Next to a speaker playing karaoke music and a pot boiling on a grill at Oneula Beach Park on Saturday afternoon, Ewa Beach resident Shay Arneho said she was worried similar family gatherings would end if plans go through to close the beach park at night.

Arneho, who was with about a dozen family members and friends camping at the West Oahu beach, also known as “Hau Bush,” for the Labor Day weekend, said a nightly closure at the park would “limit our access to the beach,” where the ashes of her father and numerous other family members have been spread.

Arneho was among several people at the beach Saturday who opposed plans to close it from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. nightly as a way to control drug use, homelessness, and what some say is growing crime in the area.

Councilwoman Kymberly Pine said by phone Saturday that nighttime closure of the park is being discussed again because of the increasing crime.

“Crime is out of control,” she said.

Police have told her two teenage girls being trafficked for sex in exchange for drugs were recently rescued from the park and a teenage boy was stabbed at the park about two months ago.

She said she regularly sees drug deals there, crime has been spilling into surrounding neighborhoods, and police have told her the park is one of the top places on the island for drug deals. She said that could be because Oneula is the last park on Oahu that remains open at night and “everybody goes there from around the island.”

Pine said police have recommended to her that the city close the beach at night to reduce crime and to allow officers to tell vagrants or others to leave the park at night.

She said numerous people have called her “crazy” for trying to close the beach at night because some people would be strongly opposed. Pine has hosted three public meetings over the issue to get community feedback. At the last meeting on Thursday, shouts erupted from the dozens in attendance and at least one person had to be removed.

Pine said she created fishing and camping committees to address those issues if the park were closed. She said fishermen, however, would still be allowed to fish along the shoreline at night under the state’s protection of public shoreline access.

The feedback from the meetings will be reported to the advisory Board of Parks and Recreation, which must approve the recommendation and send it to the Department of Parks and Recreation director for a final decision. Pine said the community will have another chance to submit testimony when the issue goes before the advisory board.

Ewa resident Treat Harris, who said she goes to the park everyday, picked up several bags of trash while visiting on Saturday. She said she supported nighttime closure because it would cut down on drug activity and homelessness.

“It’s definitely going to work,” she said, calling the beach a unique place. “It’s my home. It’s my beach.”

Pine said it was imperative that the city take steps to protect the park because it will soon be spending several million to repair the park’s ballfield and restrooms and repair potholes. She said the Hawaii Tourism Authority is also planning to install about 12 cameras at the park.

Arneho said she opposed the nighttime closure because it’s about “saving and protecting what is left of something that is very special to us.”

She said Hau Bush was unfairly being targeted and only bad news was being raised about the park.

She said closing the beach at night would limit access to family activities such as camping and wouldn’t solve the problems, which are happening at other beach parks as well.