Kakaako parks and acreage to transfer from state to city

The state officially will transfer Kakaako Waterfront Park, its sister parks and nearly 41 acres of land to the city Friday after Mayor Kirk Caldwell and the head of the Hawaii Community Development Authority signed an agreement Tuesday.

The signing ceremony at the entrance of the park was followed by a Hawaiian blessing, representing the latest chapter for Kakaako Waterfront, which started out as a municipal landfill and in 2015 became overrun with more than 300 homeless people who comprised one of America’s largest homeless encampments.

The deal included a check for $2.25 million that HCDA Executive Director Aedward Los Banos presented to Caldwell for landscaping improvements and to repair damage to the parks’ electrical system, sprinklers and three bathrooms that has been blamed on homeless vandals.

The title transfer is unlikely to affect ongoing homeless sweeps in the area.

After the Kakaako encampment exploded into the open — leading to violence and unsanitary conditions — the state authorized city crews and Honolulu police officers to enforce the city’s stored property and sidewalk nuisance ordinances on state land in Kakaako in August 2015 through a so-called right-of-entry agreement.

A special city cleanup crew enforces the ordinances three to four times a week in the area, said Ross Sasamura, director of the city Department of Facility Maintenance.

Honolulu police have been the lead law enforcement agency conducting homeless sweeps in the area, according to Caldwell, who prefers the term “enforcement actions.”

Sasamura said Tuesday that from homeless encampments across the entire island, city crews have collected 5.7 million pounds of trash and debris, 4,091 cubic yards of metals and 16,931 shopping carts since January 2013.

In Kakaako the city is better equipped and staffed to manage Kakaako Waterfront Park, Kewalo Basin Park, Kakaako Gateway Mauka Park and Kakaako Gateway Makai Park, Los Banos said.

The city also plans to hire three park rangers who will patrol from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., according to parks Director Michele Nekota.

Caldwell called Tuesday’s signing ceremony “a historic day in the City and County of Honolulu.”

He thanked Gov. David Ige and the HCDA, and encouraged groups to make greater use of the parks to make them “active” and discourage illegal and unwanted behavior.