Fort Street Mall 'crawling' toward clean, firms say
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
A year ago, shopkeeper Myung Lee often had to step over sleeping homeless people to open his Zeus Juice store near Hotel Street on Fort Street Mall. Every day he had to wash down the front of the small shop to rinse away the stench of urine from people using the area as a toilet.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
With police now enforcing the mall's closure hours, no one sleeps in his doorway anymore, Lee said, and he has to wash away the urine only about once a week thanks to the city's daily power-washing of the mall.
As Hawai'i Pacific University students enjoy lunch at a Fort Street Mall café, city officials and members of the Fort Street Mall Business Improvement District are trying to keep the outdoor mall clean by controlling the presence of homeless people.
More than a year after the city and merchants began investing hundreds of thousands of dollars to clean up and reclaim the mall from a homeless population that was straining its capacity and patience, the situation is somewhat improved. But while the area looks better and business is up, many homeless have returned. With them come renewed concerns about drug dealing and the monopolization of public areas.
The situation at Fort Street Mall shows the difficulty of balancing the rights of businesses and the public with the rights of the homeless. It's a microcosm of a dilemma facing not just Honolulu but major cities across the country.
"Our goal is not to get rid of the social problems on the mall, our goal is to enhance business; make this place alive and well again," said Chris Nakashima-Heise, president of the nonprofit Fort Street Mall Business Improvement District.
"We are not there yet. We are just crawling. We are addressing the fundamental issues, which are physical safety, beauty and cleanliness."
The mall is owned by the city and operated under rules similar to a public park — no drinking alcohol, and no animals, bicycling, camping, littering, skateboarding, vehicles or feeding the birds. The mall is closed from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily.
The mall is near restaurants offering inexpensive food and many social service agencies, all of which draw the homeless.
The city undertook a $100,000 cleanup of the pedestrian walkway in February last year after Hawai'i Pacific University, the third-largest downtown tenant, began talking about pulling out and moving all operations to its Windward campus because of security concerns.
City Managing Director Ben Lee said at the time that the homeless created an undesirable environment for businesses, students, workers and residents. The city removed dozens of public benches that were routinely taken over by homeless people, installed better lighting, stepped up cleanup efforts, improved landscaping and began enforcing mall rules.
Then every property owner on the mall got together to form the business improvement district.
"Our goal is to really create a critical mass of activities that are positive and will energize the mall," said Nakashima-Heise. "HPU does their Friday events and we want to start promoting concerts in the mall, art shows."
A bill to establish the district was approved by the City Council last year and the group began operations in November. The designation allows the landowners to essentially tax themselves and create a district similar to the one started in 2001 in Waikiki.
The improvement association has gathered more than $300,000 to clean and beautify the mall while increasing security in hopes of drawing more customers.
Walking down the mall recently, Nakashima-Heise said the area is vastly improved.
"The mall is consistently clean," she said. "The city continues to provide the maintenance for the mall, the landscaping and infrastructure. The city does a pretty darn good job."
Nakashima-Heise said the association supplements the city's work.
"They don't have an extra guy to come and sweep, so we do that. When the rubbish is overflowing, we change it," she said. "We pick up spills immediately. It is an instant response and a constant presence. The whole philosophy is to create a presence on the mall. Somebody cares and that's us."
The business district's full-time caretaker, Jeff Malone, is on the mall every day in his electric cart. His job is to maintain the area and report any problems to police or security officers. He has become an unofficial liaison with the homeless.
"It's stressful, but there are a lot a good people over here. Even the homeless," Malone said. "Most are not harming anybody. They do their own thing. The city did a sweep of Ala Moana Beach Park and guess where they swept them to? We've seen a big increase."
Police Capt. Ed Nishi said officers regularly patrol the mall, looking primarily for drinking, substance abuse and littering. Nishi said making the mall clean and safe is the goal, but police realize everyone has a right to be there.
"We've got to be mindful of everyone's rights," Nishi said. "We get calls from people complaining there is a homeless person sitting on a wall or a bench, but there is no law against that."
Between classes, HPU students Christopher Earl and Ella Tweedie sat at the base of a column supporting Our Lady of Peace Cathedral because there are no longer benches in the area.
"Getting rid of the benches didn't solve the homeless problems," Earl said. "It just makes students sit around like we are right now. I'd like to have a bench I could sit on and study on and be comfortable."
The benches were "temporarily" removed a year ago and no one from the city can say when they will be returned.
Earl also criticized the uneven enforcement of rules at the mall.
"I ride my skateboard and get in trouble for it when there are guys doing crack deals right in front of me," said Earl. "The biggest problem is at night, around 9 p.m. It is pretty sketchy down here. I don't want to be mugged after class."
Laura E. Thielen of Health Care for the Homeless said there seem to be more homeless substance abusers on the mall following the Ala Moana sweeps.
"Substance abusers are not a 'feel good' group of people," Thielen said. "It is easy to provide services for a family that is homeless or somebody with a mental illness. People are more willing to give money for that kind of service. We need to get support for people addicted to drugs. There are some excellent treatment programs here, the problem is they are all full."
Officials are pinning their hopes for a real solution on Mayor Jeremy Harris's plan for a $6 million homeless facility that would provide the needed services to get the homeless off the streets and into treatment programs and jobs, but that is months or even years away.
Nakashima-Heise said she is encouraged by progress in the mall so far and expects to see good things happening in the months to come.
