Blog Posts

City Council To Vote On Bills 85 and 89 To Rein-In Out-of-Control Vacation Rentals

5/6/2019

Quieter O'ahu has received numerous reports of noise increase in neighborhood where illegal vacation rental have taken root. Most comments convey the same message: renters care little for the quality of life of families who live in these communities, and noise from loud parties and increased traffic at all hours of the day and night are part and parcel of living with these illegal accommodations in the neighborhood.

As reported in the Star Advertiser, City Council will be voting on two measures to rein-in the currently out-of-control, and illegal, vacation rental market. The Star Advertiser reports that:

"The City Council Planning Committee voted today to advance two bills to deal with the island’s perplexing vacation rental issue.One bill would allow for up to about 1,715 newly permitted vacation rentals on the island, while the other would crack down on the thousands of illegal units on the island.
What’s more, the permitted rentals would be required to be operated by an owner-occupant of a home so “whole home” vacation rentals would be out. An effort to include whole home rentals, a plan pushed by major vacation rental platforms such as Airbnb and Expedia, failed to garner enough support to move out of the committee.
The two bills, 85 (2018) and 89 (2018), now go to the full Council for a vote scheduled for May 8.
Both Planning Committee Chairman Ikaika Anderson and Councilman Ron Menor, who authored or co-authored the latest draft of the two bills, called the legislation a reasonable compromise.
The Council and a string of mayors have been trying unsuccessfully to tackle the complex vacation rental issue for several decades since the city stopped issuing permits for them in 1989. DPP estimates there are only 816 legal units outside of resort zones but between 6,000 and 8,000 illegal units on Oahu."

The speculators who are purchasing properties across the island, many in neighborhoods not zoned for this type of business, are lobbying the City Council hard to not pass these two bills. Similarly, operators of these illegal vacation rentals are signing petitions in the hopes of swaying council members from enacting these common sense bills to regulate the industry.

The measure will be voted-on on 8 May. There is a link where anyone can register to provide testimony about these illegal vacation rentals and the two measures to be voted on. Similarly, there is a link where anyone can submit written testimony online, and that testimony will be distributed to all council members. We provide those links below and encourage everyone interested in this issue to make their voices heard, either in person or through written testimony.

LINKS:

Persons wishing to testify IN PERSON are requested to register as follows:

On-Line at http://www.honolulu.gov/ccl-testimony-form.html

WRITTEN TESTIMONY

Written testimony may be faxed to 768-3826 or transmitted via the internet at http://www.honolulu.gov/ccl-testimony-form.html for distribution at the meeting. You can also fill-out a "Testimony Form" online at this link to submit your comments.

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USMC Pu'uloa Shooting Range Retaliating Because Community Complained?? UPDATE 6 May 2019 (See compete USMC Response at end of posting)

5/2/2019

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Quieter O'ahu has received follow-on information from website visitor(s) about what is apparently an ongoing back-and-forth with the USMC and manager(s) at Pu'uloa Shooting Range. Quieter O"aha is posting this information "as received" and without editing. Our responses to submitters are also provided and we will reach-out to the USMC at Marine Corps Base Hawai'i (MCBH) for their comments and will post as-received should they reply.

Comment: (1 May 2019)

Today is the first I have heard about this organization.

I have been engaged in an ongoing series of complaints, (false) promises of measures taken to mitigate their noise for nearly two years now without success.

The Puuloa Range Training Facility has, in the past 18-24 months or so, started using an astoundingly loud PA system, and they turn it on and test it-as a matter of standard procedure-and begin barking voice commands well before 7am. Advertised range hours are 7am-5pm.

I finally went to the neighborhood board meeting last month and asked that the issue be addressed at the next neighborhood board meeting which is next Thursday at the Campbell HS cafeteria.

Any advice on how to best make our case to MCBH to wait until 7AM to blast out the neighborhood and keep the PA system volume reasonable would be greatly appreciated.

