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Kokua Line
Question: Can you clarify who can park in the handicap parking stall in front of a state public library building? Handicap placard
isn’t a free passAs far as my knowledge goes, any person with a handicap placard is allowed to park in a handicap stall, regardless if he or she is using the public library or not, if they have the proper handicap placard displayed on their windshield.
There is a handicap parking sign posted and it does not say "this stall is reserved for the disabled library patron only." There is one particular library branch that is always giving a car a citation because that driver is not using the library. I can see this library has just opened itself up to a lawsuit for discriminating against a certified handicapped person.
Answer: It is not true that a disabled person with a handicap placard can park in any handicap parking stall anytime, anyplace.
There can be restrictions, said Francine Wai, executive director of the Disability and Communication Access Board.
A parking lot can be reserved for use by patrons of a facility, whether a library or supermarket, and whether for employees or customers, she noted.
The library restricting parking to its patrons "is no different from Foodland saying this is for patrons of Foodland," Wai said.
"That is an issue taken care of separately under city laws on how you are to designate and regulate parking when you want to restrict the use for patrons of a bank or wherever," she said. So for a bank or library to say you can't park in its lot and go to the theater is a "very legitimate" restriction.
"But," Wai said, "that has to be posted and it has to be equal for the accessible stalls and the nonaccessible stalls."
If there are no signs posted saying parking is restricted to certain patrons, then "you cannot cite the disabled or anybody else," Wai said.
Apparently you are referring to the Kahuku library.
There are two signs posted in front of the library saying "reserved parking while in the library only," said Paul H. Mark, Hawaii State Public Library System spokesman.
Following your complaint, an additional sign was posted at the two handicap stalls that now also specify library parking only, he said.
Mark said the other 49 public libraries were being surveyed on their parking signs.
"We are aware of the limited number of parking available to the handicapped in general, but the citation is a reminder that the designated parking stall is specifically for handicapped persons who use the library," Mark said.
Mahalo
To the employees of Ordenstein's Hawaiian Memorial Park Mortuary for their professional and compassionate help and for returning a large sum of money that mistakenly went with my husband to the mortuary. It reaffirms the basic goodness and honesty of people. -- Mrs. Richard Parr (Deborah)
Auwe
To the dog owners in Kamiloiki Valley. You own the dog, control the dog. Don't subject your neighbors to the barking from your uncontrolled dog. -- No name
Mahalo
To Michael Brown and his staff at the Department of Transportation's Highways Division for maintaining the median hedges on Vineyard Boulevard between Pali Highway and Nuuanu Avenue in a timely manner. -- Aileen Lum
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