Kokua Line: Are skateboarders allowed to ride in street?

Question: Are skateboarders supposed to be riding on the street? I am seeing this more often, especially on Kapiolani Boulevard from Cooke Street all the way down to Ala Moana Center. One guy on a skateboard really slows down traffic.

Answer: No. “No person upon a skateboard or roller skates, or riding in or by means of any toy vehicle or similar device, shall go upon any roadway, except while crossing a street,” according to the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu, Section 15-4.6(b).

Under that law, skateboards generally would be allowed on public sidewalks in the area you described, which is outside Waikiki. The Oahu law prohibits riding skateboards on roadways and sidewalks in Waikiki, but only on roadways elsewhere.

Q: Regarding the extended closure of Foster Botanical Garden (808ne.ws/61kline), what makes the wall historic?

A: “The historic wall is visible in certain parts of the garden and (was) part of Mary Foster’s estate. We worked with SHPD on surveying it before the revised pathways were put into place,” said Nate Serota, spokesperson for Hono­lulu’s Department of Parks and Recreation.

SHPD is the State Historic Preservation Division, an office of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Foster, who lived from 1844 to 1930, was a Hawaiian philanthropist who bequeathed her home and gardens to the city of Honolulu for use as a public garden. Over time the roughly 5.5-acre site Foster had donated was expanded to include the 14 acres in urban Honolulu that Foster Botanical Garden encompasses today.

The botanical garden at 160 Vineyard Blvd. has been closed since mid-­February for construction work to make it more accessible to the disabled.

On May 31, DPR said in a news release that “unforeseen circumstances” involving the historic wall near the conservatory and buried utilities at the garden’s entrance had prolonged the work and that the garden would not reopen until the end of the summer.

Q: Did they move the Waikiki baby seal off this island?

A: No. Pualani, the fourth Hawaiian monk seal born at Kaimana Beach since 2017, was relocated to an undisclosed Oahu location after she weaned from her mother near the end of May, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources said in a news release at the time. The pup was born April 14, and the beach area was roped off to keep people away from the seal pup and her mother. The cordon came down when Pualani was relocated.

Q: Is it allowed to pay a Hawaii tax bill with cash?

A: Yes, but the payment should be made in person at the tax office during regular business hours. “Never mail or use our drop boxes for cash payments,” according to the state Department of Taxation’s website.

Auwe

I am sick of people who trespass in my yard to steal fruit that I have worked hard to cultivate. I am not talking about branches that hang over the sidewalk (public right of way) or into someone else’s yard. This is fruit inside my yard, inside my property line. What is so hard about knocking on the door and asking if they can have a piece of fresh fruit? I was hungry myself once — that’s why I grow fruit trees! I would say yes if they would ask. Instead they take without asking, and I am sick of it. — Infuriated gardener

Mahalo

Many thanks to the patient drivers who waited while I tried and failed to back into a space in the parking structure by Nordstrom Rack. I noticed that other cars had backed in, so I decided I should try, but despite two attempts my car stayed crooked. Finally I gave up and left to find another space, and no one honked at me. I know this a small thing, but the kindness reduced stress in an embarrassing situation. — Honolulu driver

Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.