Hawaii County, HI Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

Hawai'i County Code section 14-150 requires every owner of an occupied or unoccupied lot fronting a public street or highway to clear the frontage, to a depth of up to 100 feet, of all refuse, uncultivated undergrowth and unsafe flora whenever that growth poses an imminent danger for fire, health, safety, property damage or crime. The Code's definition of unsafe flora in section 14-149 is written for Big Island conditions: it reaches trees, bush, vines or grass threatening not just roofs, gutters, driveways, fences and stone walls but also water catchment tanks, since many island homes rely on rainwater catchment rather than county water.

Enforcement starts with a complaint: under section 14-151, a majority of adult residents within 500 feet of the lot, or the adjacent or abutting owner, can petition the mayor in writing, and the mayor must investigate and, if the hazard is certified, order the owner to clear it. An owner can keep growth registered as endangered, protected, or listed 'exceptional' under Chapter 14, Article 10 only by filing a treatment plan approved by the Department of Public Works, the arborist advisory committee and any homeowners association, and an owner whose trees serve as an existing windbreak or boundary marker cannot be forced to remove them under this section.

Anyone who files three unsubstantiated complaints about the same growth loses the right to complain again about that property while it stays under the same ownership. If the owner ignores the mayor's notice, section 14-152 lets the County clear the lot itself after 30 days, certify its itemized recoverable expenses (materials, labor, equipment rental or repair, technical services, even medical and legal costs) to the Office of Corporation Counsel, demand payment within 30 days, and, if unpaid, sue civilly with the debt collectible as a lien enforceable like a foreclosed tax lien. Notice under section 14-153 must be both mailed to the owner's last known address and posted on the lot itself.