LAHAINA, Maui — A Maui county commission is considering whether to allow a long-established Halloween event to continue in Lahaina after receiving complaints from Native Hawaiian groups that the celebration is offensive and disgraces the town's historical and cultural heritage.

The street festival organized by the LahainaTown Action Committee draws crowds of up to 30,000 each year and is popular among visitors and Hawai'i residents alike. Supporters of the organized event, which include the Maui Police Department, say denying a permit would eliminate some of the controls that keep revelers in check.

"If you take that away, it will be out of control. More people might come and the wrong people might come and there would be trash everywhere," said Theo Morrison, former executive director of the LahainaTown Action Committee who organized the event for 15 years. "It's something the county should support. It's a huge economic driver."

But U'ilani Kapu of Kuleana Ku'ikahi said the Halloween festivities "abuse" the town's historical sites and create traffic, crime and safety problems.

"Everything in this town is money. We are looking out for the safety of our youth and the historical significance," she said. "This is not a whaling town; it's a Hawaiian historical town and it's getting trashed.

"It needs to be shut down. You can have Halloween in the community the way it used to be for the children, but it doesn't have to be a (major) event to accommodate tourists."

Lahaina town, designated a National Historic District in 1962, was once the royal capital of Hawai'i. It includes sacred burial grounds and remnants of its role as a whaling port, missionary outpost and plantation community.

Halloween in Lahaina began in the 1970s as an informal observance among town merchants, restaurateurs and residents. By the 1980s, it had evolved into an unofficial street festival that required the closure of Front Street to keep crowds safe from traffic.

In 1990, the LahainaTown Action Committee stepped in to formally organize the event, which now includes a keiki costume parade, entertainment, food and activity booths, and a costume contest for adults.

The celebration is held in the heart of Lahaina along Front Street, with most activities centered on Banyan Tree Park. The official event runs from 4 to 11:30 p.m., but the partying continues well after that in the town's restaurants, bars and shopping centers, which host their own costume contests and haunted houses.

PERMIT REVIEWED IN 1996

The committee's Halloween permit was last reviewed by the Maui County Cultural Resources Commission in 1996. Every year since then, the Planning Department has granted administrative approval because the event has remained largely unchanged.

According to Planning Department records, the organization has never violated the conditions of its permit and there were no complaints until September 2006, when Patty Nishiyama of Na Kupuna O Maui and Kapu sent separate letters decrying the Halloween celebration as disrespectful to the town's historical sites. They also complained that the event fosters nudity and public consumption of alcohol and drugs.

Because the complaints were filed so close to Oct. 31, the Planning Department allowed the 2006 event to go forward. But in light of the concerns, and since the permit hadn't been reviewed in 10 years, Planning Director Jeff Hunt said he decided to send the matter to the Cultural Resources Commission to review before this year's event.

Hunt said yesterday that he would like to see both sides discuss ways to address the issues before the commission takes up the permit at its Aug. 2 meeting.

"Some of the concerns are legitimate but its seems premature to close down the event," Hunt said.

Morrison said she met yesterday with Nishiyama and is hopeful steps, such as increased crowd monitoring, can be taken to satisfy Na Kupuna O Maui's concerns. Nishiyama could not be reached for comment yesterday.

ADDRESSING PROBLEMS

Hunt said the LahainaTown Action Committee has made attempts in the past couple of years to respond to problems, including checking its event logo with planning staff after complaints that the 2004 poster and T-shirt design depicted a headless horseman wearing a malo and cape. The group also canceled an appearance by a salsa band because it might have incited the crowd and booked the U.S. Air Force Band instead, he said.

The organization also has stopped promoting the event as "Mardi Gras of the Pacific."

"They have made some attempts to address concerns and take the focus away from Mardi Gras to the creativity of the costumes. The event itself is very creative and a lot of fun. We can't regulate morality but the LahainaTown Action Committee and county could attempt to set a different atmosphere," he said.

CONCERNS OVERBLOWN?

While acknowledging that different people have different standards of propriety, Hunt said he was in Lahaina on Halloween last year until 11 p.m. and "I didn't see a lot that I found offensive."

Supporters of the organized event said reports of public lewdness and rampant alcohol and drug use on the streets are overblown, and that the committee provides support by supplying portable toilets, trash pick-up and opportunities for nonprofits to make money from food sales.

"I've been on the street coordinating the event for 15 years and I don't agree with the concerns mentioned. Denying the permit is actually going to increase the alleged concerns," Morrison said. "Halloween is not something anybody is forced to go to. ... It's not like it's being imposed on anyone, and it's going to happen anyway."

Lahaina shopkeeper Joan McKelvey was one of the founders of the first Halloween celebrations and is a former president of the LahainaTown Action Committee. In a letter to the Planning Department, she said that Halloween "is not meant to be culturally correct" and that the streets and beaches in town are full of people walking around in various stages of undress throughout the year.

Capt. Charles Hirata of the Lahaina Patrol District agrees the revelry will go on whether or not the permit is granted.

"The LahainaTown Action Committee provides the infrastructure, which is important for an event this size. If they cancel the permit, we'll be stuck with the crowd," Hirata said. "People still need to go to the bathroom and no matter what we do, people are still going to drink."

Approximately 80 police officers are deployed for Halloween in Lahaina, he said, and there are an average of 10 to 20 arrests each year, most for alcohol-related offenses.

"I can almost guarantee you we'll still have to close the streets. If you cancel the permit, there's still going to be thousands of people roaming around the street and that's still not a safe mix.

"It's not really out of control and we have sufficient manpower to deal with the crowds. The vast majority of people are well-behaved and just want to have fun."

'IT WILL DISSIPATE'

Kapu feels that once organized Halloween activities are halted, fewer people will come "and sooner or later it will dissipate."

Her husband, Ke'eaumoku Kapu, is a member of the Cultural Resources Commission.

Commission Chairman Samuel Kalalau III said the panel is struggling with the issue of just how much of Lahaina's history should be protected, and whether the Halloween celebration is a culturally appropriate event for the town.

"We are having a hard time defining whether the national historic town dates back to the Hawaiians or to the whalers or the plantation era," he said.

PREPARING ANYWAY

Kalalau acknowledges that Halloween has become a part of Lahaina's more recent history and is a beloved tradition for many. He said he has attended the event three times, taking his children twice for the keiki parade.

"It was pretty wild back in the early days but now it's pretty much controlled," he said. "It's been way better in recent years.

"The real issue is that Front Street is a cash cow. It's a boost for the county. Whether the negative should outweigh the positive, I don't know."

Meanwhile, the LahainaTown Action Committee continues to prepare for Halloween 2007 while awaiting the commission's decision on its permit.

"We're acting as if it's going to happen, although it does kind of leave us in limbo. We can't spend any money on it at this point," said committee official Ron Egan. "The event will happen no matter what we do. People will still be here on Halloween in costume but there will be less control."

Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.