Pedestrian’s complaints spark battle over parking in Makiki

A spate of parking tickets for vehicles along the grassy shoulders of roads has angered a number of Makiki residents.

Parking on the grassy strip in front of their homes is a long-held practice of residents across the island in older neighborhoods with narrow roadways, no room to park and no sidewalks.

But pedestrians have recently complained to police that the parked vehicles pose a hazard.

A dozen Makiki residents on upper Mott-Smith Drive above Roosevelt High School were rousted at 1:30 a.m. Oct. 2 by police ticketing their cars in front of their houses.

An officer told them a single jogger made numerous calls to police, often in the wee hours of the morning, and that he issued more than 30 tickets for parking on an unimproved sidewalk along Mott-Smith Drive to Makiki Heights Drive, residents said.

A police spokeswoman confirmed that a single complainant made numerous calls to police. An officer responded, issuing 12 citations — 11 for parking on a sidewalk and one for parking in front of a driveway, she said. The officer returned twice, but found no further violations.

After hearing residents’ concerns Thursday, the Makiki Neighborhood Board’s 16 members voted unanimously to ask for a moratorium on ticketing while they look at ways to address the problem.

Councilwoman Carol Fukunaga, who represents portions of Makiki, said she received a complaint 2 months ago from a woman who lives in the area that cars parked along Mott-Smith, especially around blind curves, pose a hazard to students and elderly pedestrians. The woman asked for "no parking" signs to be posted.

The complaint was sent to the mayor’s office, which referred the matter to the Department of Transportation Services, Fukunaga said. DTS concluded posting signs was inappropriate since no parking is allowed on grassed-over unimproved sidewalks, and the appropriate remedy was to call police, Fukunaga said.

Her office conveyed that response to the constituent.

Fukunaga said she later received resident complaints that police were enforcing the no-parking law in the middle of the night.

One Makiki resident, a 34-year-old woman who said she’s lived in the area all her life, said this was the first time anyone has complained about the parking.

Another resident Jonathan Sy, 28, said residents came out of their homes at 1:30 a.m. Oct. 2 when, without warning, they received $35 tickets.

"We’re all angry," he said.

When a 70-year-old neighbor asked where she could park, the officer suggested several blocks away near a cemetery, Sy said.

Sy said he’s taking his chances and returned to parking on the grassy area because he has nowhere else to park.

Another resident told the board parking on undeveloped sidewalks is not isolated to Mott-Smith Drive, and if police are targeting the area, they should address the situation in other areas.

Sgt. Shinichi Masaki II said if police receive a complaint, "we have to address it."

Board members Christopher Smith and Sam Mitchell said past practices should rule and be grandfathered in.

"If you did this for the whole island, you would have a revolution on your hands," Mitchell said.

Fukunaga said she would like to meet within a week with all parties involved, including police and Transportation Services officials, "to identify what problem we’re trying to solve," and to work out solutions in a "more thoughtful way."

She said the problem is prevalent in a lot of older neighborhoods that are now seeing more traffic. Within the past five years, the Nehoa Street, Mott-Smith Drive and Makiki Heights Drive area has had growing traffic congestion during rush hour, she said.

One possible solution would be to restrict parking hours. Fukunaga said parking is restricted between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. in portions of her district where there are a lot of condominium buildings.