Question: Mahalo to the owner of the building at Waialae and Koko Head avenues for promptly painting over graffiti that’s marred the top of the building many times over the years. Auwe to building owners who allow graffiti to remain eyesores for years. Is there a law to require property owners to paint over graffiti, similar to the fines given for unkempt yards?
Answer: No.
While it is a crime to deface a building with graffiti, there is no city ordinance requiring property owners to remove graffiti from their property, said Jay Parasco, spokesman for the city administration.
The Department of Planning and Permitting will send letters to property owners requesting that they clean up graffiti, he said, but they cannot be ordered to do so.
Parasco said the city Departments of Facility Maintenance and Parks and Recreation are responsible for removing graffiti on city property.
“Mayor Caldwell applauds private property owners who improve their communities by promptly removing graffiti on their private property and urges residents to call police if they witness someone committing vandalism,” he said.
Question: If you have a manually propelled recreational vessel (i.e., a kayak), you do not need to register the vessel in accordance with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Hawaii Administrative Rules, Section 13-241-2. However, since you do not use a trailer or have a boat ramp decal, you supposedly cannot launch your kayak by hand at a boat ramp (Hawaii Administrative Rules, Section 13-234-34).
This “Catch-22” requires me to carry my kayak across some loose-sand beach to launch the vessel. Since I am partially disabled (two hip replacements), this puts an extreme physical burden on me if I am to get any exercise with my kayak.
I wrote to DLNR back in September 2012 but I have never received a reply. I would like to launch my kayak at the boat ramp but do not want to be cited by the DLNR. We were prevented by DLNR enforcement officers from launching at the Haleiwa boat ramp because we did not have a boat ramp decal. An acceptable answer would be to allow a manually propelled vessel that does not need a trailer to launch at the boat ramp on a not-to-interfere basis. (An unacceptable answer would be to have to register any and all manually propelled recreational vessels, which would be an impossible regulation in terms of compliance.) Can you help fight this bureaucracy?
Answer: You do not have to register your kayak, and you are allowed to launch it manually at a state boat ramp.
But it will be at your own risk, said DLNR spokeswoman Deborah Ward.
“The main issue is that the ramps tend to be slippery, and we don’t encourage people from walking up and down the ramp,” she said. “There are signs installed indicating that the ramp may be slippery.”
She also clarified that Section 13-234-34 of the Administrative Rules “does not prevent someone with a manually propelled vessel from using the launch ramp. It says that if you have a trailer, then you need to pay for a ramp decal.”
The state charges owners of trailered vessels an annual boat ramp decal user fee of $50 for recreational use of its boat launching ramps.
But in your case, because you don’t have a trailer, you are not required to have a boat ramp decal, Ward said.
Mahalo
To the very honest individual who found my wristwatch on Jan. 6 and turned it in to Straub Clinic at the Mililani Town Center. The watch has a sentimental value because it was a gift from my son. I discovered that my watch was missing after I had returned home from the clinic. I called (the clinic), thinking perhaps I had dropped it in the examining room as I took my arm out of my jacket to get my blood pressure taken. One of the Straub receptionists advised me that someone had found it outside of the clinic. I want that individual to know that I am very appreciative of his/her honesty and very happy. — Setsuko
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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.
