Measure to ban lying down on city sidewalks is deferred

The City Council Public Safety and Economic Development Committee on Tuesday shelved a bill that would ban people from lying down on sidewalks — a measure that opponents said would criminalize homelessness.

Three members on the five-member committee — Ikaika Anderson, Breene Hari­moto and Kymberly Pine — said they would not support the bill introduced by Councilman Stanley Chang. Council Public Safety Chairwoman Carol Fuku­naga then recommended deferring Bill 59.

Fukunaga and Chang said they intend to work on the bill to address concerns raised by colleagues and the public.

The bill originally called for the ban to take place across Oahu. But recent drafts limited the prohibition to Chinatown, the Capitol District and Waikiki after city attorneys raised warnings about potential legal challenges based on overly broad time and place restrictions.

Chang has fought off criticism of the bill, insisting repeatedly that it does not focus on the homeless and would apply to anyone who lies on the sidewalk.

"It doesn’t affect the homeless, it doesn’t penalize them, it doesn’t criminalize them," he said, but simply attempts to clear the island’s sidewalks for the safety of pedestrians for whom they were created.

"Places across the island have been affected by an increasing epidemic of people who are obstructing our sidewalks," he said. "These sidewalks were made for public passage; they’re not designed to accommodate people lying down on them, and the result is that it is dangerous for both pedestrians and the people lying down on the sidewalks."

But Harimoto said it was disingenuous for the bill’s supporters to claim it did not target the homeless "because who else is lying down on the sidewalks? I just think we need to be honest."

While the issue of people lying on sidewalks and impeding the public right of way is a serious problem, "I’m not sure making another law is the right thing to do," Hari­moto said.

He added, "I think all we’re doing is moving people around — they go away and they come back."

Echoing the comments of at least one public opponent of the bill, Hari­moto suggested that the Council should let the Caldwell administration’s Housing First plan take effect before new laws are enacted. The Housing First model is based on the philosophy that the priority for government is to first create safe housing options for the homeless and to deal with treatment of the underlying causes of homelessness.

Members of (de)Occupy Hono­lulu and homeless advocates testified against the bill, arguing that it unfairly targeted the homeless. But a few people testified in favor of the bill, arguing it would be helpful for the public and businesses affected by people blocking their entrances.