Police enforcing new vending rules at Kekaulike Mall

By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer

Police began patrolling Kekaulike Mall yesterday to enforce new rules barring dozens of unlicensed vendors who have been selling produce and other merchandise and prompting complaints from shop owners for more than a year.

Sgt. Curtis Sakamoto instructs a Kekaulike Market merchant to remove produce from mall areas that do not front his business. Some stall owners within the enclosed market find the Kekaulike Mall rules confusing and unfair. Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

The action is the culmination of a year-long controversy that pitted unlicensed vendors selling home-grown produce against Chinatown merchants who said the peddlers were stealing their business. But while merchants were pleased with the action against unlicensed vendors, they are concerned that the new rules will force some of them to remove produce from in front of their shops and change the ambience of Chinatown.

Mayor Jeremy Harris last month signed into law a measure that bans unlicensed vendors from Kekaulike Mall, The College Walk and Sun Yat Sen Mall. Chinatown merchants will be able to sell goods on specified portions of a sidewalk or mall abutting their stores. Offenders face a citation and/or arrest and fines up to $1,000 and/or 30 days in jail. The measure also bans unlicensed peddling in city parks and beaches and on the sidewalks around Honolulu Hale and the Municipal Building.

However, another provision of the new law places restrictions on shop owners, limiting the area of sidewalk or mall in front of their stores where they can display goods. Officers will begin enforcing those rules next week, according to Honolulu Police Department Maj. Michael Tucker.

"We are going to do this progressively," said Tucker. "First we are going to take care of the people cluttering up the mall itself. The next step is to get the merchants into compliance."

Police take photos

Kekaulike Street, the area between King and Hotel streets named for the sister of Queen Kapi'olani, became a pedestrian mall in the late 1990s during city redevelopment of the area. "Swap meet"-style business on Kekaulike Mall began about a year ago, with anybody with a box of produce and a stool to sit on able to move in during the day to sell their wares.

Merchants who rent space in Kekaulike Mall asked the City Council for help earlier this year, saying it is not fair that they pay rent in the buildings and customers first must pass through rows of vendors selling the same produce — often for less because they have no overhead — and many never make it inside.

To fight back, the shops then began setting up their own outside stands, pushing the peddlers toward the center of the mall and making it difficult for pedestrians, wheelchairs and emergency vehicles to pass.

Nearby residents began to complain about the crowds and noise, which began as early as 6 a.m. with unregulated vendors chopping coconuts.

Warnings last week

Tucker said his officers took to the streets last week to warn street peddlers not to set up shop or face a minimum $250 fine. This week they are telling merchants not to exceed the limit of 18 inches into a sidewalk or 48 inches into the mall.

"Officers let them know what the rules are," Tucker said. "They are making checks, and if they find anybody they have been instructed to cite."

Dana Sourinthone, who owns a vegetable and meat stall among dozens of booths in Kekaulike Market, said her husband was told to remove produce from the area outside. Since the couple have a booth but not a storefront, they do not qualify to put produce outside.

"I don't understand," Sourin-thone said. "Others can sell there and we can't. It's not fair."

Police explanation

Tucker said the intent is to clear the mall of illegal peddlers, keeping the streets and sidewalks open but allowing the commercial flavor of Chinatown to remain. Only merchants who actually abut the street can put out produce.

Kris Larssen, resident manager of City Villa rooming house on Kekaulike Mall, said the bus strike has cut back on both the peddlers and customers who depend on public transportation to get to Chinatown. The real effectiveness of the new law will become clear after the strike has ended and the people return, she said.

Tucker said the displaced peddlers can sell their produce at one of the city's open markets. The Fort Street Mall Business Improvement District has started an open market every Tuesday and Friday on the mall at King Street, he said.

Staff writer Dan Nakaso contributed to this story. Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.