Question: Why is the city allowing those planter boxes to remain on the sidewalks flanking Thomas Square on Beretania and South King streets? My wife and father-in-law both use mobility chairs to get around and have a very hard time when they approach another person in a mobility chair or a pedestrian on those sidewalks. I have experienced pedestrians who have stepped out onto the bike lane on South King Street to avoid brushing past one’s personal space. It is worse when the Thomas Square’s border hedges and plants in those planter boxes are overgrown. Isn’t the sit-lie law supposed to eliminate such obstructions on the sidewalks? I think it is a violation to restrict a sidewalk size from its original intended use. Is there any organization that can help us?

Answer: For now, officials say, the widths of both sidewalks comply with requirements of the Americans With Disabilities Act, and there are no plans to remove the boxes.

(The city’s sit-lie ordinance is aimed at people sitting or lying on public sidewalks and does not pertain to this situation.)

The city installed the concrete boxes in April 2013, as a means of ousting (de)Occupy Honolulu protestors, who had set up tents along the Beretania and King street perimeters of Thomas Square beginning in 2011.

Asked whether the state Disability and Communication Access Board had received complaints about accessibility on sidewalks around Thomas Square, Executive Director Francine Wai said complaints were received when the protesters were camped there.

Although (de)Occupy protesters said they made sure there was at least 36 inches of space for people to pass by on the sidewalks, "individuals with disabilities complained because they could not maneuver around the tents," Wai said.

The city asked for clarification on the minimum width required for sidewalks, and DCAB provided officials with ADA guidelines.

"In summary, the minimum width required is 36 inches, but it can be reduced to 32 inches around an obstacle for a distance no greater than 24 inches," Wai said. "If the overall distance is greater than 200 feet, then they must have a passing space for people walking in opposite directions."

The planters along both King and Beretania streets were constructed and installed to provide slightly more than 36 inches "of clear and passable space along the sidewalk fronting Thomas Square between Ward Avenue and Victoria Street," said Ross Sasamura, director of the city Department of Facility Maintenance.

The passing spaces along the King Street sidewalk are between each planter.

Except for two places where planters are about 6 feet and 5 feet apart because of streetlight poles and parking meters, the remaining planters have 3 feet of space between them, providing a T-shaped passing space, Sasamura said.

The T-shaped space is formed by intersecting sidewalk surfaces, where the "stem" of the T is 60 inches beyond the intersection, and the "arms" of the T equal the length of the sidewalk between Victoria Street and Ward Avenue.

Each T complies with the passing space requirement, Sasamura said.

He said the planter spacing along the Beretania-side sidewalk is similar, but there is a walkway from the sidewalk into Thomas Square approximately 165 feet from either Victoria Street or Ward Avenue.

"This walkway into the park is wide enough to qualify for a passing space and less than 200 feet away from either end, it actually exceeds the requirements," Sasamura said.

Meanwhile, Wai said the typical sidewalk is about 36 inches wide but appears to be more spacious because there usually is grass on either side or a driveway for passing.

"It feels more open because the able-bodied pedestrian can skirt over off the sidewalk without too much difficulty," she noted. "With hedges and the planters you cannot do that, and it makes it feel more constrained as well."

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