The city is negotiating with the state to use vacant property at Sand Island as a temporary site for Oahu’s homeless individuals and families to set up tents and receive help from service providers, Caldwell administration officials told members of the City Council Zoning and Planning Committee Thursday.

The site would be open only until the city can provide more permanent housing options under its Housing First program, Managing Director Ember Shinn said, estimating that would take a year to 18 months.

The news came as the Zoning Committee advanced five bills that will make it more difficult for homeless individuals and families to stay on Oahu sidewalks. Three of the bills, the so-called "sit-lie"measures, would ban lying and sitting on public sidewalks in Waikiki and across the island. The other two would ban urinating and defecating in public in Waikiki and throughout the island.

The approvals came after more than four hours of often emotional public testimony that again underscored a chasm in views on homelessness. Proponents spoke of the need to clear Oahu’s sidewalks for pedestrians and clean up unsightliness in Waikiki and other business districts. Opponents called the bills inhumane and tantamount to criminalizing living on the streets.

In July, the same committee abruptly deferred the five bills, citing concerns that the administration had not provided enough specifics on how the service side of Caldwell’s so-called "compassionate disruption" policy would work. Council Zoning Chairman Ikaika Anderson said the bills would be brought back only if Caldwell could outline how services would be provided to act in concert with the enforcement bills being considered.

Anderson said after the committee meeting that the information now before Council members satisfies the committee’s demand for more specifics.

Shinn also announced during the meeting that the city will open a secured, 24-hour restroom in Waikiki near Kuhio Beach in the coming weeks in anticipation of a urination-defecation measure becoming law. A formal call for proposals to provide more permanent shelter was also issued by the city this week, Shinn said, with a contractor expected to be selected and working in October.

In addition, she announced long-term plans to convert Hale Pauahi into a homeless facility and move existing tenants there to nearby Winston Hale. Both housing complexes would be renovated as part of a $42 million appropriation earmarked for homeless and affordable housing projects over the next two years.

Anderson noted that he specifically urged the mayor to work with the state on land for a temporary shelter plan. "Over the course of the last month is when this project really came to fruition, and had we not held these bills up, would we be talking about this temporary solution today?Iwould argue probably not," he said.

Shinn stressed that the Sand Island site would not be a "safe zone" or "tent city" where tenants are simply provided land to camp as was tried at Aala Park under former Mayor Frank Fasi. The temporary shelter site would include myriad services including bathrooms with showers, security, transportation, hygiene centers and storage space.

Permanent supportive housing is "not just shelter, it’s services," she said.

"We have looked at many, many sites over the last six months," Shinn said. "Everywhere from park-and-rides in Hawaii Kai to Ala Wai Golf Course to Aloha Park in Waikiki to the Aiea Sugar Mill property to abandoned fire stations to all the parks that we have in the urban core to the Alapai vacant lot next to FMB (Fasi Municipal Building)."

The city is hoping to finalize a deal with the state in the next few weeks, she said. Service providers have agreed to provide help from the site, she said.

Late Thursday, Mayor Kirk Caldwell said that while negotiations with the state have focused on a single site in Sand Island, it is far from a certainty.

The five bills approved by the committee Thursday:

» Bill 42, banning sitting and lying on public sidewalks in Waikiki 24 hours a day.

» Bill 43, prohibiting urinating and defecating in public in Waikiki.

» Bill 45, banning sitting and lying on public sidewalks throughout Oahu from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.

» Bill 46, barring urinating and defecating in public areas throughout Oahu.

» Bill 48, prohibiting sitting and lying on public sidewalks in six zones in six business districts from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.

The first four bills are expected to be up for a final vote at the full Council’s Sept. 10 meeting. Bill 48 still needs two votes of the Council.

Caldwell prefers the Waikiki-only bills but told reporters late Thursday he is open to considering the islandwide measures if they come to his desk. Previously, he and his aides have voiced concerns that islandwide sit-lie and urination-defecation bills would not pass constitutional muster.

Councilman Breene Harimoto was the sole "no" vote on all the measures. He questioned why the city is rushing to pass more punitive laws when the "compassionate"part of the "compassionate disruption" equation — permanent housing and services — are not yet ready.

Acting Honolulu police Maj. Lisa Mann, commander of the Waikiki district, said the intent is to first educate the public about the new laws and then warn them if they are in violation. If they do not heed the warnings, violators would be issued citations fining them up to $1,000. Further refusal to follow the law, "and only as a last resort," would result in violators being arrested, she said.

"We do not want to arrest people," Mann said. "It takes our people off the road, it takes away from our other patrol duties."

There was testimony from both sides of the homeless debate.

Kaleoaloha Mano, who lives under a bridge along Nimitz Highway, called the bills inhumane. She added that permanent shelter may not be the solution for longtime homeless such as herself.

"I think a couple of tents, some shade, facilities and water, an area to eat and cook, basically I think we’d be happy," Mano said.

Like other homeless, Mano complained about mistreatment and misuse by authorities enforcing existing sidewalk ordinances.

Outrigger Hotels and Resorts executive Max Sword urged the committee members to support only the Waikiki bills, arguing that there is enough shelter space and other infrastructure in place to accommodate those who might be affected by the bills.

Waikiki resident Jo-Ann Adams said she supports the Waikiki bills. The sit-lie bill is concerned with sitting and lying on sidewalks, not homelessness, she said.

"It’s a sidewalk, not a side-sit, not a side-lie. It has been designed for the express purpose so that pedestrians can move from Point A to Point B, which in Waikiki is critical, because if you’re forced off the sidewalk, we have tremendous traffic problems and you are likely to be injured."

WHAT’S NEXT

The first four bills are expected to be up for a final vote at the full Council’s September meeting. Bill 48 still needs two votes of the Council. Mayor Kirk Caldwell prefers the Waikiki-only bills but said he is open to considering the islandwide measures if they come to his desk.

ENLARGE CHART