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Waimanalo light will
be re-replaced

Question: Last fall, the city changed the illumination pattern of a streetlight at the corner of Aloiloi and Laumilo in Waimanalo. This was done at the sole request of an individual who complained that the fully illuminated streetlight was too visible through his bedroom window. No one else in the neighborhood was consulted. There now is far less light, making it impossible to fully view a small parking lot at the back gate to the city's park at Sherwood Forest (Waimanalo Bay Recreation Area). This area has been rife with drug deals, drunken parties, automobile break-ins, assaults and other illegal activity for years. We can no longer identify vehicles or make other important observations to report to the police. Despite numerous phone calls and e-mails from families, and cooperating with the city, it still refuses to return the light to full illumination. Can you help?

Answer: A standard street light fixture will be put back.

Just allow the Department of Facility Maintenance time to receive the work order and schedule the work, said Gerald Hamada, chief of the mechanical/electrical division of the city Department of Design and Construction.

Hamada said he personally drove to the area one night and confirmed that the "flat-lens street light fixture" now in place "does not adequately illuminate the roadway" at the intersection of Aloiloi and Laumilo streets.

The fixture is the same wattage as the original street light, but it is designed to direct most of the light straight down to the ground, he explained. The original street light fixture was the more familiar type, with an outer glass globe directing some of the light up and down the road as well, he said.

Hamada acknowledged the light initially was changed because of the complaint of one person, but because it does not adequately illuminate the area as you said, the original one will be returned.

Q: What can be done to alleviate parking by patrons of Kamamalu Market, at 1670 Lusitana St., on Nehe Lane? Residents of the lane cannot go to/from the lane because it's a one-car lane. I have contacted the Honolulu Police Department (they are doing their best) to help us, as well as our state representative and mayor's complaint office, but the problem persists. In case of an emergency, the ambulance would not be able to go down our lane, and we have one handicapped resident. There are people who are intoxicated who buy more liquor and swear at us for wanting them to move their cars. By the time police arrive, they're gone.

A: HPD will ask the city Department of Transportation Services to replace the "no parking" sign on Nehe Lane to say "no parking, 24-hour tow-away zone," said Lt. Carlton Nishimura.

That will allow police to have vehicles towed. "Right now we cannot tow," Nishimura said.

In the meantime, police have stepped up enforcement action. Immediately after receiving your complaint, police did issue six citations for illegal parking, Nishimura said.

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