A group that plans to protest the policies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting next month has been granted a permit to demonstrate, but said the location may be too far from the Hawai‘i Convention Center for people attending the conference to notice.

World Can’t Wait Hawaii’s displeasure with the site prompted the group to apply for another permit allowing APEC opponents to march from Old Stadium Park in Moiliili to the convention center, a distance of about a mile, on Nov. 12. Group leaders are scheduled to meet Friday with the city regarding that plan.

"We had hoped to be in an area where we would actually be seen and be there (continuously) in a meaningful way," said Carolyn Hadfield, who applied for the permits on behalf of the organization. "That doesn’t seem to be what’s happening."

The group’s first permit will allow protests Nov. 10-12 on the makai side of the Ala Wai Promenade, the pedestrian mall that runs parallel to Ala Wai Canal.

The group will not, however, be able to occupy the section of the promenade directly behind the convention center. The closest the group will be allowed is halfway acrossthe Summer Palace apartment building at 1848 Kahakai Drive, next to the convention center, Hadfield said.

She questioned whether a meaningful protest can be held at such a distance from the convention center.

"Basically, if we make any noise, the people that will hear us will be the people in those (neighboring) apartment buildings," Hadfield said. "It’s outside of the visibility of the convention center completely, and I assume they will have quite a police barricade separating one section of the promenade from the other."

Hadfield said the section made available to protesters lies several feet below street level on the Ala Moana Boulevard side, making it difficult for both conference attendees at the convention center and motorists along Ala Moana to see them. It can also be reached only through a small stairway on the Ala Moana Boulevard side, which could pose a safety concern in case of an emergency, she said.

City spokeswoman Louise Kim McCoy confirmed the parameters of the demonstration permit, noting that the area initially requested by World Can’t Wait had already been assigned to a federal law enforcement agency.

When city officials initially told Hadfield that her group could not convene directly behind the convention center, Hadfield said she suggested the portion of the promenade across Kalakaua Avenue, behind the Makino Chaya restaurant (formerly the Hard Rock Cafe). But city officials said that site had also been reserved.

That led to World Can’t Wait Hawaii’s decision to lead a march from Old Stadium Park down Isenberg Street and onto Kapiolani Boulevard to the convention center on the Saturday morning of the convention, Hadfield said.

World Can’t Wait has applied for and been granted a permit to assemble for the march out of Old Stadium Park, although its permit for the march itself has not yet been granted.

"We’re hoping that by creating a safe space, by getting permits and stuff, a larger amount of people will feel they can participate," Hadfield said.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii helped World Can’t Wait Hawaii in its negotiations with the city.

Vanessa Chong, ACLU Hawaii’s executive director, said the city delayed in replying to World Can’t Wait Hawaii’s initial permit request in September. The response took three weeks when it should have taken only days, she said.

Chong urged other organizations seeking to protest to contact the ACLU if they run into delays with the city.

ACLU Hawaii is also preparing a workshop on lawful protesting, as well as put on its website an online "First Amendment toolbox" educating people about their free speech rights, Chong said. "We want lawful protesters to have meaningful access."

APEC’s push toward a globalized economy through liberalized trade and investment has drawn protests from some who claim it will harm small businesses and farms.

Hawaii News Now video: APEC host committee says Hawaii’s ready