Quieter O'ahu Response:

Aloha,
Thanks for your note. From the emails we've seen it appears there will be a good turnout at the next Ewa Neighborhood Board Meeting to discuss this issue, and I think the board will be moved to approach the USMC to discuss noise mitigation. Too, it's unclear whether the noise being generated is from the USMC users, or the Pu'uloa Rifle And Pistol Club (PRPC) (http://www.puuloa.com), or both. Regardless, as the host the USMC is probably the most direct route to problem resolution, and the military, generally, have in the past shown themselves to be good neighbors when and where possible. Worth a shot anyway before looking at ways to compel cessation of noise.

We would suggest that not only the hours of operation be discussed at the board meeting, but also the volume of their speaker system which, we hear, can be louder than the rifles and pistols.

Please follow-up with us with the results of the board meeting. We'll post an update to our interested subscribers on our blog.

We've added you to distribution list for occasional noise and related emails.

Mahalo,
Quieter O'ahu

Comment: (2 May 2019)

Aloha and mahalo for your quick reply,

I appreciate your thoughts and I can tell you as a person who served as a USN Public Affairs Officer at NAS Barbers Pt. for a while, that yes, the military can show themselves to be good neighbors and can strive to work toward harmony and accommodate issues when and where possible. As a pilot, I was accustomed to operating under strict noise abatement procedures specifically intended to minimize disturbances to civilian neighborhoods. I am also aware that execution of this concept varies greatly based on those who are in positions of leadership at the time.

MCBH has no official noise abatement procedures/policy for the Pu'uloa Range Training Facility. I've asked multiple times. I do find it interesting the Bellows training range has quiet hours from 10pm to 7am. I wonder why  Kailua and Waimanalo are afforded disparate noise abatement considerations than Ewa Beach.

At this point in time, the current MCBH leadership has made a clear and unambiguous intention to continue with amplified voice commands prior to 7am at the Pu'uloa Range. After numerous calls and discussions with the current MCBH Community Relations Officer (name removed), I became skeptical that my concerns about volume and time of day of these PA transmissions were being communicated up the chain of command accurately due to the persistent loud communications prior to 7am. On Feb 6, I decided to make a call to the Range Training Manager (name removed) to verify that he was aware of the situation. I was taken aback when he would not let me speak, but rather informed me with contempt that he knew who I was and that they would continue to do their operations as they see fit, when they see fit, they would not be changing anything, and hung up on me.

It was immediately following this one-way conversation that the volume went to ludicrous levels and the PA systems checks continued as early as 5:29AM. The timing of this volume increase and earlier time of the PA system use had me wondering if this was retaliatory in response to my call to (name removed).

I am certain that these amplified voice transmissions are not being made by the Pu'uloa Rifle and Pistol Club. They only use the range on the weekends, do not use the PA system and have never fired their weapons or made any other disturbances prior to 7am to my knowledge.

The Pu'uloa Range Training Facility is used by other organizations such as HPD, USCG, USN, US Army, and the FBI, but near as I can tell, there is only one person's voice who I have ever heard, and that is the voice of the person I believe to be the USMC "Gunner" who is in charge of the USMC training evolutions when they are training. I can assure you that often the PA system is louder and always more of a nuisance than the gunfire itself.

I offer all of the above as background to the situation in Ewa Beach and Iroquois Pt. and I greatly appreciate that there are people who have taken up noise pollution reduction on Oahu as a serious threat to our well-being. Thank you for what you do for your community. I'll let you know what transpires at the meeting next week.

Quieter O'ahu Response:

Great additional information. We're posting now to our noise blog (absent identifying information) and will see if we can contact the MCBH public affairs officer for comment.

Quieter O'ahu email to MCBH PAO:

Pu'uloa Range Training Facility (PRTF) Noise Issue
9:19 AM (0 minutes ago)
to kbaz_pao
Aloha,
I am writing from and for "A Quieter O'ahu," a State of Hawai'i 501c3 organization with a mission of informing the residents of O'ahu and Hawai'i about noise and related health and environmental concerns.

