City Council aims for expanded law

Honolulu City Council members are again seeking to expand the boundaries of the law that bans sitting and lying on certain sidewalks — this time in the Aala Park and McCully areas. And city attorneys again are voicing concerns about the Council’s ability to do so.

Bill 6, passed out of the Council Zoning and Planning Committee on April 2, does two things.

First, it allows the sit-lie ordinance to shore up Bill 48, the business district sit-lie law passed last year, by applying the prohibition to both sides of the streets in existing sit-lie areas. Supporters of the sit-lie law say Bill 48, which prohibits sitting and lying on sidewalks in 15 different business districts around Oahu from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, allows the homeless or others who camp along a sidewalk to simply cross a street into an area outside a designated no-sit-lie ordinance.

Second, Bill 6 calls for the sit-lie prohibition to be in place in three new areas — all of which have seen influxes of homeless campers in recent months:

» McCully Street, from South Beretania Street to Algaroba Street; and Makahiki Way from Algaroba Street to South King Street.

» A new Aala zone that is bounded by North Beretania, Aala, River and North Kukui streets.

» The sidewalks that border Aala Park itself, bounded by North Beretania, North King and River streets.

Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi, the author of Bill 6, said, "The problem of people living on sidewalks has been really exacerbated when the first areas were designated." 

She pointed to the area fronting McCully-Moiliili Library as one problem area. "Attendance has dropped off at the library," Kobayashi said. "It’s not fair that people, the children especially, cannot go to the library."

Councilwoman Carol Fukunaga said she added the Aala portion because "it has suddenly seen an influx of additional individuals into the area following adoption of some of the other legislation that the Council passed last year."

Councilman Joey Manahan said adding the Aala portion to the sit-lie ban should be accompanied by expanding the prohibition to the three sidewalks that border Aala Park.

Under the original Bill 48, people were barred from sitting or lying down on public sidewalks from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily in specified boundaries in Chinatown, downtown Hono­lulu, McCully, Moiliili, Kai­lua, Wahiawa, Ala Moana-Sheridan, Pawaa, Kane­ohe, Waimanalo, Kapa­hulu, Wai­alae, Kahala, Aina Haina and Niu Valley, and Hawaii Kai.

At the time, city attorneys warned that a sit-lie sidewalk ban could be established only in areas where it could be proved that sidewalk dwellers were having a negative impact on neighborhood businesses. As a result, some areas were taken out of the final draft before it was passed.

Deputy Corporation Counsel Don Kitaoka reiterated for Council members the "limitations and constitutional restrictions" on how a sit-lie ordinance can be applied.

"The Council should just keep in mind that interference with commercial activities is the basis for many of the sit-lie bills," Kitaoka said.

"The purpose behind the sit-lie bills is basically to preserve commercial activities or to prevent interference with commercial activities," he said. "So commercial activities (are) oftentimes an indicator of whether the sit-lie bills can be upheld constitutionally. So if the areas have commercial activities associated with (them), the better for the bills."

Manahan said the additions being proposed for the Aala area were proposed after area merchants gave him a walking tour of the area.

A representative of the Izumo Taishakyo Mission of Hawaii, which operates a Shinto shrine at College Walk and Kukui Street, testified for the bill, while the Kukui Children’s Foundation, which owns and operates the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Kukui Center office building at North Kukui and Aala, submitted written testimony describing how its nonprofit tenants have been disrupted by people who camp in the area.

But Salt Lake resident Dennis Egge said he’s worried pushing homeless campers out of some neighborhoods will simply push them into others.

"My concern, where I live, is as you expand your no-sit, no-lie zone downtown … my neighborhood is going to be next," Egge said. "I think you need to step back and take a look at the bigger picture."

Council Zoning Chairman Ikaika Anderson said he and other members sought unsuccessfully last year to pass an islandwide sit-lie bill. City attorneys warned the bill was constitutionally flawed, "and unfortunately, we weren’t able to muster enough support on the Council to pass the legislation forward. Nonetheless, I still believe that would be the best way to implement this policy — holistically rather than piecemeal. But those of us who feel that way are in the minority."

Waikiki resident Linda Wong said the sit-lie measures are creating a "shell game" of sorts. "I don’t believe we have enough shelters to house all of the homeless people," Wong said. "Every time you make these sweeps in the shell game, there are not enough beds to take them all in. I think we do need to provide housing."

Fukunaga and Anderson said the Council has taken other actions designed to address those concerns, including placing $35 million in this year’s budget for the Caldwell administration to develop permanent housing for the homeless.

Bill 6 now goes to the full Council for a public hearing, likely on April 22.