Smoking in parking lots banned at certain city parks

Question: I am cognizant there is a ban of smoking in city parks. Does the law also pertain to the parking lots?

I have observed numerous individuals smoking in the parking lot of the Patsy Mink Central Oahu Regional Park.

Answer: If the parking lot is on park property, the ban applies to the parking lot as well, according to the Honolulu Police Department.

The pertinent law is Section 41-21 of the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu, which prohibits smoking in certain places.

The ordinances can be found at www1.honolulu.gov/council/ocs/roh.

Hazardous Trees

Hawaii State Civil Defense was given the task of responding to complaints about potentially hazardous trees on private property in 2009 with the passage of a new law — Section 128-10.3 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes — as we reported in our Jan. 21 column (is.gd/cTdojQ).

However, although the agency has been responding to complaints, 199 at last report, it hasn’t been able to take action against property owners who refuse to respond.

"The problem with the law is that it’s never been funded," said state Rep. Gregg Takayama, who

represents the Pearl City, Waimalu and Pacific Palisades districts.

So even though Civil Defense has identified trees that seem to pose a threat, it ends up having to refer the cases to the attorney general’s office for follow-up and removal, Takayama said.

But similarly, the matter is stalled because "there’s been no funds to actually do a final investigation and remove the trees," he said.

Because of that, Takayama has introduced House Bill 2521, "Relating to Hazards to Property," to remedy that situation.

The bill passed the House Public Safety Committee and was referred to the Finance Committee. No hearing has yet been scheduled. (For updates, check the Legislature’s website, www.capitol.hawaii.gov.)

There is no monetary figure yet attached to the bill, although Takayama hopes "to allocate something in the neighborhood of $150,000 that would enable (Civil Defense) to at least start out with the top half-dozen most hazardous trees and remove them."

State Civil Defense supports the bill, said spokeswoman Shelly Kunishige.

In testimony submitted to lawmakers, Steven Sigler, representing Civil Defense, said there have been 199 requests for assistance related to potentially hazardous trees since the law was passed. Of those, 138 were resolved.

"The remaining 61 are being followed up on; however, a number of those will not be resolved because the tree owner refuses to respond in any way to the concern," Sigler said.

When a tree owner refuses to respond, Civil Defense will follow up, "but due to lack of funding cannot take action to determine if a tree hazard to public health and safety does in fact exist or mitigate that hazard if found," he said.

Sigler also said that "a number of cases that fall in this category have resulted in the trees of concern eventually failing and causing severe damage to electrical infrastructure and the property/lives of the citizen who had originally asked for state assistance."

No details were available on those cases.

However, Kunishige said the attorney general’s office confirmed that State Civil Defense is not involved in any possible litigation related to those cases.

HPD on Private Roads

The Honolulu Police Department says it wants to clarify its statement about enforcement on private roads in Monday’s "Kokua Line."

HPD told us it cannot issue citations on private roadways in answer to a complaint about drivers ignoring stop signs on Aoloa Place.

However, police can enforce certain violations on private roads under certain conditions, said HPD spokeswoman Michelle Yu — for example, if the road has been used as a public thoroughfare continuously for more than six months.

"In this case an officer will be sent to check out the street," Yu said.

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.