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Spouting Horn vendors: New law ‘huge mistake’
by Nathan Eagle - The Garden Island
PO‘IPU — A new law to phase out Spouting Horn vendors by 2013 has bewildered concessionaires who work at the popular South Shore tourist destination.
For almost 40 years, the eight stalls selling everything from Kaua‘i puka shells to Indonesian jewelry have catered to visitors and residents at the county park. The main attraction remains an overlook featuring the groaning lava tube blowhole that gives Spouting Horn its name, but many people return year after year for the unique souvenirs and affordable gifts offered by the strip of open-air vendors.
“People come here to be outside — they go from whale-watching to telling me how much better the prices are here,” said Sharon Boll, a Kapahi resident who works at a stall three days a week. “It’s a poor decision at a monumental moment.”
The County Council at its last meeting of 2007 approved an ordinance to return the coastal area to “a place of peace, rest and beauty” by phasing out all commercial concessions there over the next five years. While acknowledging its value to visitors and “substantial income” to the county, the law says the intent of council as far back as 1978 was to return the 4.44-acre park to its “primary function.”
But some vendors said if that is the case, they have received mixed signals, noting that the county has made infrastructure improvements at the site which accommodates the concessionaires.
Lawa‘i resident Caroline Pereza said yesterday that she has sold goods at Spouting Horn since 1991 and remains optimistic about her future there.
“The tourists love it. The local people love it,” she said, standing behind a counter filled with assorted pearl necklaces, koa bracelets and other jewelry from Kaua‘i, Bali and Indonesia. “This is where they know to go.”
She also said she hopes to still have a stall after the re-bidding process. The new law says contracts in existence on Sept. 30, 2007, for the use of the nine vending stalls are extended under existing terms until March 31, 2008, or until the newly formed Parks and Recreation Department finalizes its rules and regulations for peddling and concession operations, whichever is soonest.
Thereafter, the contracts will be re-bid for a five-year term with a minimum upset bid of $2,500 per month to end on June 30, 2013, the law states. The previous starting bid was $1,200.
Pereza said she does not know where she would sell her goods if forced to leave. Jewelry stores at local shopping centers, she said, have “non-competitive clauses” that effectively eliminate that option.
Council members were split over the law.
“There was the view that this is not what should be happening at county parks,” Councilman Tim Bynum said. “I would agree, but think it’s a unique circumstance.”
He and council members Ron Kouchi and Jay Furfaro tried to redirect the vending to be more Kaua‘i product-oriented and maintain the peddling at Spouting Horn.
“This would encourage local entrepreneurship and allow locals to have a slice of the pie,” Bynum said.
But council members JoAnn Yukimura, Mel Rapozo, Bill “Kaipo” Asing and Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho passed an amendment that phased out Spouting Horn vendors entirely.
The amended bill passed unanimously at the council’s Dec. 19 meeting.
Vendors said yesterday that they pay rent to the county in addition to property taxes and insurance. The vendors also contract workers to set up and break down the booths each day.
Boll suggested the county needs to “really look at the direction they’re going with their growth.
“The pot feels like it’s about to boil,” she said. “People are really upset about it. This is such a good part of the economy ... you don’t feel like you’re going to corporate America.”
Po‘ipu resident Brad Brown said people return to the Spouting Horn vendors because “it’s an open, outdoor community.”
The new law, however, is not exclusive to Spouting Horn. It regulates peddling at county parks, playgrounds and other facilities, and prohibits peddling on Kaua‘i beaches.
An islandwide proliferation of peddling wares and services at these sites has increased “at an alarming rate,” the law states. The lack of regulation has generated public complaints and affected the “vital tourist industry.”
The law also says it is not part of the county’s core mission to operate as a landlord of commercial space.
Bynum questioned this claim, noting the county serves as the landlord for Big Save and has unused office space at Lihu‘e Civic Center that it may lease.
