DeLeon Guerrero: Many areas turning into junkyards

Senate President Edith E. DeLeon Guerrero (D-Saipan) has expressed concern over numerous areas on the island of Saipan that are fast turning into junkyards.

DeLeon Guerrero said it seems like the narrative out there is about making the CNMI a first-class destination, yet there are numerous spots on the island that are essentially considered junkyards.

“If one [were] to take an aerial view map of Saipan, we ought to be concerned,” she said during the confirmation hearing Monday for the nomination of Henry S. Hofschneider to the Commonwealth Zoning Board. The hearing was conducted by the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation Committee on Judiciary and Governmental Operations.

Hofschneider stated that Saipan has a big problem with abandoned properties that are left untended by the landowners or lessees, or whoever owns the property.

DeLeon Guerrero, who chairs the SNILD J&GO Committee, said she herself is very much involved in assisting residents requesting for assistance to remove cars that are dumped on their property.

“As we speak today, on Navy Hill, thank you very much to Zoning Office for assisting and also to the mayor’s staff for helping a family with a disabled person remove a lot of junk cars on their property, to include a bunch of trash that were left behind for illegal dumping,” she said.

DeLeon Guerrero hopes the remaining vehicles left on the property will be fully removed this week—if not sooner, then maybe next week—so the family can have some peace on their private land.

Hofschneider served on the Zoning Board from 2006 to 2010. In 2008, he served as its chairman. He is currently special assistant to Lt. Gov. David M. Apatang, with whom he worked with when Apatang was still the Saipan mayor.

At the confirmation hearing, Rep. Diego Vincent Fejeran Camacho (D-Saipan) raised the issue of blighted properties on Saipan and asked about the status on the enforcement of Saipan local 20-25, which was intended to minimize this. In 2018, then-governor Ralph DLG Torres signed Saipan Local Law 20-25 into law to hold blighted property owners accountable.

Camacho said a lot of commercial buildings and apartment complexes are not in line or do not conform with this law. The lawmaker asked Hofschneider to look into this when he is confirmed.

Hofschneider said the Nuisance Abatement and Blighted Maintenance Act is a local law and it tasks the Zoning administrator to enforce that law. He said he believes the law tasks the Zoning administrator to promulgate the regulations to carry out the intent of the law.

Hofschneider said the Zoning Board does not have anything to do with promulgating the regulations to carry out the intent of the law, but the board has a role under that law.

He said when a decision of the administrator is appealed, it goes to the board. “So it is a big concern and I will it bring that up to the administrator and the rest of the board members,” Hofschneider said.

He acknowledged that there is a need to enforce the law for these landowners or the lessees of the properties to come in and clean them out.

Reps. Diego Camacho, Vicente C. Camacho (D-Saipan), and Denita K. Yangetmai (D-Saipan) expressed support for Hofschneider’s nomination.