My complaint is about a transmission repair shop on Queen Street storing vehicles for months at a time on Kamani Street in Kakaako, where I live. After I call the city's abandoned vehicle number, they just move the cars. Some are state and city vehicles being repaired. The other day, I also saw a car parked in front of a bus stop on Queen Street, on a jack stand. The lot is so crowded, there is no place to walk, so they do repairs on the street. Please help. Vehicles stored on street
must not hinder accessPart of the problem is jurisdictional.
That part of Kamani Street in question is under city jurisdiction, but the matter of cars blocking sidewalks is a police matter, said William Deering, chief of the housing code section for the city Building Department.
It is not something that would be considered a zoning or building-code violation. That means you have to call 911 when you see a possible infraction. Police will respond when they can, since this would be a nonemergency.
On top of that, Queen Street, between Cooke and Ward Avenue, where the business is located, is private. Thus, "the city has no jurisdiction," Deering said.
However, even if a street is private, if public access is involved, property owners "have to observe certain rules mandated by the Department of Transportation," said police Maj. Henry Lau of the Central Honolulu District 1. "You have to make sure there is enough room for clearance."
It turns out that there are many such private streets in Kakaako, which causes the problems. Kawaiahao Street is another one in the area that is a source of many parking complaints, Lau said.
When there is a complaint involving a business, police will send an officer to try "to work with the business owner to see if we can resolve the problem," Lau said.
Twice in one month, I was almost hit by a car as I was exiting the very narrow driveway at the Hawaii Kai Library. People turning in from Lunalilo Home Road are making too wide a turn coming in. Can they put a line in the middle of the driveway so people know it's two-way? Who says government can't move fast?
When we talked to head librarian Gail Urago, she had already spoken with someone from the state Department of Accounting and General Services to take some action. Apparently, you or someone else had already complained to the state Transportation Department. Based on that feedback, Urago began looking at solutions.
The upshot: a line will be painted to mark entry and exit. There will also be a stop sign for people exiting, Urago said.
Auwe to a policeman in the downtown area who gave me a parking ticket. I received a letter saying I had a ticket due to an expired meter. When I went to District Court to look at the copy of the ticket, the description was not of my car and the license letters were changed to fit my car. The changes were on the original ticket, so it must have been changed by the officer. Always check the original ticket or you may pay a fine that you really don't deserve! -- Senior citizen Beware bogus tickets
(Internal Affairs Division is investigating. "There is a section in state law that deals with tampering with government documents," said Police Department spokeswoman Jean Motoyama. "This apparently is considered tampering with a government document."
(Whoever issues citations is not supposed to scratch out errors, she said. "They're supposed to void the citation and rewrite it correctly."
(The case is being looked at criminally and administratively. If criminal activity is uncovered, the case will go to the prosecutor's office. Otherwise, the police administrative review board will recommend whether any disciplinary action should be taken.)
