Vote due on Waimanalo beach park tour bus ban

A contentious bill that aims to curb tour vehicles at the city’s Waimanalo beaches will be up for a final vote at today’s Honolulu City Council meeting.

Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s administration is opposed to Bill 8 (2015) and wants the Council to instead continue to work with it to create an islandwide policy.

But Council Planning and Transportation Chairman Ikaika Anderson, who represents Waimanalo, said the community has already waited too long to get some relief from park facilities overrun with tour buses and other commercial entities that are skirting existing law.

The bill, in its latest form, would prohibit commercial tour stops at several smaller Waimanalo beach parks while allowing five permitted tour operators to stop at Waimanalo Bay Beach Park, also known as Sherwood Forest, from sunrise to sunset on weekdays. Those operators would be able to use only tour vans or other vehicles that seat no more than 15 passengers.

Commercial film and wedding businesses would not be affected in the latest version.

Anderson, at a Jan. 12 committee meeting, described the latest draft as “a fair compromise” and reminded colleagues that commercial stops are already prohibited — even for those with city permits to operate commercially at city beach parks — at Waimanalo, Kaiona, Kaupo, Makai Pier and Makapuu beach parks.

“I’m simply aiming to put into ordinance what is already prohibited via the permit so that we have a clear process, and everybody understands, that these activities are prohibited and to actually give this rule some additional teeth,” Anderson said.

But city Parks and Recreation Director-designate Michele Nekota called the bill’s definition of commercial activity too broad and said the measure would apply “to activities which are clearly not commercial in nature.”

She urged the Council to work with the administration on policies that could be applied uniformly at all of the more than 300 city parks “rather than customized for specific parks, thus creating a patchwork of regulations across Oahu which may result in confusion by the park users.”

Nekota said the administration further has concerns because the bill would direct her department on its City Charter functions rather than establish legislative policy, thus making it a violation of the “separation of powers” doctrine. What Anderson is proposing is a change that typically would be done through the administrative rule-making process, she said.

Anderson, pointing out that he first introduced his bill nearly two years ago, pressed Nekota for the administration’s progress on islandwide rules.

“I think we still need to work with the Council members, each of them, to make sure that each of the Council members, in their districts, are comfortable,” Nekota said. “I think we can probably do it in a matter of two months.”

Anderson said he hasn’t seen any progress in the two years since he introduced his bill.

“I just can’t see asking the community to wait any longer,” he said, noting that previous administrations have also failed to come up with islandwide parks rules on recreational activities.

Tour operators and their supporters say the bill is anti-business and would worsen traffic and parking problems by encouraging tourists to trek into the area with more rental vehicles. Some proposed setting aside areas where tour vehicles could park after dropping visitors at the beach.

Hawaii Kai resident Charles Hunter, who described himself as a representative of businesses and individuals who would be adversely affected by the bill, said the measure has failed to pass in two years’ time because it is problematic. “It seeks to prevent any kind of paid transportation from going into the parks,” he said.

Anderson responded that he isn’t trying to discourage visitors into the area, but “change the way they do come.”

Similar restrictions, largely through Anderson’s efforts, have been enacted at Kailua beaches. Rental cars are more frequent at those facilities now, he said, but the situation is now “much better because you don’t have those large buses and large limousines taking up parking that would otherwise be available to residents.”

Anderson dismissed the idea of creating separate parking areas.

“They simply don’t belong there,” he said.

Some area residents applauded Anderson’s latest proposal.

Waimanalo Beach Lots resident Ted Ralston said the lands in question are public lands. “It doesn’t mean private,” he said. Failure to maintain the lands in such a manner requires the state to take them back, he said.

Waimanalo advocate Kukana Kama-Toth said the tour buses do not stop at local establishments, while tourists visiting the beaches with rental cars do.

“We’re not against tourists. Waimanalo is beautiful, please come and visit it,” she said. “We’re just really against the way that they’ve been coming because it’s such an impact on our community. Waimanalo is a rural community. We’ve been there six-plus generations, and we just need some kokua. It’s been too long.”