Renewal application mailed for disabled parking placard

Question: In September 2010 I went to the Maui County service center to renew my disability parking placard. I was told that after 2010 all renewals for disability parking permits will be processed from the state office in Honolulu. I received my disability parking placard with the expiration date of August 2016 from the state office.

It is my understanding that I will be receiving the application for disability parking and the physician’s certification form from the state office to renew my disability parking placard. Could you please verify this? If I am required to contact the state office for renewal, please provide their telephone number (or email, if acceptable), and their office name and address if I am required to submit my request in writing.

Answer: Yes, the renewal notice, application and medical form for your disability parking placard will be sent to you by U.S. mail. You may complete the process by return mail, after verifying your eligibility. There is no user fee for long-term disability parking placard renewals.

Kokua Line checked with the state Department of Health’s Disability and Communication Access Board, whose executive director said that long-term renewal notices for people whose parking placards expire at the end of August will be mailed on Thursday, the last day of June.

If you do not receive your notice within a few business days after that, call DCAB on Oahu at 586-8121 to follow up.

Once you receive the renewal packet, complete side one of the application form and have your physician or advanced practice registered nurse fill out side two; make a photocopy of your identification card and attach it to the completed application; and mail the application to DCAB, 919 Ala Moana Blvd., Room 101, Honolulu, HI 96814.

Allow seven working days for processing.

After you receive your new placard, return your expired one to DCAB.

If you have any further questions, you may email dcab@doh.hawaii.gov.

NOTE: This DCAB by-mail process applies only to the renewal of long-term, removal windshield disability parking placards. The first-time issuance of windshield placards and renewal of temporary windshield placards are handled by the respective counties. Special license plates for people with disabilities (as opposed to windshield placards) are renewed with one’s county vehicle registration.

At the end of fiscal year 2014-2015, 95,577 people in Hawaii held a valid disability parking placard, or nearly 7 percent of the state’s population, according to DCAB. About 71 percent of them resided on Oahu. Orthopedic impairments or arthritic conditions were the most common reasons people needed the easily accessible parking spaces available to those with the permit.

Rules governing the program changed in 2010, as you noted. The passage that year of Senate Bill 2105 (which took effect as Act 141) amended state law to extend the life of a removable windshield placard to six from four years and limits a person to a single placard, to prevent misuse. Act 141 also changed administrative responsibilities of the state and counties.

Noise alert

Kokua Line has received several queries recently about military training, so we’ll pass along this advisory from Schofield Barracks: Marine Corps helicopter gunnery training is scheduled for 9 p.m. to midnight tonight and Thursday. “Should individuals hear noise, there is no immediate danger. Weather, such as overcast conditions, can increase noise and vibrations,” according to the advisory.

Mahalo

Mahalo to the person responsible for a variety of colorful flowers in front of the apartment building at the mauka/Ewa corner of Punahou and Young streets. For years when driving by I’ve enjoyed the blooms. Good job! — Pat Paterson, Honolulu

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.