The city put in place its first sit-lie law four years ago, in Waikiki. In the ongoing effort to clear sidewalks of makeshift homeless campsites, five more ordinances have followed — resulting in the current count of 15 commerce-focused areas in which sitting or lying down on public sidewalks and in pedestrian malls is banned during business hours.
While most of the zones are clustered in Honolulu’s urban core, several are situated in or near East Oahu. About half-dozen dot Windward sites, such as Waimanalo, Kailua and Kaneohe. And there’s one in central Oahu’s Wahiawa.
Critics of this piecemeal approach persuasively argue that the ban has resulted in too many homeless campers shuffling to and from various neighborhoods, and too few seizing opportunity to get help at shelters and assistance centers.
In a welcome shift, Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s administration now wants to redouble efforts to clear sidewalks of homeless campers across Oahu through two bills. One would make it illegal to “lodge” on any Oahu sidewalk or other public place if shelter facilities are available. The other would make it unlawful to obstruct any city sidewalk with personal property.
Illegal lodging, as defined under the bill, means “to occupy a place temporarily; to sleep; to come to rest and refuse to vacate.” But before a law enforcement officer can issue a written citation or make an arrest, the bill requires verifying whether shelter space is available within a reasonable distance. If so, the camper has at least one hour to relocate.
The “sidewalk obstruction bill” would make it unlawful to jam up the flow of foot traffic on city sidewalks with personal property anywhere on Oahu between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. daily. Before issuing a citation or making an arrest, an officer would need to visually observe the obstruction and verify that there are fewer than 3 feet of space available on the sidewalk for public travel.
Both appear to be reasonable measures aimed at addressing immediate safety and sanitation concerns tied to Oahu’s homelessness problem. Tents and tarps are being pitched inches from zipping street traffic. And ever-growing piles of accumulated camper possessions are spilling onto public walkways and elsewhere. More needs to be done to help the homeless find their way to residential stability off the streets while returning sidewalks to their intended use.
Previously, Caldwell’s administration has been leery of proposals to create an islandwide sit-lie ban due to potential legal challenges. Critics, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii and others, have maintained that a wide-reaching ban could essentially criminalize people for sitting, sleeping or lying on sidewalks — and that may constitute cruel and unusual punishment, in violation of the Eighth Amendment.
Homelessness could become a crime, it seems, when a camper has nowhere to turn to avoid being in violation of the law. Whether such a problem would surface under the proposed “lodging” bill is debatable. And to Caldwell’s credit, his administration is up for a much-needed debate — with the City Council and in public hearings — that sizes up whether the city’s inventory of shelters and services could now handle the demand.
It seems that the city is making some strides in reducing homelessness. For example, an annual one-day census of homeless populations — conducted by the statewide Point in Time Count —
showed Oahu’s 2018 count decreased for the first time in nine years. Pegged at nearly 4,500, the count was about 9 percent lower than last year’s tally. Still, pockets of the unsheltered population increased in areas, such as the Waianae Coast, Ewa and in East Honolulu, including Waikiki.
It’s also apparent that Caldwell’s “compassionate disruption” efforts, which have been underway for about five years, could benefit from a bit of islandwide tough love.