• Nathan Eagle, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or neagle@kauaipubco.com
For almost 40 years, the eight stalls selling everything from Kaua‘i puka shells to Indonesian jewelry have catered to visitors and residents at the county park. The main attraction remains an overlook featuring the groaning lava tube blowhole that gives Spouting Horn its name, but many people return year after year for the unique souvenirs and affordable gifts offered by the strip of open-air vendors.
“People come here to be outside — they go from whale-watching to telling me how much better the prices are here,” said Sharon Boll, a Kapahi resident who works at a stall three days a week. “It’s a poor decision at a monumental moment.”
The County Council at its last meeting of 2007 approved an ordinance to return the coastal area to “a place of peace, rest and beauty” by phasing out all commercial concessions there over the next five years. While acknowledging its value to visitors and “substantial income” to the county, the law says the intent of council as far back as 1978 was to return the 4.44-acre park to its “primary function.”
But some vendors said if that is the case, they have received mixed signals, noting that the county has made infrastructure improvements at the site which accommodates the concessionaires.
Lawa‘i resident Caroline Pereza said yesterday that she has sold goods at Spouting Horn since 1991 and remains optimistic about her future there.
“The tourists love it. The local people love it,” she said, standing behind a counter filled with assorted pearl necklaces, koa bracelets and other jewelry from Kaua‘i, Bali and Indonesia. “This is where they know to go.”
She also said she hopes to still have a stall after the re-bidding process. The new law says contracts in existence on Sept. 30, 2007, for the use of the nine vending stalls are extended under existing terms until March 31, 2008, or until the newly formed Parks and Recreation Department finalizes its rules and regulations for peddling and concession operations, whichever is soonest.
Thereafter, the contracts will be re-bid for a five-year term with a minimum upset bid of $2,500 per month to end on June 30, 2013, the law states. The previous starting bid was $1,200.
Pereza said she does not know where she would sell her goods if forced to leave. Jewelry stores at local shopping centers, she said, have “non-competitive clauses” that effectively eliminate that option.
Council members were split over the law.
“There was the view that this is not what should be happening at county parks,” Councilman Tim Bynum said. “I would agree, but think it’s a unique circumstance.”
He and council members Ron Kouchi and Jay Furfaro tried to redirect the vending to be more Kaua‘i product-oriented and maintain the peddling at Spouting Horn.
“This would encourage local entrepreneurship and allow locals to have a slice of the pie,” Bynum said.
But council members JoAnn Yukimura, Mel Rapozo, Bill “Kaipo” Asing and Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho passed an amendment that phased out Spouting Horn vendors entirely.
The amended bill passed unanimously at the council’s Dec. 19 meeting.
Vendors said yesterday that they pay rent to the county in addition to property taxes and insurance. The vendors also contract workers to set up and break down the booths each day.
Boll suggested the county needs to “really look at the direction they’re going with their growth.
“The pot feels like it’s about to boil,” she said. “People are really upset about it. This is such a good part of the economy ... you don’t feel like you’re going to corporate America.”
Po‘ipu resident Brad Brown said people return to the Spouting Horn vendors because “it’s an open, outdoor community.”
The new law, however, is not exclusive to Spouting Horn. It regulates peddling at county parks, playgrounds and other facilities, and prohibits peddling on Kaua‘i beaches.
An islandwide proliferation of peddling wares and services at these sites has increased “at an alarming rate,” the law states. The lack of regulation has generated public complaints and affected the “vital tourist industry.”
The law also says it is not part of the county’s core mission to operate as a landlord of commercial space.
Bynum questioned this claim, noting the county serves as the landlord for Big Save and has unused office space at Lihu‘e Civic Center that it may lease.
• Nathan Eagle, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or neagle@kauaipubco.com
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candyrosh wrote on Jun 10, 2009 10:21 PM:
" “The burial treatment plan is very flawed,” Huff said. “It is a clear violation of our rights as indigenous people.”
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“We will be staying until further notice and until the state of Hawai�i acknowledges the property was fraudulently sold to Brescia,” Huff said.
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candyrosh
--------------------
camper trailer--camper trailer "
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