The Kaneohe Neighborhood Board will discusss the future of the popular, but controversial Haiku Stairs this evening, now that the draft environmental impact statement has been published.

While the Honolulu Board of Water Supply has proposed dismantling the stairs as one of the options in the draft, and residents have complained of trespassers creating nuisances to get to them, there are also a number of supporters that want the stairs to remain.

Board chair Maurice Radke said the BWS requested the item on the agenda in order to answer questions from the community regarding the DEIS.

In 2017, the board already took a position, in which it supported seeking a planned or monitored access plan directing hikers away from residential neighborhoods. BWS is expected to offer a presentation and answer questions from the community tonight.

Vernon Ansdell, president of Friends of Ha‘iku Stairs, say the DEIS shows that keeping the stairs open, with managed access, is one of the best options presented. The Friends held a sign-waving rally to save the stairs earlier this month. Ansdell said members of Friends will be present at the meeting tonight to present their views.

The neighborhood board meeting is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. tonight at the Benjamin Parker Elementary School cafeteria. A copy of the meeting agenda is available online.

The four volumes of the DEIS are available through the Office of Environmental Quality Control’s Environmental Notice. Public input on the DEIS will be accepted through Aug. 7.