn't apply because Kawamoto provided the homes rent-free, Kawamoto said the event caused him emotional trauma.

"As soon as I resolve my emotional feelings, I hope to continue and re-energize this Kahala Avenue Mission including the Hawaiian Homeless Relief Project ... and landscaping all of my 22 properties' front yards," Kawamoto said in April in a statement.

In another statement he faxed in May, he reiterated his hope to resume his charitable project but added that he received legal advice that he could be subject to similar discriminatory charges if he moved in more families.