City officials now say the site used by the Occupy Honolulu encampment at the edge of Thomas Square is part of the city park, which is closed to the public at 10 p.m. nightly.
The city did not, however, indicate whether or when it would take steps to evict the campers, who first appeared at Ward Avenue and South Beretania Street on Nov. 5.
However, police said Thursday evening that they would issue warnings at 10 p.m. Thursday and possibly arrest anyone still there at 11 p.m.
Mayor Peter Carlisle’s office said in a statement earlier in the day that the city had completed a survey "to definitively establish the boundaries" of the park.
"A few people have remained along the edges of the square after the closure, as its exact boundaries were not clearly delineated," the statement said. "The survey established that several paths and benches along the square’s periphery are within its boundaries, which extend approximately to the sidewalk surrounding the square."
Megan Brooker, an Occupy Honolulu spokeswoman, said personnel from the Police, Transportation, Parks and Facility Maintenance departments toured the park earlier Thursday. Officials marked the ground with dots to designate park boundaries, she said.
"We’ve been given notice that the cement area where our camp is located is supposedly part of the park," Brooker said.
About 10 people have been staying overnight at the site, with others going there during the day, she said.
Brooker said city officials did not say when the boundaries will be enforced.
"They told us this is a notification and not a warning," she said. "We’re expecting the city will come back at some point with a more formal warning."
City spokesman Jim Fulton said Thursday night he did not know when enforcement would begin.
Brooker said Occupy Honolulu participants met with Carlisle shortly before Christmas and were told by the mayor that he would not offer them any exemption allowing them to stay at the park. The campers had requested the exemption, citing the First Amendment right to free speech.
