A decade after Hawaii County created a new sign ordinance and then backed off enforcing it, questions are arising in Kailua-Kona about what are and are not legal signs.
One resident, who asked not to be identified because she fears retribution, says she’s been filing complaints about illegal signs, sandwich boards and banners, but the signs, if removed, crop back as quickly as they were taken down. A business owner who’s recently been cited for a sign, meanwhile, says enforcement is selective and unfair.
Why should he take his sign down if the neighboring business doesn’t have to, he asks.
Among signs at issue are smoking and vaping signs on Kuakini Highway, a financial institution at Palani Court, a gas station on Lako Street and a sandwich shop sign in the bushes near a grocery store, according to the resident filing complaints.
It’s enough to get North Kona Councilwoman Karen Eoff back into the act.
Eoff said Monday she’s looking into the situation to see if directory signs at shopping centers can be made larger, so that individual businesses wouldn’t need to have so many supplementary signs.
Eoff, when she was legislative assistant to then Councilman Angel Pilago, drafted a resolution in 2007 that asked the county Department of Public Works to more vigorously and consistently enforce the 2004 sign ordinance and stated the council was ready to appropriate more funding if that’s what was necessary.
“At the time, it was quite the blight on Alii Drive,” Eoff said Monday.
That resolution was followed up with another one by former Hilo Councilman Stacy Higa, saying the county should relax enforcement and concentrate on educating business owners about what is and isn’t allowed.
In between the two 2007 resolutions, Public Works issued 266 warnings to businesses, but no citations. DPW officials didn’t respond to telephone calls seeking an update by press time Monday.
Hawaii County Code, Chapter 3 is very specific about where signs are allowed, how large they can be and whether permits are necessary.
But enforcement is often complaint-driven, which can seem unfair to those being cited.
“To me, the code’s the law,” Eoff said, “but when it’s complaint-driven, it seems selective, and some folks felt they were being picked on.”