Question: I live in a residential neighborhood in Kaimuki. Two people are running businesses out of their houses. One is on a quiet dead-end street, and I’ve seen the cars rushing to and from the business almost hit kids in the neighborhood. The other clogs the street with parked cars, and neighbors are uncomfortable with strangers hanging around. Aren’t there laws restricting businesses being run in residential neighborhoods?

Answer: Yes, there are restrictions, which are covered in Section 21-5.350 of the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu.

That section details what "home occupations" are allowed, basically those that are "incidental and subordinate to the principal use of the site as a residence and shall not change the character or the external appearance of either the dwelling or the surrounding neighborhood."

So, for example, a person could run a small child care business, but the following are not permitted:

» Auto repair and painting (except that work can be done on vehicles owned by household members)

» Contractor’s storage yards

» Care, treatment or boarding of animals in exchange for money, goods or services (except that the "occasional" boarding and grooming of animals, not exceeding five animals per day, is permitted)

» Any on-premise activity and use that are permitted in industrial districts

» Use of dwellings or lots as a headquarters for the assembly of employees for instructions or other purposes, or to be dispatched for work to other locations

» Sale of guns and ammunition

» Mail and package handling and delivery businesses

The city ordinance also prohibits "parking on the street of commercial vehicles associated with the home occupation, other than the occasional, infrequent, and momentary parking of a vehicle for pickups and/or deliveries as a service to the home occupation."

If you suspect a violation, call the city Department of Planning and Permitting at 768-8159.

Question: Is it legal to run an accounting business from a residential household? A neighbor has clients coming to his house to do their taxes. The overflow clients wait in their cars, on the sidewalk fronting his house or on tables next to his carport. The main concern is that the clients are adding to the traffic of strangers in the neighborhood. Is this setup legal?

Answer: Running an accounting business from home could be permitted if it met land-use ordinance standards, according to the Department of Planning and Permitting.

However, on the face of it, what you describe may not be a permitted home occupation, officials said.

Contact DPP at 768-8159 and it can investigate.

Mahalo

To the more than 25 volunteers from the Naval Medical Clinic Pearl Harbor whom I met cleaning up along Kamehameha Highway in Hauula and Laie as part of the Adopt-a-Highway Program. The neighborhood has never looked so good. Thank you for your service in the Navy and to our Oahu communities! — Roy Clason, Hauula

Mahalo

To the staff at Cholo’s restaurant in Haleiwa. During a recent vacation to Hawaii, I misplaced my credit card and didn’t notice it missing until we were on our plane back to Canada. I was able to trace my whereabouts from the history in my phone and realized I must have lost it at Cholo’s. I called as soon as we got home, and sure enough it was there. What a relief! I gave them my mailing info, and just a week later my card was back where it belonged. Thank you again to the staff at Cholo’s for wonderful margaritas and nachos and for looking after my card! — Catherine Cooke, Winnipeg, Manitoba

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.