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“SO MUCH FOR CITY PLANNING”

Dear Editor:

One of, if not the most abused law on this island has to be Handicap parking. It is nearly completely ignored by most of the private sector and unfortunately by the very lawmakers and enforcers of the law themselves. I have seen ASG's Director’s vehicles such as SA1 at Ace, EO1 at KS Mart, Governor’s House 3 at KS Mart, Fono vehicles and believe it or not even a police car at Cost U Less. I confronted two ladies from the DMV over the police car and all they did was look at me like who are you to tell us where we can park. This is just an example of the daily abuse.

There is also an obvious problem with the handicap tags. My wife and I parked at Cost U Less and a vehicle pulled next to us in the handicap space and the driver took out the tag and put it on the dashboard and 2 teenagers jumped out of the vehicle. I am under the impression that the handicap person must be in the vehicle for the tag to be valid. The handicap parking is also used as a taxi stand with cabs pulling in there and the worst of all is that the handicap parking is abused at the hospital.

The politicians have talked about this problem for a long time and in the end doing nothing about it. I hope that the next administration will finally address handicap parking.

Also, ASG is missing out on a huge cash cow. Handicap signs at Public Health say there is a $250 fine for abusing the law. If that is true, the police department could put one officer at the Post Office and Cost U Less with a ticket book and they could make thousands of dollars per day until ASG and the public drivers get the message.

While on the subject of Parking, back in the 80s when financial greed overcame common sense and logic, the government allowed Asian businesses to lease out 95% of the private homes along our main highway and convert them into stores and restaurants, none of which have proper parking.  So now, years later with the population explosion you have a vehicle back across the road every 500 feet due to those parking problems. 

So much for city planning.

Jim Brittle

[Editor’s Note: I was in court for a traffic violation, a couple of year’s ago, and while awaiting my turn saw the court dismiss 3 Handicap sign violations, as not adhering to the law. Apparently, the ticket has to be issued directly to the violator —the driver — for it to be valid. It cannot be just put on the vehicle. According to the judge, it’s the way the law is written. I still don’t know if this error has been corrected.

As to inadequate parking — I’m more upset by graves being removed to “put up a parking lot…” The Zoning Board ‘rides’ again. RA)