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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, September 15, 2005

BUREAUCRACY BUSTER
Bar toilets required for patrons

By Robbie Dingeman

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Q. You answered the question last week about whether restaurants are required to provide restrooms for their customers. (You said no, state law requires only that restrooms be made available for the restaurant employees.) I want to know about bars. Are they required to have restrooms for customers?

A. Apparently they are, according to Rex Mitsunaga, program manager for the state Health Department's sanitation branch. He said "establishments are required to provide restrooms to their patrons only if they have a liquor license."

Health Department spokesman Bryan Cheplic said he is not clear on the evolution of the law that requires bars — but not restaurants — to provide facilities.

Q. My neighbor has incredible chutzpah. This guy actually put a 12-foot sailboat on the sidewalk off Kaumakani Street in Hawai'i Kai, complete with mast, for the bulky-pickup guys to take away. But after more than a month, it's still there. Will the city ever take it away?

A. City recycling coordinator Suzanne Jones said, no, the city will not pick up that boat. The mission of bulky-item pickup is to pick up items normally generated by a household.

She provided examples of what would qualify. "We would pick up a large toy boat or a small wading pool, but not a real boat. We will pick up a lawn mower but not a riding mower. We would pick up a tricycle or bicycle, but not a motorcycle," she said.

She said the office fields questions through the environmental concern line at 692-5656 and by e-mail through the Web site at www.opala.org.

So, what to do about that boat? Your neighbor can call the Honolulu landfill at 668-2985 and dial 0 for the operator, according to city disposal operations engineer Wayne Hamada. He said the owner would need to give 24-hour advance notice to the landfill and arrange to get the boat there, but there would be no disposal fee, he said.

"We've actually taken in boats as large as 15- or 16-footers," Hamada said. In cases where the boat has a motor, owners need to remove the motor before disposal, he said.

If you have a question or a problem and need help getting to the right person, you can reach The Bureaucracy Buster one of three ways.

Write to:

THE BUREAUCRACY BUSTER

THE HONOLULU ADVERTISER

605 Kapi'olani Blvd.

HONOLULU, HI 96813

E-MAIL: BUSTER@HONOLULU ADVERTISER.COM

Phone: 535-2454 and leave a message. Be sure to give us your name and daytime telephone number in case we need more information.

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.