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CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM
Homeless people slept on the sidewalk on Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki last week. The City Council on Thursday is set to consider bills banning lying and sitting on sidewalks in Waikiki and a section of Chinatown. A third bill expanding the ban to include all of Oahu is backed by Councilman Ikaika Anderson.
Three bills that would ban sitting and lying on sidewalks in Waikiki and elsewhere on Oahu were abruptly deferred indefinitely by the Honolulu City Council’s Zoning and Planning Committee Thursday afternoon.
Council members expressed frustration at what they saw as a lack of progress on a broad-stroke plan to combat homelessness by Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s administration.
They noted that the administration had said last month that vouchers designed to help homeless individuals and families forced off the sidewalks by the bills would be available by August.
But on Thursday, administration officials told committee members that a request for proposals would be issued to help facilitate the program next month, and that a contractor likely would not be selected until October.
The committee also deferred two bills that would have banned urination and defecation in Waikiki and across Oahu.
Zoning Chairman Ikaika Anderson said the bills likely won’t return to his committee for consideration until the administration is able to provide specific details and timelines for its homeless plan.