Our website, www.quieteroahu.com maintains a "Noise Blog" where members of the community submit contact forms to express their concerns about noise and related issues. These concerns are posted to our blog. A current topic of discussion is the amplified speaker noise emanating from PRTF, for its volume and times of day in operation.

In response to recent input about PRTF we replied to the submitter suggesting dialogue with the USMC who, to our knowledge, has always attempted to act as a good neighbor. In counter-reply, the submitter indicates that they have attempted to contact the Pu'uloa Range Manager and were greeted with "contempt" and as a result of their complaint, the noise level only increased, perhaps in retaliation for complaining. We understand that the Ewa Neighborhood board will address the issue of noise from PRTF on 9 May at their regularly scheduled monthly meeting.

You can find blog comments about PRTF at our website at https://www.quieteroahu.com/our-noise-blog . If you would like to respond please email us at quieteroahu@gmail.com and we will post your response to our Noise Blog as-received and without editing.

Mahalo,
Quieter O'ahu

Comment Received From Public Affairs Office, Marine Corps Base Hawai'i:

The following comments was received from the USMC PAO at MCBH. We are publishing "As-Received" with no additions or deletions:

KBAZ_COMMSTRAT <kbaz_commstrat@usmc.mil>11:00 AM (5 hours ago)
to me

Aloha,

Thank you for reaching out to us. We take our role as community member very seriously despite our small presence in this area. The Marine Corps has been actively training in Ewa Beach since 1915. We do as much as we can to be good neighbors while continuing to train Marines, as well as people from other agencies and military services.

In 2018, two of our ranges were down for maintenance for over 6 months. While this caused a backlog in training, it gave the community an unusual break from day to day operations. As operations resumed in 2019 there has been an adjustment period. As a result, we have worked with the range manager to lower the volume while maintaining our training and safety effectiveness.

Moving forward, we will continue our cooperative relationship by announcing future training pauses and the commencements. We thank you for your patience as we continue to ensure that our service members receive the training they need to do our nation’s work and return safely. If you have noise concerns, please feel free to reach out to us at (808) 257-8832. All calls are logged and responded to.

R/S,
Communication Strategy & Operations
Marine Corps Base Hawaii
Office: 808.257.1365
Email: kbaz_commstrat@usmc.mil

Official Website: http://www.mcbhawaii.marines.mil
Imagery Archive & Resources: https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/MCBH
MCBH SharePoint (CAC only): https://eis.usmc.mil/sites/mcbhot/commstrat/default.aspx
Follow Us: https://www.facebook.com/MarineCorpsBaseHawaii

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Ewa Neighborhood Board Meeting - Issue: LOUD Noise From Pu'uloa Firing Range

5/1/2019

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Comment:

The Ewa Neighborhood Board would like to hear from people disturbed by the extraordinarily loud, new announcer at the Pu'uloa Firing Range. The neighborhood board will meet at the Campbell High School Cafeteria on May 9th, at 7 PM. We need a show of force!

Quieter O'ahu Response:

Aloha,

Thanks for your note. We will post it to our blog and also send out to our subscriber list (200+ people). We'll make the case to support the Ewa Neighborhood Board discussion on 9 May and hopefully we can increase turnout.

We have also added you to our subscriber mailing list for information time-to-time on noise and related issues.

Mahalo,
Quieter O'ahu

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Can Emergency Sirens Be Made More Tolerable??

4/29/2019

1 Comment

New York City is now considering new legislation that would change the frequency and tone of its current emergency vehicle (e.g., ambulance, fire, police) sirens to that used in most European cities. The European style is the same loundness/Decibels, but is lower in both frequency of the sound and the tonal pattern. Many respondents have opined that the European version is better tolerated than the U.S. version. We understand from available literature that most contemporary sirens installed in emergency vehicles are programmable, and many could be changed to different tones with the the flip of a switch or two. The Waikiki Neighborhood Board is looking at this issue as a potential solution to the out-of-control emergency vehicle noise that plagues Waikiki today.

