03/06/2018
Aloha to our Facebook ʻohana! Mahalo for your continued support of the Waikīkī Improvement Association.
🔸 The mobile kiosk nuisance in Waikīkī 🔸 is a hot issue that many residents, visitors, businesses, and property managers have been struggling immensely with in the past few years.
These rolling billboards are obstacles to the safe mobility and access of the almost 5 million visitors and residents each year. The kiosks-- stationed by the entrances to tax paying properties-- are an eyesore that annoy our visitors and impede pedestrian traffic. On certain Kalākaua street corners especially, many become an even greater public nuisance as they add sandwich board signage, large umbrellas, chairs and stools to the already crowded sidewalk. WIA believes Waikīkī is no place for them, as they frequently pester and bother visitors in attempt to promote commercial products in the public right of way.
The City Council on January 31, 2018 introduced Bill 6 (2018) to promote mobility and access, pedestrian health, safety, and welfare; prevent visual blight; and ensure that the sidewalk is free of obstacles and available for use and enjoyment of members of the public.
The mobile kiosks cannot stay, and most certainly cannot be emboldened to increase in numbers. If they continue to impede pathways, diminish the beauty of Waikīkī, hassle passers-by, and discourage visitors from returning to our islands, we face a much larger threat than simple public nuisances: we endanger the very foundation of Hawaiʻi's economic ecosystem. The WIA will not stand to let that happen. We understand deeply--to our very core-- the need to uphold the image of our state in the minds of visitors, and will continue to be advocates of Waikiki businesses, Hawaiʻi tourism, and the continued success of the local economy.
Bill 6 is scheduled for a public hearing on March 22nd at 2:30PM, at the Public Health, Safety, and Economic Development Committee of the Honolulu City Council. Your support is needed to pass this important legislation: please submit your testimony online by filling out and submitting the document here:
http://www.honolulu.gov/ccl-testimony-form.html
To build our own testimony on behalf of Waikīkī stakeholders, the WIA are also collecting photos, videos, and reports of unethical and unlawful business practices that have been documented by the public. If you are unable to provide a written or spoken testimony, please send us any media and information you may have and continue to come across.
⏰ March 22nd is closing in fast! Whether you are in SUPPORT the Bill 6 mobile kiosk ban-- or even OPPOSE it-- we urge everyone to submit testimony, submit documentation, as our legislators can only make an informed decision if the public actively participates. The entire process can be completed online through the link provided.
Please act quickly, and please: help us get the word out!
Mahalo nui loa, from the Waikīkī Improvement Association.
