Question: Every major shopping mall on Oahu (Ala Moana, Kahala Mall, Pearlridge) has charging stations for electric cars except Windward Mall. I have asked Windward Mall for the past 11⁄2 years when they will put in charging stations. They say that they are working on it. Doesn’t state law require large parking lots to have charging stations? I would think that Windward Mall would want to attract electric cars because their owners have all that money that they are saving from not having to buy gas.
Answer: Windward Mall expects to have two electric vehicle charging stations installed “well before the (December) holidays.”
An agreement with a vendor is expected to be finalized this month, and an area already has been designated for the stations, said mall General Manager Richard Chang.
“We’ve been trying to get this done for quite a while now,” he said. “It really is important to us because we know there is very much a growing market for electric car owners, and they are an important segment in our market. Plus, it’s something we need to get done.”
Section 291-71 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes does say, “Places of public accommodation with at least one hundred parking spaces available for use by the general public shall have at least one parking space exclusively for electric vehicles and equipped with an electric vehicle charging system located anywhere in the parking structure or lot by July 1, 2012.”
However, we couldn’t find any references as to who is supposed to enforce that law. And that’s the rub.
Because there are no provisions for enforcement or penalties, the law is “not enforceable,” said state Rep. K. Mark Takai, an electric vehicle owner and advocate.
“We passed state laws to encourage EV usage,” he said. “To encourage EV usage, we try to encourage more parking and other benefits. (But) the parking provisions (and charging station provisions) in law have no penalties and are not enforceable.”
He compares the situation to the “no smoking in elevators law.”
“I don’t think people are going into elevators enforcing that law, although it is a law and people understand that law needs to be abided by,” Takai said. “Likewise, we’re hoping that retail establishments, major parking companies and locations with major parking areas abide by the law and provide dedicated parking spaces and charging points for EV users.”
He said he hopes that penalty provisions don’t have to be put into the law and that “just good business practices” and benefits from encouraging electric vehicle use will lead to conformance.
“At this point there is no effort on the part of the Legislature to create a penalty provision or enforce (that law),” he said.
Mahalo
To four angels who saved my life July 4. I was snorkeling off Goat Island at Malaekahana, when the tide came in and I was caught in a current that took me to where I no longer could touch the reef. I grew tired, started swallowing water and was having trouble breathing when suddenly I saw a coral head I could stand on. I called for help and a man swam out, and two others got a kayak and rescued me. The man’s wife, a nurse, helped me on the beach. I was taken by ambulance to Castle Medical Center in respiratory distress. I was treated for fluid in the lungs, and my heart was damaged from not having oxygen, but I am alive because of those four angels. They also waited on the beach for my family to come from Goat Island to tell them what happened. This is what makes Hawaii such an exceptionally wonderful place. I grew up here and should’ve respected the ocean enough to know better than to swim alone. Thanks also to Castle Hospital for their expert, patient-friendly care. — New Yorker Now but Forever in My Heart Hawaii
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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.
