This month marks 20 years that the Ha'iku Stairs, the popular hikers' attraction, has been officially closed to the public.

Officially, but not completely. As Advertiser writer Eloise Aguiar outlined in a story this week, trespassers continue to elude efforts to secure the stairs.

While the future of the stairs is unsettled, the city remains liable for any mishaps.

At first, the primary impediment to its reopening was the construction of the H-3 Freeway; then the lack of maintenance rendered the nearly 4,000 steps unsafe.

The previous city administration spent $875,000 to restore the stairs. But for almost five years, a complex array of liability and access hurdles has hindered the reopening of the stairs to the public. Ideally, the stairs would be an asset to be enjoyed by tourists and residents alike, but achieving the ideal would be difficult.

The problem is that there are various routes leading to the attraction, crossing land held by different owners. None of them — the city included — wants the liability for the stairs.

The city has sought to transfer ownership of the property to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources system of hiking trails or to swap land with the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands for an access route. But officials concluded that the stairs don't really constitute a trail, and that legal complications would bar acquiring the access from DHHL.

So the onus rests with the city to find a solution. Officials need to call together the stakeholders — proponents of the attraction, property owners, neighborhood representatives — to decide, finally, whether the stairs can be opened or whether the lower rungs should be dismantled, at least until an owner willing to assume liability emerges.

Inaction does not solve anything. Security can't stop all hikers, and citing trespassers has proven to be impractical, if not impossible, for police.

It's unfair to the neighbors, too. The most direct route to the site, old Ha'iku Road, is blocked off, so hikers divert to nearby streets, generating complaints about parking shortages and other disturbances.

Most critical of all, as long as the city retains ownership, this hot potato rests in its hands. A decision is needed promptly, lest taxpayers start feeling the pain.