Despite working for nearly two years to eliminate "illegal camping" at Kapi'olani Park, the city finds itself grappling with another homeless encampment there.

The latest encampment of as many 40 homeless people will be moved out today so crews can cut grass and perform other maintenance in the area. But the homeless may be able to move back in after the work because of an apparent loophole in the law.

The situation has left some residents and City Council members frustrated and asking why more can't be done to address the problem.

"This is outrageous," said Deborah Luckett, a frequent park user and a member of the neighborhood board that includes Kapi'olani Park. "We have all the tools in place to be able to remove these people."

The city has been working to tackle illegal camping at Kapi'olani as part of its push to open up parks to the wider public and because the 200-acre park, one of the most popular on O'ahu, is at the gateway to Waikíkí.

But that effort has been met with plenty of hurdles.

The homeless in Kapi'olani were able to skirt the city's revised "illegal camping" ordinance — which went into effect in August 2008 to replace one struck down by the Hawai'i Supreme Court because it was too vague — by sleeping during the day and sitting up in the park at night or relying on friends to wake them up when police patrolled.

The new "illegal camping" ban tailored the definition of illegal camping to ban using a public park as a "temporary or permanent dwelling place" between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.

Then, in April, the city began closing the park at night and that seemed to take care of the issue for a while.

LOOPHOLE IN LAW

But for at least the past month, homeless in the park have found a new loophole: The encampment that will be moved today so crews can perform maintenance was set up on a strip of land about 6 feet wide between the sidewalk at Kapi'olani Park and the road.

It hasn't been moved because there are questions about whether the patch of land is considered part of the park — and therefore subject to park rules. Yesterday, city Parks Director Les Chang said in an e-mailed statement that city officials are still "working to determine whether that particular strip of land is park property."

City Councilman Charles Djou, whose district includes the park, said he has gotten a number of complaints about the encampment at the doorstep to the state's No. 1 tourism destination. And he said that even if the strip of land is not part of the park, then it should be seen as a city right-of-way, where structures are not allowed. Another question, though, then becomes whether a tent is a "structure," he said.

Djou added that he would introduce legislation to address the issue if the city determines the campers have indeed found a loophole.

"For me, this is just ridiculous," Djou said yesterday. "It's this legal netherworld that vagrants are exploiting."

SPACE AT SHELTERS

The discussion comes as advocates report seeing more people on the streets, especially in the urban core, because of the economic downturn. But advocates said those at Kapi'olani are likely not people who have just become homeless, but rather are mostly chronically homeless people who may have substance abuse or mental health issues.

Advocates agree that the place for the homeless is at shelters, not in parks.

But they also said that addressing the issue with homeless sweeps won't solve it.

Some even said it could exacerbate it, by forcing the homeless to always be on the move, so social workers have trouble tracking them down and trying to get them linked up with services. Homeless advocates also said at least some of those in the Kapi'olani Park encampment probably aren't in shelters because they don't want to be.

Darlene Hein, director of community services at the Waikiki Health Center, which offers outreach for homeless islandwide, said the number of tents at the Kapi'olani Park encampment — on a strip of land near Waikíkí Aquarium — has grown over the past few weeks because someone found "a window" and word spread fast.

She added the situation "demonstrates that there really is a serious (homeless) problem and one that we do need to work on in" a coordinated way, not with spot efforts.

Connie Mitchell, executive director of the Institute for Human Services, which runs emergency shelters in Honolulu, said it's difficult to make generalizations about homeless in the urban core. But she said many do work or want to work, but can't afford a place.

She also said both her shelters currently have space for single men and women. There are about 50 spaces open for single men, and 40 spaces for single women.

MOVING OUT

Yesterday at Kapi'olani, some homeless campers were packing up their tents and preparing to be moved out today. The campers got leaflets yesterday warning them that they would have to move. Police also told them yesterday they would have to move on.

Several campers said they didn't know where they would go.

"I don't know what I'm going to do if I can't come here," said Teddy Espinoza, 21, who has been sleeping in Kapi'olani for a year. He moved a few weeks ago to the area that will be cleared out today.

Danelle Sanchez, 39, lives in a tent at the park with her fiance, 31-year-old Jason Sampson. The two said they had tried to get off the streets, and were on waiting lists for shelter and other programs. They also said they couldn't afford an apartment with the income they have.

"They need more affordable places," Sanchez said.