Question: All these years I’ve had two handicap parking placards for my cars. This year, they said I can have only one placard. At times when I use one of my cars, I find out too late that I forgot my placard in my other car. My wife and I have a hard time getting around. She does not have a placard. Another thing is that I go to the other islands quite a few times a year. Whenever I park my car at the airport, I have my placard on my car. So that means when I travel, I don’t have any placard to use. Can you find someone to explain why they only issue one parking placard now?
Answer: It was partly a cost-saving measure to change the law last year to provide for the issuance of only one parking placard.
"One of the ways to redesign the program and still make the benefit available was to look at the issuance of the number of placards," said Charlotte Townsend, coordinator of the Program and Policy Development Unit for the state Disability and Communication Access Board.
"There definitely was a convenience to having two placards," she acknowledged.
However, she said eligible placard-holders have the option of obtaining special disabled license plates.
License plate applicants "still have to meet all criteria of having a placard as far as disabilities go," and the vehicle in question has to be the applicant’s primary method of transportation, Townsend said.
The plates are available to people whose disability is expected to last at least six years and who are the registered owners of the vehicle.
There is a $5.50 fee for the special plates in addition to the usual motor vehicle registration fees.
Townsend also noted that in limiting the placards to one per person, the state extended their validity to six from four years.
For more information, go to the Disabilities and Communications Board website: hawaii.gov/health/dcab/obtainparkingpermit.
Q: Is it legal to have a wind turbine on your house? I thought that it was not allowed in the city limits. There is a home on Dole Street that has one. You can’t miss it spinning on the roof.
A: It is legal — with a permit.
The city Department of Planning and Permitting issued a "Notice of Violation" about two years ago, "but it was corrected by the issuance of an after-the-fact building permit" in December 2009, said Art Challacombe, chief of customer service for the department.
Section 21-4.60(c)(8) of the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu (Land Use Ordinance) "allows an energy-savings device to exceed the governing zoning height limit by no more than five feet," he explained.
Energy-savings devices include heat pumps and solar collectors.
Here’s a link to the Revised Ordinances: www1.honolulu.gov/council/ocs/roh.
MAHALO
To the Honolulu Zoo staff and Todd and Kelli Nitta, who helped my mother after she fell and sustained several injuries near the zoo during the Labor Day weekend. Todd and Kelli ran to the zoo for help and also helped my father move my mother to the zoo entrance. As soon as they reached the gate, Donna, the front cashier, had already summoned Brian, a vet tech, and Fagatiai of security to assist my mother. They tended to her injuries and suggested that she go to the hospital. Fagatiai even went so far as to wheel my mother to the hotel where my parents were staying. In all the commotion, my mother regrettably forgot to ask for names, but Joy, in the zoo office, was very helpful and provided the names of all the staff involved. These people displayed the true aloha spirit, and our family would like to thank them for being so kind and caring. Mom is doing well; her injuries are healing nicely thanks to all of your efforts! — The Family of L. Fujimoto
Write to "Kokua Line" at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
