Question: How many parking spaces are they taking out for the new bike lane they’re building on South Street?

Answer: Twenty-nine, according to the city. Here’s additional information from Mike Packard, administrator of the city’s Complete Streets program:

“By having the protected bikeway along the Ewa side of South Street, we are not touching the 25 parking stalls on the Diamond Head side. A similar type of project on Punchbowl Street would have required the removal of 43 metered parking stalls.

“As part of the planning for this project, the Department of Transportation Services went door-to-door to discuss the project with each tenant and describe what it entails.

“There are 29 rush-hour restricted metered parking stalls that are being removed for the South Street Protected Bike Lane as we develop a comprehensive cycle grid in our urban core.”

“Rush-hour restricted” means that parking was not allowed in those spaces during the weekday peak afternoon commute.

According to a city traffic advisory issued on March 17, the South Street Protected Bike Lane under construction now is scheduled to open in May. “The lane will protect bicyclists with delineators and lane markings and provide a safe mauka-makai connection between the King Street Protected Bike Lane and Kakaako,” allowing bicyclists to travel mauka and makai on the Ewa side of South Street from King Street to Pohukaina Street, according to the advisory.

As in the King Street Protected Bike Lane, only bicycles will be allowed.

Beyond the protected lane, the city will paint traditional bike lanes on both sides of South Street from Pohukaina Street to Ala Moana Boulevard. “The makai-bound lane will allow bicyclists to continue to Ala Moana Boulevard and Forrest Avenue in Kakaako Makai, with connections to Kakaako Waterfront Park, Kewalo Basin and Ala Moana Beach Park. The mauka-­bound lane will have a ‘bike box’ at Pohukaina Street to allow cyclists to safely cross into the protected lane,” the advisory said.

Q: I thought that any building under construction had to have a county building permit posted. … It seems like a lot of people are flouting this law. … Is there a way to file a complaint?

A: The requirements for building permits issued by Oahu’s city and county government are spelled out in Chapter 18 of the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu, which you can read at 808ne.ws/rohchap18.

While it’s true that residential and commercial construction and demolition work generally require a permit from the Department of Planning and Permitting, there are many exceptions, including for work located on federal property, performed for state government agencies, and all structures (other than buildings) built as a city public works project or with the Honolulu Board of Water Supply. Other common exceptions in residential neighborhoods apply to one-story detached buildings such as tool sheds or playhouses.

Read Chapter 18, Section 3.1, for details on when a building permit is required, as well as about other exceptions that apply. Although the mandate is not quite as cut-and-dried as stated in your question, the requirements are broad and strict, and do apply to home construction on vacant, privately owned land, as you indicated in a followup email is occurring in your area.

Assuming that a building permit is required, it “shall be posted in a conspicuous place on the site during the progress of work,” per ROH Sec. 18-5.1(d).

To report an apparently unpermitted structure under construction, call DPP at 768-8259. You will be asked to leave a message, which should be succinct and detailed.

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.