With the sit-lie ban in place on sidewalks in Waikiki and 15 other business neighborhoods across Oahu, Honolulu City Council members are turning their attention to a bill that would make it illegal to sit or lie down at six downtown Honolulu and Chinatown malls.
Bill 62, scheduled for a final Council vote Dec. 10, would extend the sit-lie ordinance to College Walk Mall (along the Ewa side of Nuuanu Stream between Beretania and Kukui streets), the unnamed mall mauka of College Walk (from Kukui Street to Foster Botanical Garden), Sun Yat Sen Mall (parallel to College Walk, Diamond Head side of Nuuanu Stream), Kekaulike Mall, Fort Street Mall and Union Mall.
The mall sit-lie ban would be in effect from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.
Councilwoman Carol Fukunaga, who represents the Chinatown-downtown region, said she introduced the bill after attorneys told her that because there are no public sidewalks in malls, they could not be included in the islandwide business ban that Mayor Kirk Caldwell signed Tuesday at a news conference at Kekaulike Mall.
Noting that the Council approved an estimated $45 million from various sources to help pay for a Housing First program and other initiatives designed to provide homes and services for the homeless, Fukunaga said the intent is not to criminalize homelessness. Rather, she said, the aim is to get people on the streets "into something better for them, and to help business owners take back control of the areas outside their businesses."
Chinatown-downtown merchants and leaders said they endorse extending the ban to the malls.
Wesley Fong, an attorney and community leader, describes the malls as an integral part of Chinatown. "With the sit-lie bill prohibiting people from lying and sitting on Chinatown sidewalks, we’re going to have to prevent them from moving to the sides of River Street," he said. "If we do not prohibit sitting and lying on the mall area, which fronts the Chinatown Cultural Plaza, then all you’re going to have is another tent city lining (the malls) on both sides of the river."
Kim Tram, who owns Fresh and Green Market on Kekaulike Mall, said he has a hard time making his way to his vegetable and fruit shop in the morning because of people blocking access to the entrance. "Sometimes they’re not awake yet," Tram said. "So we need to wake them up."
Tram said he’s often left to pick up alcohol bottles, food waste and other debris discarded by the campers.
Police Maj. Roy Sugimoto, commander of District 1, said anecdotal evidence from beat officers suggests an uptick in homeless people on sidewalks in the Chinatown-downtown area since the Waikiki ban took effect several months ago.
Caldwell said he is inclined to sign Bill 62 and expects to do so if city attorneys say it passes constitutional muster. "All of these are tools or measures to try to make a difference in areas that are adversely impacted by people who choose to sit and lie in areas that were designed, like this (Kekaulike) mall, to walk on," he said.
As with the other sit-lie measures, the proposed mall ban is expected to touch off opposition. The anti-human trafficking group Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery is attempting to mobilize opponents to testify against the bill next week.
PASS Executive Director Kathryn Xian has maintained that sit-lie bills criminalize homelessness while there is no evidence that such ordinances increase the economic viability of businesses where enforced.
To see Bill 62, go to bit.ly/Bill62CD2.
Meanwhile, several Chinatown and downtown Honolulu merchants and community leaders stood with Caldwell and Fukunaga on Tuesday as the mayor signed Bill 48.
Under the bill, people will be barred from sitting or lying down on public sidewalks from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily in specified boundaries in Chinatown, downtown Honolulu, McCully Moiliili, Kailua, Wahiawa, Ala Moana-Sheridan, Pawaa, Kaneohe, Waimanalo, Kapahulu, Waialae, Kahala, Aina Haina and Niu Valley, and Hawaii Kai.
Caldwell said enforcement of the ordinance will be rolled out gradually, and start in areas like Chinatown and downtown Honolulu where the city has received the most complaints.
Maj. Sugimoto said citations will be issued in the area after an educational campaign of about two weeks.
Caldwell said the bill is "about keeping our sidewalks open for people to do their business, for pedestrians to walk on, for businesses to get their deliveries made. … Not to sit on, not to lie on, but to walk on."
Fukunaga said, "For many years these small businesses (in Chinatown) have been suffering from the impacts of homeless individuals who have been camped out on their doorsteps, making it hard for people to get to their shops."
The law that went into effect in September bans sitting and lying on public sidewalks in Waikiki 24 hours a day. Honolulu police reported that they have issued 262 warnings and 72 citations that are sit-lie related, and made two arrests.
Considered a petty misdemeanor, a violation would be punishable by up to a month in jail and a maximum fine of $1,000.
Sit-lie laws have been debated both here and on the mainland largely because while the laws are designed to apply to everyone, most of those who lie and sit on sidewalks are considered homeless.
Supporters argue that the number of those camping on sidewalks in commercial neighborhoods has reached a point where pedestrians cannot travel safely and are discouraged from entering the storefronts of businesses. Opponents say sit-lie ordinances make it criminal for people to be homeless while there is no evidence showing they improve customer traffic.
To see the final language of Bill 48 and the maps showing the specific locations, go to bit.ly/Bill48FD1.
