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Kokua Line June Watanabe |
Restrooms to be open
late at Kuhio BeachQuestion: Why does the mayor close the Kuhio Beach restroom at 9:30 p.m. every Halloween? Police say more than 120,000 people show up -- it's the biggest event all year long. This year will be particularly bad because we have a battleship group in, and all the young people are going to be down there with everybody else. Is it possible for the mayor to keep the restrooms open at least until midnight so that the problem of people peeing on the beach can be alleviated this year?
Answer: City officials have heard your lament: Restrooms adjacent to the Waikiki police substation and the ones behind the waterfall along Kuhio Beach will be kept open tomorrow until midnight.
But Mayor Harris has nothing to do with setting the hours of the comfort stations, said Carol Costa, director of the Department of Customer Services.
That's handled by the city Department of Parks & Recreation, which has agreed to keep the Kuhio Beach comfort stations open until midnight tomorrow.
The Honolulu Police Department has no official estimate on the number of people who show up to celebrate Halloween in Waikiki, but officers stationed there "expect it to be jam-packed (this year) because it is Friday night and it is payday," said HPD spokeswoman Michelle Yu.
Waikiki officers "welcome the news that (the restrooms) will be open past the regular hours," Yu said.
Costa pointed out that since the Harris administration renovated Kuhio Beach several years ago, "we have tripled the number of comfort stations along the beach area," including one next to the police substation and concession building. Two more restrooms are farther along Kuhio Beach, including the one hidden behind a landscaped waterfall.
There are also two restrooms at Queen's Surf, while a new restroom was added adjacent to the parking lot at Kapiolani Park, making it a total of four in the park, Costa said.
Q: My car was towed recently on Lunalilo Street, near Ward Avenue. There was a temporary sign that said "no parking 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m." The permanent signs say "no parking 6 a.m. to 9 a.m." My car got towed around 6:20 a.m. A police officer told me the permanent sign prevails. On Green Street, nearby, a sign says "no parking from here to corner." Just before that, there is space for two cars to park. However, temporary signs there say "no parking from 7 a.m." Another officer told me we had to follow the temporary sign. I live in Waikiki, and we are allowed to park on the street except when there is roadwork and temporary signs say "no parking." If you have to follow the permanent one, what's the sense of having a temporary sign that's different from the permanent one?
A: The broader restrictions prevail, whether on a permanent or temporary sign, according to Honolulu police Capt. Ed Nishi.
It would seem logical to make temporary restrictions at least conform to existing restrictions, if for no other reason than to prevent confusion. But just because a sign may have a tighter time span restriction than what's in an area already "doesn't negate the broader time span," Nishi said.
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