Committee adopts CD1 to target gambling-related nuisances; DPP, HPD back coordinated enforcement

The Committee on Public Safety and Customer Services amended Bill 12 (2025) to a hand-carried CD1 that addresses public nuisances related to gambling activity and reported the bill out for passage on second reading with a public hearing and consecutive referral to the Budget Committee.

Council Member Tupole, who introduced the CD1 along with Council Member Dos Santos Tam, said the amendment would allow the Department of Planning and Permitting’s building official to deny or refuse processing of permit applications where there is a related gambling nuisance citation. Tupole said the change is intended to formalize interagency collaboration between HPD and the Department of Planning and Permitting (DPP) and to remove revenue incentives that encourage illegal operations to continue during permit or construction delays.

Don Takeuchi Apuna, director of DPP, told the committee he supports the CD1 and called it “a great add to provide some teeth.” Captain Pacarro said HPD supports the bill and that cooperation is already underway between agencies; he told the committee the bill will help formalize responsibilities and lines of coordination. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Gabriel Huntington said the CD1 would help eliminate revenue streams for illegal operations that open pending permit approval and could have meaningful impact on the game-room sector.

A member of the public, Natalie Iwasa, told the committee she could not find the hand-carried CD1 online and asked that such amendments be posted to allow public review before hearings. The chair acknowledged the CD1 was hand-carried and not posted, and the committee moved forward with the amendment; no objections were recorded. The committee ordered Bill 12 CD1 amended, reported out for second reading and public hearing, and referred it to the Budget Committee.