State about to overhaul disabled-parking rules

By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer

The most sweeping changes in two decades to parking spaces for people with disabilities take effect in just two weeks, but many businesses are unaware that they face daily fines of $500 for not complying with the new rules.

Terry Rotz, president of Honolulu Sign Company in Kalihi, shows what the new parking for disabled persons sign looks like. New rules, which include a maximum fine of $500 for violators, take effect July 1. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

State officials say they have no estimate of the cost for governments and businesses to have the old signs modified, purchase new ones and repaint stall markings — although some businesses already say they have spent thousands of dollars.

"We did not do that type of analysis," said Francine Wai, executive director of the state Disability and Communication Access Board, which wrote the changes. Wai also acknowledged that the board has not publicized the rules very well.

"We have not necessarily done a specific targeted campaign to let people know of the effective date," she said.

Under the rules, each stall must be painted with stripes on one side to designate either a 5- or 8-foot "access aisle" for people who may need extra room to get out of a vehicle or use a wheelchair lift. A new sign that reads "No Parking Access Aisle" also must be posted at the head of every aisle that is van accessible.

In addition, the current sign, which features a picture of a person in a wheelchair, must be modified so the maximum fine reads $500 — instead of $300 — for illegally parking. The minimum fine is $250.

Wai calls the changes "the most significant overhaul to the program since it started (in the 1980s). It should have been done a long time ago."

The access aisles and new signs are needed to help police build better cases against drivers who park illegally in stalls for people with disabilities, she said.

"Tickets are being thrown out of court because people say, 'I didn't know I couldn't park there.' " Wai said. "The reason in our state that we're making it a requirement that you stripe the access aisle and put up a 'No Parking' sign is so the tickets will stick."

But Bruce Clark, president of Accessibility Planning and Consulting Inc., said the changes that take affect July 1 far exceed the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act and aren't needed.

"The ADA just says that a stall be clearly marked and be signed with the symbol of accessibility," he said. "People that are going to park in those stalls are going to park there regardless of what kind of sign is on them."

He's worried that many businesses will have little time to comply because state officials have done little to publicize the changes. And any person — not just parking-enforcement officers — can file a complaint in court against businesses and agencies that aren't complying with the new rules.

"The rules say that both government and private entities must comply by July 1, 2002," Clark said. "But only the private entities are subject to a fine, which is a joke."

Wai said it was the Legislature that decided that only businesses would be fined, and the Disability and Communication Access Board lobbied to extend the deadline to next year to give more time to publicize the changes, Wai said.

The proposal made its way into a separate bill that also would have lowered the minimum fine to $100 for parking in a space for disabled people. But Gov. Ben Cayetano said he will veto that bill.

Sgt. Bart Canada coordinates the Honolulu Police Department's disabled-parking enforcement program and expects a flurry of civilian complaints to be filed against businesses that don't meet the guidelines after July 1.

"I know that there are disability groups — Easter Seals, Muscular Dystrophy, veterans' groups — that are chomping at the bit waiting for this to take place because they're so outraged at the lack of compliance by businesses for persons who have disability," Canada said. "We've had many businesses that said, 'We're not going to do this and you can't make us.' "

The HPD is more interested in working with businesses to get them to follow the new rules, Canada said.

"We want to establish a rapport with the businesses and educate the businesses about the requirements of the law and have them comply without levying all kinds of fines and penalties," he said.

Allen Alana, operations manager for Pro Park Inc. Parking Management, has already ordered about 250 new signs for the company's 64 parking lots around the state.

He estimates that the company will spend $25,000 for manpower, signs and paint.

"It's a little too much," Alana said. "It's just a big hassle. I don't think what they're trying to accomplish is really going to accomplish anything."

Pro Park is further along than many other government agencies and private companies.

Chester Hughes, operations manager for Victoria Ward Ltd., which operates the Ward shopping/entertainment complex in Kaka'ako, said he was unaware that the state had made new rules.

"I'll be frank," he said. "I have not received anything across my desk about this. I don't know how significant these changes will be for us. I need to see what they want."

Most small businesses also don't know that they can qualify for a federal, 50 percent Disabled-Access tax credit for things such as new signs and markings for parking for people with disabilities, said Lunsford Dole Phillips, a Honolulu civil rights attorney who himself uses a wheelchair.

"But I bet there's not one business owner in 50 who knows of their existing obligations, let alone these amendments," Phillips said.

With even a few companies aware of the changes, Honolulu Sign Company in Kalihi already has seen a 20 percent jump in business in the last two weeks, said Terry Rotz, the company's president.

But not every business needs to buy new signs to replace the ones picturing a person in a wheelchair, said Wai. They only need to change the wording from "Maximum Fine $300" to "Maximum Fine $500."

"We've said you can just cover up the language and put something over it," Wai said. "It's not necessary to go get a new sign."

So Rotz hopes to find a business niche amid all of the changes.

He would like to produce simple decals that read "$500" to paste over the old number.

And he thinks he could sell them for just $3 or $4 each.

Reach Dan Nakaso at 525-8085 or dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com

Correction: Under state regulations governing parking spaces for people with disabilities, new "No Parking" signs are required only for access aisles that are van accessible. A previous version of this story reported different requirements.

• • •