Landscape planter boxes may soon prevent the tents of (de)Occupy Honolulu members from returning along the Beretania and King street sidewalks at Thomas Square.
The city will begin installing the planters on the Beretania Street side in the coming days and then do the same on the King Street side, Jesse Broder Van Dyke, spokesman for Mayor Kirk Caldwell, said Monday.
In a related development, the city closed the King Street sidewalk in front of the park where (de)Occupy Honolulu’s tents have been in place since early March, when the city shut down the Beretania-side sidewalk for park improvements. In response the group moved about a dozen of its tents across King Street and onto the sidewalk fronting the Blaisdell Center Concert Hall, where they say they will stay until they can return to the Beretania side of Thomas Square.
(De)Occupy Honolulu members, on the heels of celebrating their 555th day at the park, said they will continue their around-the-clock protest against the government’s policies toward homelessness and other issues despite the latest moves by the city.
"This is not going to stop the movement," said Christopher "Nova" Smith, a (de)Occupy Honolulu member.
Broder Van Dyke said the planter boxes are part of a larger beautification project designed to spruce up Thomas Square in anticipation of its 170th anniversary this summer.
Caldwell has inserted $1 million into the coming fiscal 2014 operating budget for improvements at Thomas Square.
Trimming of branches from the massive banyans on the Beretania side of the park is done, as is the installation of hedges along the inner portion of the sidewalk along Beretania, Broder Van Dyke said in a news release that also said, "Grass reseeding will take place shortly."
The sidewalks are being steam-cleaned in preparation of the planter box installation, he said.
Meanwhile, tree trimming will continue in the park, Broder Van Dyke said.
Sugar Russell, a (de)Occupy Honolulu member, said the city’s latest actions make it clear the plan is ultimately designed to remove the group from the park.
"They’re trying to get us to disband, and that’s not going to work," Russell said.
Russell said the group has been criticized by the city for blocking the sidewalks when the group has taken great pains to ensure that tents and other structures leave at least 36 inches of clearance for people to pass by, the minimum allowed under current law, based on accessability guidelines in the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Efforts to maintain clearance continue in front of the Blaisdell Concert Hall, where there is a wider sidewalk, leaving a minimum of 50 inches when factoring in the largest and widest tent, she said.
"There’s ample space for people to pass safely," Russell said. "But as soon as they open Beretania, we will be back there, back at home."
But that was before Broder Van Dyke’s announcement that planters are being installed.
Notified of the city’s latest move, Smith said, "By constricting the sidewalks, they’re effectively doing what they’ve been accusing us of doing."
(De)Occupy Honolulu supporters will now have to regroup and figure out their next move, he said.
Last week Caldwell signed Bill 7 (2013), which allows the city to remove summarily any items deemed "sidewalk nuisances." The bill would supercede the existing Stored Property Ordinance, which allows the city to remove objects left on city property if they have been tagged 24 hours in advance.
(De)Occupy supporters say the new law, expected to be enforced this summer after rules are in place, is unconstitutional and criminalizes homelessness.