Read the article on what's happening with sirens in New York City.

1 Comment

Landscaping Equipment Noisy in Kailua

4/22/2019

1 Comment

Comment:

Weedwackers and leaf blowers should be battery or manual.
How about starting an on line petition to either Honolulu city council or state legislature?

Quieter O'ahu Response:

Aloha,
Thanks for the note. There has been a lot of legislative discussion over the past few years about weed trimmers and leaf blowers. Opinions were heard from all sides, and although the overwhelming majority were in favor of a quieter solution, battery or corded electric, the legislature once again sided with the industry and passed legislation that only limited the times of day that these noisy gas-powered tools could be used.

We do from time to time conduct email and petition campaigns where we ask our subscribers (now 200+ and we just added your name) to sign petitions or to directly email their city council or legislature. We have the gas-powered landscaping tools on our to-do list and will in the near future see if there's again an opportunity to petition the legislature for better laws and enforcement.

Mahalo,
Quieter O'ahu

1 Comment

Happy Easter - Have Some Noise In Nu'uanu

4/22/2019

1 Comment

Comment:

Below is a letter written to the Manager and Board of Directors of the Nu'uanu YMCA with copies to Carol Fukunaga, City Council, the Downtown Neighborhood Board, Mayor Kirk Caldwell, and Quieter O'ahu Quieter O'ahu has removed any personally identifying information.

21 April, 2019

I trust that you enjoyed a peaceful Easter holiday with family and friends. I, however, did not. I am a resident of [Nu'uanu] (since 2004). Early this morning my Sunday and holiday were disturbed by your tree trimmers; they cut and shredded and used noisy blowers until after 4:00 pm.

That may have been convenient for your members; however, I suggest that you consider your neighbors when planning such events. I have, in the past asked you to allow the residents of Downtown to enjoy ONE day a week and a holiday without the sound of choppers and blowers.

Recently, I spoke with your Manager because your trash haulers were coming at 3:30 am - and he did indeed stop that.

Those of us who live downtown appreciate the many positives - shopping, restaurants, banks, convenience …but we also deal with a huge problem - traffic noise, soot, pollution, sirens and helicopters, homeless individuals, crime and the problem is worsening.

I am copying those who may (I hope) address some these ancillary issues.

But I do expect the Nu’uanu Y to be a good neighbor, and I hope that the other agencies I have copied will respond as well.

With aloha,

Quieter O'ahu Response:

You said in your letter what many others are thinking - constantly. It is noisy; unnecessarily noisy!! Just the situations alone that you address are issues for everyone across the island. As our population density grows - and it is growing - we ALL have to be mindful that our actions directly or indirectly affect our neighbors and our neighborhood. Industry has to adapt to a new-normal which includes doing their noisy-work during more agreeable times of the day, week, month, and year. Your approach to your Council, neighborhood board, and Mayor are on-target. We encourage greater participation in the neighborhood board venue where one voice can literally change the rules of business for a board, and cause issues to be raised to higher priority because people are willing to speak out.

We have added you to our distribution list and from time-to-time will address issues where we recommend signing petitions, or direct email campaigns to elected officials, highlighting the growing noise in our community and underscoring that we expect their attention to the issue of mitigating noise or we will happily find candidates for their seat who will.

We will post your letter to our blog for the benefit of others, without your name or identifying information. Thanks you for contacting us.

Mahalo,
Quieter O'ahu

1 Comment

Racetrack In Ewa - Big Ewa Opposition

3/31/2019

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Comment:
Aloha,

Attached you will find Save Ewa Field - Kanehili Cultural Hui opposition to SCR 108 - a raceway park in Ewa Kapolei.

Members of the community, various veterans organizations and the Kapolei neighborhood board #34 oppose this raceway site location. Many feel that outside racetrack lobbyists are trying to impose their scheme on our community.

