A derelict property in Wahiawā could finally be razed after hundreds of resident complaints about squatters and safety hazards.
A Honolulu City Council committee voted last week to approve a resolution authorizing the City and County of Honolulu to pursue legal action against the owners of a property on Avocado Street in Wahiawā to compel them to demolish it.
The parcel in question is a roughly 9,300-square-foot lot just off of Kamehameha Highway and adjacent to Lake Wilson. According to Honolulu real property tax data, the lot was purchased in 2013 by current owner Angelo S. John, operating as the entity Angelo’s Auto Body and Detailing LLC.
In 2020, the Honolulu Police Department raided an illegal game room on the property, with the Department of the Attorney General later reporting it had seized $10,118 from that raid.
That same year, the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs terminated the LLC. In the years since, the property has fallen into disrepair, becoming a haven for homeless people, drug activity and violence.
On Sunday, a homeless man living on the property was killed by a pack of dogs.
Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz, who represents Wahiawā, issued a statement Thursday assuring constituents that “immediate and long-term action” will be taken to address the property.
Assuming the council passes the resolution — the full council will discuss it on Sept. 3 — Dela Cruz said in his statement that it will “immediately” remove the derelict buildings from the property. Further down the road, he wrote that the state hopes to acquire the property and build a substation for the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement.
“This plan both addresses immediate safety issues and invests in a long-term community benefit,” Dela Cruz said in his statement.
Honolulu Councilman Matt Weyer, who represents Wahiawā announced on Instagram Thursday that he has introduced another resolution requesting that the city administration be ready to acquire the land if needed. However, he suggested that the property could be used to expand Honolulu’s Crisis Outreach Response and Engagement homeless relief program.
While the council committee’s discussion of the resolution took place during executive session and was closed to the general public — common practice for any agenda item concerning legal action by the county — dozens of Wahiawā residents submitted letters urging the council to take action to improve the area.
“Frequent scenes of violence and property destruction. Car tires being slashed. Individuals carrying items to harm others. Deaths due to overdose in adjacent areas. Yelling, screaming and intimidation,” wrote Jennifer Koldingnes. “The presence of individuals engaged in illegal activities has created an atmosphere of fear and insecurity in the neighborhood.”
Eric Bartolome, who owns a Muay Thai school on an adjacent property, wrote that the state of 525 Avocado is a clear danger to the children who attend his classes.
“I’ve … asked our keiki to turn away when they had to retrieve two dead bodies who overdosed,” Bartolome wrote. “On another instance, one of my 13-year-old students was propositioned by a woman living in one of the abandoned buildings. I have also had an incident of someone living in that building taking a large knife to the tires of my student’s vehicles.”
State agencies also approved of clearing the property, including the DLNR and the State Council on Developmental Disabilities. The latter’s executive administrator, Daintry Bartoldus, wrote to the council committee that the property “has become a source of fear and distress.”
The Council will vote whether to pass the resolution on Wednesday, Sept. 3.
ASD reached out to Dela Cruz and Bartolome for comment.
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