Notice To Vendors At Kalapana

[Seeb]

If the Real Estate Mob doesn’t get the lions share of any business they will send their P/Z. cronies to shut you down

[Obie]

"The County intends to move the parking area for vehicles to the second gate of Highway 130 to reduce the walking or biking distance to the park boundary. The County will provide guidance to vendors who wish to continue to operate on suitable locations off the roadway."

I would think it to be in the vendors best interest to move closer to the new parking area !

[kalakoa]

http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2018...-kalapana/

All the usual points:

- allowed since July 2016 without issue (but suddenly a problem today)
- complaints from neighbors
- "safety concerns"
- "working group"
- possibly allowed to operate "with proper permits"

Punchline: "county is assessing whether fees for access should be charged".

I think it's past time we had a realistic audit of County finances -- if even half of the "500 to 700 visitors" are tourists, then it's probably cheaper to let them see the lava "for free", even with State keeping most of their TAT contribution.

[snorkle]

Next thing you know the County will require us to drive a certain speed or even stop at red lights on their(our)roads. This is completely unfair! I tried to set up a frozen banana stand on the left turn median of the airport turnoff and they shut me down. They cited the danger of cars sliding on my banana peels, even though I was only tossing them in the non-turning lanes.

[kalakoa]

http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2018...wing-area/

Rumor has it County has actually been discussing this for months -- they just didn't bother to ask/tell/invite anyone...

Article suggests the problem is that County isn't getting their cut:

The area isn’t zoned for commercial use, so vendors will need to locate on private land and receive a special use permit from the county. That involves a hearing by the planning commission, which would take at least 90 days to schedule.

Then permits are needed from Public Works to erect a temporary structure which needs review by the Fire Department.

Selling food? That requires a permit from the state Department of Health.

Plans to transport customers need approval from the state Public Utilities Commission.

Kalapana resident Floyd Quihano said he would offer vendors the use of his land, though that also would require a permit if enough land had to be graded.

I count up to six permits required -- and with "minimum 90 days" just to get a Planning hearing, it could take a couple of years to jump through all the hoops.

As usual, I'm confused: I thought tourism was the most important thing. Tourists come to see the lava. Shut down the "end of road festival", get less tourists.

Classic "you can have 10% of this dollar, or 100% of nothing" -- and we get to pay extra to make sure County gets that 100% of nothing.

[punaticbychoice]

It is easier for vendors to cross the Amur River back and forth
with stuff to sell between Blagoveschensk (Russian Federation) and
Heihe (People's Republic of China) than for local entrepreneurs
to sell to tourists at a tourist attraction in Hawaii.
"Protection" seems to be a growth thing here.
Perhaps the only growth allowed.

[kalakoa]

http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/2018/04/2...k-in-2017/

Please, County, protect us from this $170M in visitor spending...

[Kapoho Joe]

Is it just me or are the Kalapana vendors predominately white? And most of the roadside vendors with smoked meat, fish and laulaus are brown? Is it as simple as the County being racially motivated to overlook some infractions but not others? Does someone important want to put a restaurant down by the lava, so we need to clear out the rabble?

The selective enforcement really makes the mind wander as there is no obvious reason why the decision was made to target this area of commerce.

[kalakoa]

why the decision was made to target this area of commerce

As opposed to, say, the much larger one just around the corner, with permanent structures, amplified music, and alcohol sales.

(Which parcel also happens to have 50 feet of frontage on 130... so if they really are "sovereign exempt", they could easily absorb the existing "Lava Market"...)