HONOLULU — As the Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting continues its faceoff with a notorious monster home developer who allegedly lied on an application for a project on Sierra Drive, the Honolulu City Council will consider a measure that would make such falsification a criminal offense.

What You Need To Know

  • The council’s Committee on Executive Matters and Legal Affairs will take up Bill 44 during its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday

  • The bill proposes to make intentionally providing inaccurate information to a city official or influencing others to do so a misdemeanor crime

  • The bill was introduced by council chair Tommy Waters and council member Tyler Dos Santos-Tam on July 6 and unanimously passed its first reading on July 12

  • Any violation of the proposed law would result in a fine of up to $2,000, up to 80 hours of community service and/or imprisonment of up to one year

The council’s Committee on Executive Matters and Legal Affairs will take up Bill 44, which proposes to make intentionally providing inaccurate information to a city official (or influencing others to do so) a misdemeanor crime, during its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday.

The bill was introduced by council chair Tommy Waters and council member Tyler Dos Santos-Tam on July 6 and unanimously passed its first reading on July 12. The measure counts as city official “any city employee who, in the normal course of the employee’s duties and responsibilities, conducts investigations or inspections, or both, to ascertain compliance with any city ordinance, rule, or regulation.”

Any violation of the proposed law would result in a fine of up to $2,000, up to 80 hours of community service and/or imprisonment of up to one year.

As Dos Santos-Tam noted, the law would serve as a deterrent for developers like Christy Zeng Lei, who DPP claims lied on her permit application for a project at 3615 Sierra Drive.

The project was originally issued three building permits, but a review found that incorrect information was submitted to DPP, including a floor area ratio that exceeded regulations. According to DPP, the project also exceeds the number of permitted bathrooms and wet bars and does not provide sufficient side yards. 

The department issued notices of violation, and stop-work orders to Lei and the project was finally shut down in June 2021. The permits were revoked, and Lei has appealed the decision to the Building Board, which has yet to rule.

“The evidence is pretty clear: Christy Lei lied on her building permits to build a monster home. She was trying to construct 19 bathrooms and 21 bedrooms on a lot that previously housed two small single families,” Dos Santos-Tam said. “We need to start going after these monster home developers. They can’t just lie and get away with it. That means we need to start strengthening penalties. We need to impose fines, community service, jail time. We need to take decisive action.” 

Michael Tsai covers local and state politics for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at michael.tsai@charter.com.