The testimony in opposition includes 13 point against having the raceway on MCAS Ewa this site. This same racetrack group disparaged veterans and fought against a resolution supporting a public park with an Ewa Battlefield memorial park component, causing the resolution to be blocked from passage.

Also included in testimony:

The sordid, corrupt, backstabbing history of Oahu racetracks
The Fall of Drag Racing
Drag racing: The loudest “sport”

Please oppose Resolution SCR 108: EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE RACETRACK OR RACEWAY – at historic National Register MCAS Ewa Field, located in the center of the Ewa Kapolei communities of Ewa Villages, Ewa by Gentry, Haseko Hoakalei Ocean Pointe, Ka Makana Alii Mall, DHHL Kaupe’a, Kanehili and GrayStar apartments (former Orion Village) among others.

Quieter O'ahu Response:
Quieter O'ahu is presenting the opinion expressed by the "Save Ewa Field - Kanehili Cultural Hui" in its entirety above. In addition, we have added SCR108 and links to its legislative page on our CURRENT LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITY and LEGISLATION TO WATCH pages (click on either to go directly to those pages) under Hawai'i Noise Laws on the Home Page menu. The testimony submitted by the Kanehili Cultural Hui can be found below.

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Motorcycles Keep Getting Louder and Louder. When Will HPD Say ENOUGH!!

3/24/2019

1 Comment

Comment
I am unhappy with the excessive motorcycle noise in front of my apartment on Ala Moana Boulevard. Mopeds, Harley Davidsons and bikes that sound like Harleys roar up and down and the law is never enforced. I even went to Ala Moana Boulevard when the hogs were doing their toys for tots drive and recorded decibel levels in excess of 100 when they pulled out of the park into the parade. That's also when the gave their bikes a little celebratory revving. "Noise, man, noise; lots of noise!" you could hear them saying as if paradise is found in a snarling machine. They seem to enjoy the macho camaraderie of being in a gang that makes the loudest roar. A policeman with several stars on his shoulders was standing there overseeing everything. I asked him what would be done by his officers. He shrugged his shoulders, probably thinking I was a cad to be raining on the toys for tots effort. The regulations I've discovered on my own research (which I'm sure is incomplete) says things like "an exhaust system should fail inspection if it emits a much louder noise than that emitted by the vehicle as equipped from the factory". And what if Harley Davidsons are built too loud in the first place? They are capable of 80 dB with no modification from day one yet a bill in the Hawaii legislature in 2017 prohibited vehicles making more than sixty decibels.
The potentially good news is Harley is making an electric motorcycle which will be noiseless. Now is the time to make sure they don't add a noisemaker to the system so their customer base will still be able to enjoy their noise. So now is the time to enact legislation that bars registration of any vehicle CAPABLE of making more than 60 dB. The average dB level for a car idling at a traffic light is about 40 dB; and it goes up to 60 on the freeway; but a hog can do 80 without trying. Sometimes Harley’s go over 100 dB without modification of the factory original. Don't forget 70 dB is ten times louder than 60; and 80 dB is ten times louder than 70, which means it’s fully 100 times louder than 60. This is unsafe. What can I do?

Quieter O'ahu Response:
Aloha. Thanks for your note. Agree with your assessment completely. Would point out that the loudest of the loud aftermarket exhausts for motorcycles registers a booming 125dB. On our motorcycle noise page we have a video of a common "Loud Pipe Contest" at a bike rally and you again are correct that it's just about the noise. Nothing else. Mine is bigger/louder than yours. Infantile.

What can you do? We always recommend participating and lending your voice in your neighborhood board. I think you'll find many more like-minded members of the community. At the board meetings urge - insist - that your board hold HPD accountable for non-enforcement. There's an HPD rep every month at every board meeting and anyone can ask them questions. A good one might be "why aren't you enforcing the law?"

