Wall not a good fit
Regarding your story May 14 about Mr. and Mrs. Ryan’s crusade to replace their existing 3-foot stone wall with a 6-foot wall in the public right away on Alii Drive, it is mind-boggling to think they would even consider doing such a thing.
I personally watched as a landscaper removed a row of areca palms and other vegetation in front of the Ryans’ rental property. There was no existing 3-foot wall when the contractor finished the job. A few days later, I had a conversation with the owner and he told me he was replacing the landscaping. He never mentioned building a wall abutting the pavement. The Ryans just recently put in the wall footing that is there now. If there was ever a wall it must have been very small or decades ago. Was there any consideration given to the dangers of this wall to the public’s safety by them? It’s obvious they are not using Alii Drive other than to drive to and from their property. For them to have ever started to build a 6-foot stone wall on the public right away, based on where their bedroom is located, is proof enough they have no consideration for others.
Did they not realize the location of the bedroom when they purchased their rental property? Let’s hope the powers to be respect the welfare and safety of the residents, young/old, that walk, run, bike, and or park on Alii Drive every day. There should be no negotiating in regards to what appears to be an obvious encroachment on a public right away by the owners of this property.
Pete Kinchla
Kailua-Kona
Rock neighbors in a hard spot
I read Tuesday’s article regarding creation of a quarry on Hulalalai Road. Years ago when the Lei Aloha subdivision was being built, Bolton was granted a quarrying permit. That allowed them to break up the large rocks removed when creating the lot sites. Days, weeks, and months went by with a never-ending din of rocks being smashed into smaller pieces. As disturbing as it was to our enjoyment of our homes, it had an end in sight, houses built and sold.
I pity the homeowners involved in this latest project, as it seems once started, it will continue for five years. Fight it while you can. Perhaps the rocks can be trucked to the contractor’s home and crushed there.
Evan Olins
Kailua-Kona
How many texting tickets valid?
In light of Monday’s West Hawaii Today article, May 15, “Police cracking down on texting and driving,” I felt a need to express my concerns with HRS 291C-137-Mobile Electronic Device Prohibited infraction, which states that drivers who use a mobile electronic device must be at a complete stop, while the engine is turned off, in a safe location by the side of the road out of the way of traffic.
I was stopped twice by Officer M. Bennett for mobile electronic device infractions, who used the same line in both infractions, “my lieutenant observed you driving with a mobile device.”
The first stop, cellphone was present and used by two 9-year-old passengers, yet I was ticketed. During the second infraction, the phone was not present in the vehicle, yet I was ticketed again.
Although the article is meant to bring community awareness, I wonder how many of the 2,297 infractions in Kona are valid infractions? Is an infraction observed by an officer not present to issue the ticket still valid for another officer to issue to a patron? The question doesn’t surround “people’s shock,” as Sgt. Robert Pauole says, “people are shocked when I’m giving them a $300 citation.”
The shock is not at the cost of their ticket, but the validity of their ticket. The Hawaii Island Police Department, in my opinion, is out to meet a quota instead of the validity of issuing an “intexticating” infraction.
Brandy Allen
Honolulu