Can I live in a temporary structure while building a permitted house? (Hawaiian Acres: crime)

[hilogreenliving]

Hi I lived on the Big Island my entire life. Finally was able to save up money and bought land in Hawaiian acres. I wanted a area where I could farm and Hawaiian acres was one of the more affordable AG lots on the big island. I grew up my entire life here so I know about the area and increase in crime so while building my permitted house I wanted to put up like one of those modular hawaii construction trailers or a shipping container office so I could be at my job site to prevent theft of materials and lumber. I read the Hawaii building codes thoroughly and seen exceptions for needing a permit.


EXCEPTIONS: A permit is not required for:

(2) Temporary structures used during the construction of a permitted structure, temporary buildings, platforms, and fences used during construction or for props for films, television or live plays and performances.

(18) One-story detached accessory structures used as tool and storage sheds, playhouses and similar uses, provided the floor area does not exceed a) 120 square feet (11 m2); b) does not exceed 600 square feet for agricultural zoned lands. (Building cannot be located within building setback as required by the Zoning, Chapter 25 of Hawai‘i County Code. Verify setback requirements with the Planning Department).

These a copied and pasted right from the building codes. Wouldnt my construction office fall under these categories?

Im not planning in living in these for ever ill have the permit pulled and materials on site building the house as soon as I put the office there. I just didnt want thefts of my materials which I heard is a really big problem. So would I be safe to use either a modular hawaii construction trailer, shipping container office or something similar?

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by hilogreenliving

So would I be safe to use either a modular hawaii construction trailer, shipping container office or something similar?

People do it all the time, but it's an iffy and legally gray area. A container for locking up tools and materials is standard, but living in it is not. A couple of years ago the County Council approved legislation to allow build-it-yourself owners to "camp" on their own property for up to two years while constructing a home with a building permit, but the Mayor vetoed the bill and it has passed out of sight since then. And legally you are only allowed to "camp" for up to 30 days in one location. Unless your property is on a busy road in plain sight, the biggest factor is what your neighbors think about it.

The county's #1 issue with such arrangements is sanitary. Contractors and construction offices have to provide portable toilets, which are expensive to service regularly. Some people put in a septic system first, with a temporary bathhouse, but too often in the past "cowboys" have skipped the nicities and the building permits, and just put in a cesspool, which are no longer legal in residential areas. The County does allow certain manufactured composting toilets, but the old "Alaskan bucket" system is very much not approved.

So anyway, enforcement is mostly complaint-driven, so if you take care of the sanitary requirements and don't upset the neighbors you might be OK, but one pissed-off neighbor can ruin your whole plan, so consider "what-if" scenarios.

[KaraBenNemsi]

Just do it. It's in Hawaiian Acres after all and not on the Kohala coast.