For Quieter O'ahu, we continue to educate the public about noise, the mechanics of noise, and the worst noises we face on O'ahu. We are also building a mailing list of concerned individuals and when we reach a meaningful threshold or about 250 - 300 participants (we're at approximately 200 now) we plan on beginning mailing campaigns to HPD, City Council, and the Legislature letting them know in a full-throated voice that we've had enough and we're going to begin voting our dissatisfaction with their performance on containing noise. With approximately 250 participants we project we can generate upwards to 500 - 750 emails. That would be significant.

We'll post your comments to our blog without attribution. Helps others knowing that they're not alone with their frustrations over noise.

Thanks again for your input.

1 Comment

Hawai'i Study On Urban Noise - Something To Watch and Track!

2/25/2019

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New page added, "Legislation To Watch" under Hawai'i Noise Laws. Both the House and Senate in 2018 offered concurrent resolutions, HCR72 and SCR61, for a study of urban noise by the Department of Health.

We've posted full text of the resolution for your reading pleasure. We all need to get behind this study and ensure that it is done correctly and that appropriate recommendations from the study don't fall through the cracks. Definitely a "MUST WATCH" if you're concerned about noise on O'ahu and across the State. Link to the new page HERE.

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Really Loud People On Windward Beaches - Where's The Aloha For Others?

2/24/2019

0 Comments

Comment:
I'm so glad I came across your site! I thought I was the only one around here who is so sick and tired of all the constant noise on this island.

I live on the windward side in a complex that is near Kamehameha highway. The traffic noise on the road is horrible but I've learned how to tune it out. I'm fortunate to be closer to the beach side but I have some questions about noise enforcement on beaches-

Is there a certain time of the day when noise is supposed to be enforced on the beach? There are many tourists who stay at the complex next door and seem to lose all sense of time when they are on vacation. They will walk on the beach early in the morning to catch the sunrise and you can hear their kids screaming and yelling as they run around in excitement, despite the sun not even being out yet. There are also times at night when people are on the beach making noise. Enforcement is difficult out here since the only police department is in Kahuku and they are handling situations that happen between Kaaawa and North Shore.

I get that it's the beach and people want to have fun but there are also people residing in the buildings on these beaches who also have a right to their peace of mind. Security in our building can't enforce noise that's on the beach either- what can we do when things get too loud? Even though there's no public beach access at the building I live in, many people, locals and tourists, still trespass either through our parking lot or through the church next door. I understand kids are kids but there are also people who work all sorts of different hours of the day and need to sleep. It's often too hot to close all of the windows to tune out sound as well.

Second thing is that there's a church right next door to my building and almost every Saturday, around 6:30-7:00 in the morning, someone is already out there for 3-4 hours at a time mowing the lawn. Is that allowed?

Thank you for running this site!!

Quieter O'ahu Response:
Aloha,

I REALLY wish I could provide some good news, but in this case, don't think I can. Where there's a beach in Hawai'i there's noise. Fact of living in a tourist-oriented paradise. I could cite the Department of Health's administrative rules on established day and nighttime noise levels, they're posted on our site under "the quiet you're entitled to" but that would possibly raise your hopes that something might be done and, regrettably, it won't be. At least not now. We are increasing our lobbying of city council and the legislature for greater enforcement of existing noise ordinances and statutes by HPD, and also trying to make everyone more sensitive to the increasing noise everywhere. Every additional person that we add to our mailing list - and we'll be adding you - is potentially one more email in our upcoming email campaigns to city council and state legislature outlining the problems of noise here on O'ahu and across the state and asking, as a voting block, for action on this important issue.

Thanks for the note, and while we perhaps couldn't help this time, at least you have our empathy. We hate it, too. We will share your thoughts on our noise blog for the benefit of others, without your identifying information of course.

Mahalo,
Quieter O'ahu

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Also, use the "Contact A Quieter O'ahu" form (under "About Us" on the menu bar) to let us hear from you. We continue to compile email addresses of those interested in reclaiming quiet for our island to inform of noise and related issues of interest. From time to time Quieter O'ahu may recommend contacting City Council or the Legislator to make your feelings known on a particular noise or related Bill.

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