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City says Occupy campers are on park property

Gordon Y.K. Pang

City officials now say the site used by the Occupy Honolulu encampment at the edge of Thomas Square is part of the city park, which is closed to the public at 10 p.m. nightly.

The city did not, however, indicate whether or when it would take steps to evict the campers, who first appeared at Ward Avenue and South Beretania Street on Nov. 5.

An Occupy Honolulu representative said the group expects to meet with city officials today to see whether a compromise can be reached.

Late this afternoon, Mayor Peter Carlisle’s office said in a statement that the city had completed a survey “to definitively establish the boundaries” of the park.

“A few people have remained along the edges of the square after the closure, as its exact boundaries were not clearly delineated,” the statement said. “The survey established that several paths and benches along the square’s periphery are within its boundaries, which extend approximately to the sidewalk surrounding the square.”

Megan Brooker, an Occupy Honolulu spokeswoman, said personnel from the Police, Transportation, Parks and Facility Maintenance departments toured the park earlier Thursday. Officials marked the ground with dots to designate park boundaries, she said.

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