QUESTION: Auwe! The primary election was a month ago and there are still campaign signs all over, even for people who aren’t in the general election. You can see them from the freeway, which is hazardous. There’s a storm coming and these banners will be blowing all over the place. … How do we get them taken down? I have complained to some campaigns already.
ANSWER: If the signs and banners are posted along state rights of way, which include overpasses, fencing, sign posts and poles along the freeways, alert the state Department of Transportation’s Highways Maintenance hotlines. Those signs shouldn’t have been there in the first place, as outdoor advertising is prohibited along state highways, under Hawaii Revised Statutes Section 264-72, which you can read at 808ne.ws/hrs26472.
Here is the contact information:
>> Oahu: 831-6714 or email MSWClerk@hawaii.gov
>> Hawaii Island: 933-8878
>> Maui: 873-3535
>> Kauai: 241-3000
Follow the voice prompts if calling; instructions vary by island.
Under the law, “no person shall erect or maintain any outdoor advertising outside of the right-of-way boundary and visible from the main-traveled way of any federal-aid or state highway within the state.”
There are exceptions, but they don’t include political campaign signs. The exceptions are for directional and other official signs and notices; signs advertising the sale or lease of the property upon which they are located; signs advertising activities conducted on the property upon which they are located; and “landmark signs” lawfully in existence on Oct. 22, 1965. This latter category permits the preservation of signs considered to have historic or artistic significance.
Apart from the safety issue, we’ve also heard from readers frustrated that some candidates seem to be flouting county and state laws intended to preserve Hawaii’s natural beauty by limiting the size and location of outdoor advertising.
Some of the offending signs may be placed by supporters who didn’t know better, and simply sought the most visible spot for their candidate, without the candidate’s knowledge. Still, creeping visual blight should not be ignored, especially in a state that for decades has diligently protected its scenic vistas and avoided the billboards that commonly mar the landscape throughout the continental United States.
That’s a problem regardless of whether Tropical Storm Olivia brings dangerously high winds.
So, while DOT follows up on complaints and removes campaign signs and banners found to have been placed illegally, it’s also important for you to alert the campaigns directly, so that candidates understand that you (and others) don’t appreciate this tactic.
TICKETS AND TOWS
Updating Friday’s Kokua Line (808ne.ws/97kline): The Honolulu Police Department issued 226 parking tickets and had 31 vehicles towed for illegal parking Aug. 23-24, when Oahu was under a hurricane warning and residents and visitors were advised to shelter in place.
Friday’s column mentioned only the number of cars towed on Aug. 24, and we had promised to follow up with HPD to provide a fuller tally of parking enforcement. HPD spokeswoman Michelle Yu provided the information Monday.
AUWE
To the two men in the red van who yelled at me Sunday morning to “get the F off the road” as I was cycling westbound on Nimitz near Sand Island Access Road. State law allows me to use the entire far right lane in the absence of a bike lane, even though I was sharing. I was in front of you for two lights, allowing you plenty of time to move over. Instead of vulgarity, try aloha. — Brian
Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
