Bill would charge fee at city parks

By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

Mainland and international sports leagues would have to pay to use the city sports complexes under a bill before the City Council, but so will Honolulu's youth sports leagues.

The fees will be used to help offset operating and maintenance costs at the city's new sports facilities at the Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Park, Central O'ahu Regional Park and Hans L'Orange Baseball Complex, but could extend to other city parks that can be used for special events.

Former Wai'anae Neighborhood Board Chairwoman Cynthia Rezentes raised concerns about vague wording in the bill that could lead to fees being charged for youth events.

"The idea of having parks is to get the kids into them, not to make them so expensive for Little League play or Pop Warner that it may cost them too much to participate," she said.

Rezentes' remarks came at a public hearing on a measure that would allow the city parks director to set fees for special events at the sports complexes and other facilities. Council members Charles Djou and Barbara Marshall were the only members to vote against the bill, so it will now go back to the Budget Committee for further revisions.

No fee schedule has been set, but City Deputy Managing Director Malcolm Tom said the administration has already begun talking to the American Youth Soccer Organization and the Hawai'i Youth Soccer Organization about costs for reserving the fields for play.

"We don't want to distract from the use of the fields, we don't want to discourage play, so it has to be affordable, it has to be reasonable, but it helps us to recover some of our costs," Tom said.

Tom said the fees were not intended to apply to casual park use, parties or picnics, but the city would try to recapture some of its expenses from organizations that regularly reserve the facilities.

It would also allow park users, such as the University of Hawai'i Wahine soccer team, to charge admission and parking fees, Tom said.

Tom said it costs about $550,000 a year for the city to operate the Waipi'o Soccer Park and $750,000 for the Central O'ahu Park.

Budget Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi said her committee would work on the bill to tighten wording to limit the facilities and protect youth sports leagues before it goes back to the full council for final approval.

In other council business:

• The council unanimously moved forward a bill that would allow the city to increase rental fees at the Neal Blaisdell Center and Waikiki Shell, with plans to amend it so that nonprofit groups, particularly the Honolulu Symphony, would only see a 5 percent increase. It still needs to be heard before the full council one more time.
• The council approved, 8-1, a zone change for a school, fire station and strip mall on Ko Olina Resort property. Only Marshall raised concerns about the resort adding conditions for public access to the beach when it recorded easements earlier this month.

Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.