Roadside vendors could be allowed to legally operate on Hawaii County streets under a proposal approved Wednesday by the County Council.
Bill 184 establishes a process by which the county Public Works director can grant special-activity permits to people wishing to conduct commercial activities along county roads.
For a $50 fee, prospective vendors could submit documentation including a valid business license, a waste management plan and more, and be allowed to sell wares or conduct other business for up to one year at a specified location on a county road.
However, the bill does not specify any roads as being valid locations for special-activity permits. The Council reserves the right to determine by ordinance which roads are acceptable for commercial uses, and those determinations will be made with the recommendations of the Public Works director, the chief of police and other appropriate public officials.
Vendors who fail to have a permit “conspicuously posted and available for inspection” would be subject to a $250 fine and other penalties.
The bill also specifies that some commercial activity is exempt from the need for a special-activity permit, if that activity is conducted by a nonprofit or educational institution and if all funds derived from that activity are supporting a specific cause or program by that organization — in other words, roadside school fundraisers and the like can continue unimpeded.
Having passed its second and final vote in the full Council, the bill will now go to Mayor Mitch Roth’s desk for his signature or veto.
Council members did not discuss the measure to a great extent Wednesday, although it had generated some debate during its progress through Council committees.
Kona Council member Holeka Inaba, who co- introduced the bill, said the proposal allows those who are dependent on selling their wares to maintain their livelihoods after a state crackdown in 2023 on unlawful commercial activity on state roads.
Jonathan Helton, policy researcher at the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, submitted testimony agreeing that the measure will provide much-needed help to local families.
“The nature of roadside vending means most of the people who apply for permits … would be local families and entrepreneurs, not corporations,” Helton wrote. “Tourism is the biggest sector of the island’s economy, and Bill 184 would allow more people to directly benefit from the visitor industry.”
Helton also advocated for the $250 fine, which was a change from a previous version of the bill that proposed a $1,000 fine that Helton deemed overly harsh.
Puna Council member Matt Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder said he has supported the intent of the bill but wondered whether the final version of the measure is in a good place.
“I’ve thought about it and I like it,” Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder said. “But, looking at the bill, this would be enforced by the (Department of Public Works’) Traffic Division … but it doesn’t have any resources for them. I’m worried we’re doing one of those unenforceable (mandates). … I don’t know where it leaves us as a working product.”
And Kona Council member Rebecca Villegas, who had voted against the measure in the past, reiterated she believes it will do more harm than good and that small-scale vendors have other opportunities to conduct business in safer environs.
Villegas ended up being the only vote against the bill Wednesday.
