Beginning Monday, Mokule'ia Beach Park on O'ahu's North Shore will be closed to the public between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.

City and county officials issued a public notice regarding the change on May 16, and alerted more than a dozen tent-dwelling families staying at the park that they would have until 7 p.m. Monday to vacate the park with their possessions.

Some Mokule'ia Beach Park dwellers have been living there for years.

A number of homeless have been displaced as various beach parks have been cleaned up, reclaimed for use by the general public and declared off-limits overnight. In this case, no cleanup is involved, according to Lester Chang, director of the Department of Parks and Recreation.

The North Shore Neighborhood Board as well as the city's Parks Board have recommended that the park be closed after dark, Chang said yesterday.

Specifically, he said the overnight park closure followed the demolition in April of the park's deteriorated restroom facility.

"We tore it down because it was a hazard," said Chang, who added that without water or lighting, the remote beach park is not considered suitable for overnight usage. A replacement restroom facility is being planned, he said, although construction is not expected to begin for some time.

Meanwhile, portable toilets have been made available for daytime park users, and the park's shoreline will still be accessible to night fishers, he said. However, between sundown and sunup, the park itself will be off limits.

Chang said the overnight closure had nothing to do with city and county camping rules, which were struck down last November by the Hawai'i Supreme Court. The court ruled that authorities could not use city camping laws to justify evicting tent-dwellers from parks because the rules were too vague. Those camping regulations are being rewritten.

Chang said area service providers have been assisting any families in the park that need a place to stay.

"Our approach has been to try and be as sensitive as we can," said Chang, about moving people off the beach. "But we've still got to deal with it. It's not something we like to do. But, on the other hand, that's our responsibility."