Neighbors say tennis a menace

A Hilo resident will not be allowed to hold tennis lessons on his property after outcry from neighbors.

In 2002, Randy Kunimoto built a 7,200-square-foot tennis court on his residential property on Mele Manu Street in Hilo and started conducting tennis lessons there, despite the fact that such a commercial use of the property had not been permitted by Hawaii County.

After receiving a complaint in 2020, the Planning Department last year issued a warning to Kunimoto about his unpermitted use of the property. In response, Kunimoto sought to legitimize the use of the tennis court, filing an application in April for a special permit that would allow him to resume tennis lessons at his home.

However, Kunimoto has withdrawn that application after other residents on Mele Manu Street complained of heavy traffic and disruptions caused by Kunimoto’s lessons.

“Over the years, we’ve been trying to talk to him about the noise and the traffic,” said Steven Sakata, a neighbor of Kunimoto, at a Thursday hearing of the Windward Planning Commission. “And he always would say, ‘We’ll work on it.’ And he’ll do things like cut down his schedule for a few days, and then he goes right back to … 7 in the morning to 9:30 at night, seven days a week.”

Sakata said Kunimoto is a good tennis coach, which has led to his business expanding over the 17 years he has provided lessons. With about eight group lessons a day, and an average of eight students per lesson, Kunimoto’s sessions generated more traffic on Mele Manu Street than the road was meant to handle.

“If there’s eight students, eight cars come up,” Sakata said. “Four cars out of the eight drop off students and … go back down. And 45 minutes later, these four come up to pick up the kids, and then eight go down, and there’s another eight coming up.”

In order to deal with the excessive traffic, the subdivision petitioned the county to install speed humps on Mele Manu Street,which made little difference, Sakata said. In addition, he said people playing on the court generate noise until 9 p.m. or later.

Other neighbors submitted testimony to the Planning Department making similar complaints. Mele Manu resident Allen Novak wrote that the speed humps only slow traffic at the hump itself, while drivers continue to drive at unsafe speeds throughout the street.

In a letter responding to neighbors’ complaints, Kunimoto wrote that he has repeatedly advised his students, parents and coaches to abide by the speed limit and to drive with caution, and claimed that traffic to his court has decreased over the years. He also claimed that lessons end by 5 p.m. or 6 p.m., and that he has cut down on the noise by not playing music or using targets that produce sound when struck.

He also refuted speculation that a pavilion over the court — installed in 2010 — is unpermitted, writing that it is permitted and cannot be seen from the street, although Sakata and other residents disputed that last claim.

Sakata and his wife, Fay, filed a petition in August for a contested case hearing challenging Kunimoto’s application.

Kunimoto withdrew his application on Tuesday. He was not at Thursday’s commission hearing and did not responded to requests for comment.

Planning Director Zendo Kern confirmed via email that, with the application withdrawn, the contested case petition is nullified, but Kunimoto is also prohibited from holding lessons on his court.

In the year between the county issuing the warning to Kunimoto and Thursday’s hearing, the county received several letters from residents in support of Kunimoto’s application. Many of those letters were written by longtime students who praised him as a coach.

“I am a teenager and have some stressful days at school,” wrote Noor Shehata in 2021, when he was 13. “However, when I get to the court, I focus on tennis, and tennis helps me forget about bad things. After tennis, I am relaxed and less bothered by the troubles happening at school. When I go home after tennis practice, I can focus on my homework and be ready to share my day with my parents.”

“My success as a high school and collegiate tennis player had so much to do with Randy and the time and effort he invested in me,” wrote Joshua Wong. “I can’t even count the times he would squeeze me into his busy schedule before an important tournament or match to ensure I felt prepared.”

Of the letters written in support of Kunimoto, none appeared to be from Mele Manu residents.

Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.