City told closing parks at night would hurt homeless

By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

A bill that would close city parks at night is in trouble after homeless advocates protested the move at a City Council meeting yesterday.

The bill would close city parks between 8 p.m. and 5:30 a.m., except for lighted ball courts, which would close between 10 p.m. and 5:30 a.m.

After more than an hour of testimony from about 20 people overwhelmingly opposing the bill, Councilman Rod Tam, chairman of the Parks and Economic Development committee, suggested that the bill be sent back to committee for further work to address the effect of closing the parks.

Darlene Hein of the Affordable Housing and Homeless Alliance told council members that there was no space available for the homeless. Transition shelters are full and there is even a wait list for emergency shelters, she said.

Before closing the parks, the city should try to find an answer to the homeless problem, Hein said.

"We're moving the homeless around the island, but we're not taking care of the underlying problem," she said.

Stanlyn Placencia, executive director of Wai'anae Community Outreach, brought several homeless people with her to illustrate the problem.

"We are not being responsible if we expect people not to be in the parks and beaches and if they are not replaced with something," she said.

Wai'anae resident Cynthia Rezentes pointed out that there are laws in place to address inappropriate park activities, such as drug dealing, alcohol and loud music. "Let's enforce the laws that we have before we put a Band-Aid on top of it to fix what's broken," she said.

David Bohn, a member of the Kalihi-Palama Neighborhood Board, said the bill would punish people who wanted to use the park for legitimate reasons, such as night swimming or playing tennis, but Councilman Donovan Dela Cruz, who introduced the bill, said it was not intended to make criminals of park users.

The bill carries a penalty for violators ranging from a warning to a $100 fine.

"The purpose of this bill was to take back our parks," he said.

Eric Matsumoto, president of the Mililani Town Association, was one of the few to testify in favor of the bill.

"The need is there because of the elements of drug and alcohol abuse that is going on in our state," he said. "There is a need to address that part of society."

Police officers who testified said the bill would make it easier to get offenders out of the park, but noted that some parks should remain open, such as Ala Moana Beach Park and some parks in Waikiki.

Downtown Neighborhood Board Chairwoman Lynne Matusow testified that there is a process in place to set hours for individual parks.

"One size does not fit all," Matusow said.

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