City Council proposal would mute Waikiki street performers

Waikiki street performers have come back in higher numbers, and so has the noise.

A bill now before the Honolulu City Council would make noise amplification illegal. That sounds sweet to some Waikiki residents and brick-and-mortar businesses, but it could put a crimp in some of the street-performing activities that have long been part of the tourism experience.

While Waikiki is Hawaii’s top resort district, it’s also one of the state’s most densely situated neighborhoods. Bill 43, which was introduced on Nov. 3 by Council Chair Tommy Waters, aims to balance competing interests by “preserving the tranquility of Waikiki against noise disturbances by regulating amplified sound from public property in that area.”

The bill pertains to all noise created by the use of a sound amplifier that can be heard from a distance of 30 feet or exceeds a predetermined level of decibels when measured from that distance. The proposed ordinance would exempt noise generated during an emergency or an emergency response, as well as noise from parades and other activities.

According to the bill, “a person’s right to free speech must be balanced with the right of the recipient not to listen.” Violating the ordinance could result in civil and criminal penalties.

Bill 43 doesn’t mention street performers, who recently began appearing in higher numbers after tourism ticked up and the city relaxed some restrictions. Still, some street performers say they are being unfairly targeted at a time when they and other Waikiki businesses are still recovering from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We sat at home for months during the pandemic like everyone else. It’s been hard,” said Kevin Foster, who performs along with his children Briella, 12, and Josiah, 9, in their family band, The Free Little Birds.

Street performing in Waikiki has become a way of life for the Fosters, who moved to Oahu from Hawaii island after the volcanic eruption in 2018 in the lower Puna district. It pays the bills as Kevin Foster works on a music degree at the University of Hawaii and his wife, Meredith Foster, who manages the band, works on a master’s degree in social work.

“We make more street performing for two hours three days a week than I did as a part-time teacher,” Kevin Foster said. “This is how we eat.”

Foster said performing is also food for the soul, as the family enjoys having opportunity to spread a musical message of “peace, love, unity and social justice.”

“For every person that complains, there are 20 or 30 that are thanking us for being here,” he said.

Junior Cardona, a sales associate at an ABC Store in Waikiki, said he is a fan of The Free Little Birds, who draw crowds that help increase night traffic to his store. He also enjoys their music. “I can understand some people complaining. But they are good at what they do,” Cardona said.

Foster pointed out that Waikiki noise would still be plentiful without the performers.

“I’m not without empathy. But it’s a city,” Foster said, adding that the family band has its own decibel meter to regulate their amplified sound, which sometimes has to get louder so that the band can be heard over traffic and other city noises.

Foster said the souped-up cars, mopeds and motorcycles that screech down Waikiki’s main arteries are loud enough to disrupt the family’s show.

According to testimony on the bill, Waikiki’s noise issues aren’t limited to street performers — excessive traffic noise also is a consideration. Foster notes that restaurants can contribute to the sound when they play live music.

To be sure, the music was already pumping from Shorefrye, an International Market Place restaurant, when break dancer Alejandro Garibay, known as “Flex,” grabbed a microphone and hollered, “We’re about to wake this place up.” The crowd then got bigger and the excitement built.

Garibay and the five other members of the hip-hop and break dance team United Pros said they take pains to ensure that the crowd doesn’t block the sidewalk or wander into the Kalakaua Avenue traffic. They also make sure to stop the show at 10 p.m. as a courtesy to residents and visitors who want to wind down for the night.

Garibay said he hopes that the city does not choose to ban amplified music as it would interfere with the show, and could have unintended consequences.

“I’ve performed in other places where the city says no to amplified music. In that case, people got a drummer and the noise was even worse,” he said.

Garibay said some noise is a vital part of the show, which he compares to Vegas-style entertainment. “The show wouldn’t be the same without the music,” he said. “People love music.”

Liz Aguilar, a visitor from Santa Rosa, Calif., said Thursday night that she and her family enjoyed the United Pros’ show. “It’s nice for the tourists to come out and see the street performers. They add a lot of excitement to Waikiki,” she said.

Support for bill

However, what sounds good to one person doesn’t always please another. Waters’ proposed fix has garnered support from Waikiki residents and other stakeholders, including the Honolulu Police Department, the Waikiki Improvement Association, the Waikiki Neighborhood Board and Waikiki state lawmakers.

State Sen. Sharon Moriwaki (D-Kakaako-McCully- Waikiki) and state Rep. Adrian Tam (D-Waikiki-Ala Moana-Kakaako) said in written testimony that their offices receive near daily complaints about amplified noise in Waikiki.

“Bill 43 would effectively prohibit the playing of amplified noise from sidewalks at levels exceeding a yet to be determined decibel level and provide for violation penalties,” Moriwaki and Tam testified. “It would allow police to enforce against unwanted noise using a sound meter that measures by decibel, which they cannot now do.”

HPD Maj. Mark Cricchio, who commands District 6, which encompasses the Waikiki peninsula, voiced support for the bill at the Nov. 10 Council meeting. “We have … numerous complaints from residents, visitors and businesses alike. I think it will be an effective bill that will assist us greatly,” Cricchio said.

Waikiki Improvement Association president Rick Egged said sidewalk noise should not need to be amplified, and is simply too loud when “a business can’t conduct business in their place of business.”

Stan Michels, board president of the Association of Apartment Owners at the Governor Cleghorn, on Kaiulani Avenue, wrote a letter detailing problems to state and city elected officials in May.

In the letter, Michels said condominium residents “have been subjected to highly amplified music from several street performers a few blocks away on Kalakaua Avenue on almost a nightly basis for the past several weeks; most particularly Thursday through Sunday nights.”

Michels said the board did not object to street performers or their freedom of speech and expression. However, he said amplification “has become a noise nuisance.”

Further, Michels said amplified sound from performers was a problem before the pandemic, and urged elected officials to address it “before even more street performers descend upon Kalakaua with their amplifiers as tourism returns.”

Michels said the problem extends behind the Governor Cleghorn’ s residents.

“The nonstop noise on the sidewalks for several hours each evening would also be a nuisance to employees and jet-lagged tourists at the Moana Surfrider, Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort, and Princess Kaiulani hotels, as well as to patrons and employees of the many shops and restaurants along Kalakaua,” he said.

Indeed, Denise Landay, a Florida visitor staying at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki, recently sent the Honolulu Star-Advertiser a letter to the editor describing Kalakaua Avenue as “an earsplitting circus.”

“We were never able to relax on our balcony in the evenings because of the cacophony of noise from amplified electric guitars, singing and deafening music, all along the sidewalk of Kalakaua Avenue,” Landay said in the letter. “In fact, we brought the balcony table and chairs into our room on the 16th floor in order to have a seated conversation without shouting to hear each other. Sleeping was yet another challenge.”

Cherylnn Thrasher, a Canadian who has been visiting Hawaii for three decades, also wrote testimony saying, “This year the street performers have been unbelievable. They are making it uncomfortable to walk down Kalakaua afternoons and evenings. The volume of their amplifiers is ear-splitting if you are walking by, and can be heard all the way to my rental apartment on Kaiulani Avenue.”