City backtracks on mango trees

By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer

Residents on the makai slopes of Punchbowl have worked for more than three years to bring a "mini-park" to their area so that children don't have to play in the streets.

Albert Holt waters the grass at a narrow empty lot owned by the state Department of Transportation, which used it to park vehicles during construction projects. The lot, at 1518 Pele St. will be the home of a new "mini-park." Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

But by week's end, they were breathing a sigh of relief after city parks director Bill Balfour said removing the trees is not required for the park to be built.

Balfour said a consultant on the project was mistaken when he told residents at a meeting at the park site on Tuesday that it was an either-or situation.

"In the scheme of things we do shy away from fruit trees because of the liability," Balfour said. "There is no hard and fast rule, law or ordinance. It is just a rule of thumb that if we can avoid fruit trees in parks we do so."

Balfour said the park is moving forward with planning and the final design has yet to be determined.

According to City Councilman Rod Tam's office, $120,000 has been set aside for the planning, design and construction of the park. Another $100,000 for playground equipment is in the fiscal 2004 budget. Construction is expected to begin in September after the design has been finalized.

The "mini-park" will be on a 5,583-square-foot parcel at 1518 Pele St. The site is a narrow empty lot owned by the state Department of Transportation, which used it to park vehicles during construction projects.

The campaign for a park started in 2001 when the area's vision team wanted to give children a place to play off the street in a neighborhood cut off from public parks and surrounded by some of the busiest roads in the state.

Several children have been struck by cars in the three-block patchwork of older houses and small apartments within the triangle formed by Vineyard Boulevard, Punchbowl Street and the H-1 Freeway.

Nancy Holt, who lives next to the planned park with her husband and two sons, said the children need a safe place to play.

"In front of our apartment at one time we had two abandoned cars parked there," Holt said. "The kids were climbing on the cars and someone had dumped mattresses on them for bulk pickup. The kids pulled the mattress on the sidewalk adjacent to the cars and climbed on the cars and jumped on the mattress. It was a burned-out car."

Holt said a park, even a small one, with some playground equipment, would draw the children away from such hazards.

The nearest parks now are not easy for children to reach.

To get to Kamamalu Neighborhood Park, children must cross Punchbowl, walk along busy Vineyard Boulevard and up Queen Emma Street. To reach Dole Community Park, children must use a pedestrian overpass above the H-1 Freeway.

Karl Rhoads, the vision team advocate for the project, said it has been a lot of hard work for residents to make this little park a reality and he is relieved that he doesn't have to fight another battle, this time to save the trees.

The plan has had to work its way through a series of city, state and federal boards, councils and committees — all of which have approved the project, he said.

Rhoads said it is important that the trees remain part of the park because they were planted by an early generation of immigrants from Portugal who lived in the area. About 600 people now live within a two-block radius of the proposed park. Many are recent Pacific Islands immigrants who regularly eat the fruit from the tree, he said.

Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.

• • •

Albert Holt waters the grass at a narrow empty lot owned by the state Department of Transportation, which used it to park vehicles during construction projects. The lot, at 1518 Pele St. will be the home of a new "mini-park." Eugene Tanner ð The Honolulu Advertiser