Question: Can electric cars park for free at Blaisdell Center?
Answer: Yes. This question comes up from time to time as readers wonder whether the special status state law on electric cars at metered parking on city streets extends to monitored and/or covered parking lots at county or state facilities. It does.
The Neal S. Blaisdell Center, which includes an arena, exhibition hall, concert hall, meeting rooms, galleria and parking structure, falls under the auspices of the city Department of Enterprise Services. So even though a private vendor (Diamond Parking Service) runs the paid lot on a daily basis, the parking structure is part of the overall government operation and the state law applies.
This perk is not unlimited, however, at any government lot. Under the law, an electric vehicle carrying an electric vehicle license plate is exempt from parking fees charged by any state or county authority in Hawaii for no more than 2-1/2 hours of metered parking, or the maximum amount of time the meter allows, whichever is longer. Also, the exemption does not apply “to parking fees assessed in increments longer than one 24-hour day, including weekly, monthly, or annual parking permits.”
You can read the full text in the Hawaii Revised Statutes, Section 291-71. Pay particular attention to the note.
The law does not apply to private parking lots and structures.
The Hawaii State Energy Office lists some of the incentives available to people who drive electric cars. You can see it at 808ne.ws/1Q2rtvR.
Q: How do I find out when my street is going to be repaved? Our neighborhood is overdue!
A: The city’s Department of Design and Construction maintains an online list of municipal road repaving projects from 2005 through 2017. You can access it from the department’s home page, 808ne.ws/1orWdwm.
The searchable PDF allows you to plug in your Oahu street to find out if and when construction work is due. Once you open the PDF, simultaneously press “F” and control (or command, depending on your type of computer) on your keyboard to launch the search function.
This list includes all municipal roads programmed for repaving. The projects may be in any of four phases: planned, construction is scheduled, work is underway and construction is completed.
The list includes several disclaimers: It does not include roads that an independent paving study has identified as needing to be repaved, because those projects require upcoming sewer, water, gas or communication cabling maintenance and repair work, or still require funding.
According to the department, the list of roads to be repaved is continuously updated as funding becomes available and utility clearances and other requirements are met.
Auwe
Auwe to the huge delivery trucks that wake us up in the middle of the night as they make their deliveries. Their rumbling engines and loud backup signals reverberate through the whole (urban neighborhood). Isn’t there a law against this? If not, there should be! No loud delivery trucks rumbling through before dawn!
Mahalo
Many thanks to whoever paid for our dinner out on Valentine’s Day. We had no idea that an anonymous diner had picked up the tab for us. What a wonderful surprise! — Grateful
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.
