A proposal to legitimize roadside merchants on Hawaii County roads still needs to cook for a little longer.
A County Council committee on Tuesday once again postponed a decision about Bill 184, which would establish a process for people to apply for a permit to sell wares on county roads, after council members raised several more questions about how the process would work.
As written, Bill 184 would require roadside vendors to submit a valid business license and other documentation in order to receive a yearlong permit allowing them to operate at a specific point on a county roadway.
Tuesday was the second time the measure has been postponed, after an inconclusive discussion on Aug. 20. Similar open questions dogged both discussions, but no amendments have yet been made to the bill.
Department of Public Works Director Steve Pause acknowledged the measure follows up a state policy implemented last year when the Department of Transportation announced it would begin enforcing prohibitions on vendors along state roads. That policy, he said, seems to have had more bark than bite.
“At least on the east side, which I’m more familiar with, you still see vendors on state roads,” Pause said.
Pause suggested that encoding a series of conditions into law that vendors must follow could give enforcement efforts against unlawful vendors more teeth and allow those operating safely an avenue to continue making a living selling wares.
But council members still had questions about the logistics of the measure.
Kohala Councilwoman Cindy Evans questioned how much authority the county could actually have to regulate roadside vendors, given the sometimes-hazy delineation between a county-owned road and a privately-owned shoulder.
Pause recommended the measure include specified areas in the county that would be approved for vendor use, instead of potentially allowing all county roads to be up for grabs.
Bill co-introducers Puna Councilwoman Ashley Kierkiewicz and Kona Councilman Holeka Inaba have said initial discussions about the measure raised a similar proposal, but eventually favored a more all-encompassing approach.
Council members also were concerned about the sort of behavior the bill might encourage.
Hilo Councilwoman Jenn Kagiwada worried the bill might incentivize roadside vending “too much.” Without a clause within the bill limiting the type of items being sold on county roads, she questioned why a vendor would go through the expense of buying or renting a conventional physical store.
Evans agreed, saying the bill needs “maybe some discernment about what ‘commercial activity’ entails.”
“If a homeless person just parks on the shoulder, pops the trunk and starts selling out of their car as a way to make some money, is that what ‘commercial activity’ is?” Evans asked.
The bill has received some tepid support from residents and others, Nonprofit economic think tank Grassroot Institute of Hawaii argued in testimony Tuesday the measure will most benefit local families and entrepreneurs, giving them an easy way to directly access the visitor industry on the island.
In any case, the committee voted to once again postpone its decision until a third hearing later this month.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.