Posted on: Thursday, November 11, 2004
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BUREAUCRACY BUSTER
Ko Olina parking fills up fast
By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
Q. Does the owner of the Ko Olina properties have the right to shut out the public from parking and access to the lagoons during daylight hours? We went to the lagoons at 3:30 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon but were turned away at the gate by a security guard who told us we had to leave because "we've shut down." When we asked him why; he said the parking lots were full. We were outraged and wanted to wait for a space to open. We understand the parking lots are on private land, but aren't the lagoons still public?
A. Todd Apo, vice president of corporate operations for the Ko Olina Community Association, said the parking lots and lagoons are privately owned but allow for public access as part of an agreement with the city.
Apo said Ko Olina is required to have 185 parking stalls available to the public but has more than 200 at five parking lots within the resort. Still, he said the lagoons are popular and sometimes — especially on weekends with nice weather —the parking places fill up.
"We try to keep the closed-down times to a minimum," Apo said. Usually, that means that some cars are allowed to wait for spaces to open. But he said staff began to turn some cars away after a series of "actual fights and near fights" broke out among people waiting to find parking spaces.
• • • Q. There's an abandoned vehicle on the runaway truck ramp off Pali Highway that's closest to Kailua. It's been there for days. Why hasn't it been moved?
A. State transportation spokesman Scott Ishikawa said his department is aware of the vehicle but hasn't determined when it will be removed or by what crew. Ishikawa said the wet weather has crews out on other priorities.
• • • Update on car fees
Remember the man who received a gift car that hadn't been used in years but found he would have to pay $850 in fees to make the vehicle legal even if it's worth only $500? City data processing systems analyst Debbie Stelmach said the years of fees could have been prevented. Vehicle owners who do not plan to use their cars for long periods of time can surrender their license plates and registration papers to the Department of Motor Vehicles and sign a form to say the vehicle is in storage, she said. When the owner wants to put it back on the road, he or she re-registers and gets new plates.
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The Honolulu Advertiser
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Honolulu, HI 96813
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