Question: Parking on our street now is taken up by cars that are being rented out online. We wondered about the obvious tourists because there aren’t vacation rentals on our street. Now we realize they are picking up cars. Is it legal to take up residential street parking this way?

Answer: No (see more below).

Q: Our neighbor has turned his property into a commercial parking lot. He apparently charges people to leave Turo cars there for pickup because they don’t want their own neighbors to complain. What can we do? Turo is the Airbnb of rental cars. The city had better get ahead of this.

A: Report the apparent violations to Honolulu County’s Department of Planning and Permitting and to Turo.

Kokua Line has received numerous complaints about peer-to-peer car rentals that move a business transaction from a central commercial location, usually near an airport, to wherever the owner has parked the car for pickup. Oft-mentioned is Turo, an online platform that allows individuals to rent out their vehicles, similar to the way Airbnb allows people to rent out their homes.

We checked with Honolulu County’s DPP, the state Department of Transportation, the state Department of Taxation and Turo for answers to these and other readers’ related questions.

Here’s the response from DPP spokesman Curtis Lum, who addresses the first three questions:

“A car rental business is allowed in a residential area as a home occupation. No more than two cars are allowed for the business and they need to be parked off-street and on the owner’s property. No cars are allowed to be parked on the street. A commercial parking lot is not allowed on residential property. … If someone has a complaint, they may call 768-8259,” which is a number to DPP’s building division.

As of Thursday, DPP had responded to 10 complaints regarding alleged illegal car rental businesses in residential areas, he said. Notices of violation were issued in four of the complaints, four remain open and two were closed because no violation was found, he said.

Two of the four notices of violation said that either more than 10 or more than 15 vehicles were being advertised on Turo for pickup at the respective location.

We told Turo that we’ve received multiple complaints about peer-to-peer rental cars stored on residential streets or taking up parking at the Honolulu airport (which prohibits unapproved commercial activity).

Spokeswoman Alexandria Mao responded that Turo takes complaints seriously.

“Turo has a Good Neighbor Policy in place to ensure that our community members are being good stewards of their communities. We encourage our hosts to be good neighbors and be mindful of parking and other restrictions in their neighborhoods. Any complaints regarding host parking and vehicle storage are taken seriously and violations may result in restricted vehicles and accounts,” she said in an email.

Submit complaints to Turo by chat, email or phone, she said. Contact information is at 808ne.ws/trco.

Meanwhile, the state Department of Taxation issued a news release Tuesday reminding people who rent out their cars on peer-to-peer apps that they must have a general excise tax license and that revenue is subject to GE and income taxes.

Last month the state Transportation and Public Safety departments said 12 vehicles associated with car-sharing or peer-to-peer rentals were stolen from the Honolulu airport. They apparently were parked there illegally, ready to be picked up by arriving guests — but thieves struck first, attracted by key boxes, a parking stub on the dashboard (which made it easy to pay and exit) or other clues.

Q: When will Honolulu County’s rental relief program reopen to new applications?

A: Thursday at noon. See oneoahu.org/renthelp for details.

Mahalo

Mahalo to the crew who completed the bridge repair that crosses Waiawa Stream in Pearl City. The bridge is a major thoroughfare for cyclists going east from the west side. We can now avoid Kamehameha Highway. Good job! — H.S.

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.