QUESTION: The parking garage inside the Hawaii Prince Hotel was supposed to allow for public parking after it took away some of the original parking when the hotel was built. A few weeks ago I went to park in the garage but was denied parking. I was told that parking was restricted only to hotel guests (this was in the evening). A few days later I was allowed in, but the rate was really high — almost the same as the hotel. There are no postings for public parking rates. When I contacted the city, I was told it was not their parking, but belonged to the state Harbors Division, who didn't know anything. Nobody seems to know or want to give me any information. Can you help?

ANSWER: The public parking rates at the hotel are the same as the posted rates for the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor parking stalls, said Wade Gesteuyala, hotel manager of Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki and Golf Club.

This is per the hotel's lease agreement with the state, he said.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources' Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation increased parking rates along the harbor to $1 an hour from 25 cents an hour on Feb. 1.

Diamond Parking has the contract to manage the parking concession at the harbor.

At the Hawaii Prince Hotel, the rate went up from 25 cents for 37 minutes/40 cents an hour to $1 an hour.

“;To be in compliance with our lease agreement with the state of Hawaii, we were required to increased our public rates to match the harbor rates,”; Gesteuyala said.

He also said hotel and public parking rates are posted on a sign at the entrance of the parking garage. The sign is about 3 by 4 feet in size, he said.

“;There are times when the lot is full due to hotel occupancy, banquet events and restaurant patrons,”; Gesteuyala said. “;When the lot is full, hotel guests with parking passes are the only vehicles allowed to park.”;

QUESTION: We live downtown near Chinatown. Our daily 6 a.m. walk to the bus stop to send our 14-year-old off to school is really unbelievable. In the space of three city blocks, we usually pass five to 10 homeless people sleeping in different doorways. On numerous occasions we have seen homeless people pull down their pants or lift up their skirts to urinate. Sometimes this is done in the middle of a sidewalk. Why couldn't several port-a-johns be stationed in strategic downtown locations to help alleviate this problem?

ANSWER: There are no plans to add any kind of public restrooms — portable or not — in the downtown/Chinatown area, because they turned out to be costly targets for abuse and illegal activities.

Past attempts to maintain even portable toilets resulted in costly damage to the units and illegal activities being carried on inside them, according to the city Department of Facility Maintenance.

The department cited “;numerous complaints”; about illegal activities.

On top of that, “;abuse”; to the portable toilets was “;so extreme”; that the contractor could not keep up with the cleaning. There also were numerous complaints about the foul smell.

Unfortunately, the problem you describe is just one of many related to the larger problem of what to do with the homeless. That still hasn't been resolved.

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