The city likely won’t be able to begin enforcement of a new "sidewalk nuisance" law until the summer, Mayor Kirk Caldwell said Tuesday after the City Council unanimously approved the bill.
Bill 7 (2013) allows city workers to summarily remove any items deemed sidewalk nuisances.
It would replace the existing ordinance, which allows the city to remove objects left on sidewalks if tagged 24 hours in advance.
A sidewalk nuisance is defined in the bill as "any object or collection of objects constructed, erected, installed, maintained, kept or operated on or over any sidewalk, including but not limited to stalls, stands, tents, furniture, and containers, and of their contents or attachments."
City Council members Ikaika Anderson, Ann Kobayashi and Ernie Martin said they introduced the measure to win back sidewalk access for Oahu pedestrians.
But critics, including the American Civil Liberties Union Hawaii chapter and the group (de)Occupy Honolulu said the bill is a clear attempt to remove the homeless.
Rules must be established before the city can enforce the bill, said Caldwell, who on Tuesday reiterated his support for the measure.
The bill must undergo one more legal review by city attorneys before it arrives at his desk for signature, the mayor said. After signing it, he is hoping the rule-making process, which would require a public hearing, can be done by June 30.
At Thomas Square, where (de)Occupy Honolulu supporters have had an encampment since fall 2011, the existing policy has become a virtual cat-and-mouse routine.
The city tags tents and other property left along the sidewalk by (de)Occupy supporters only to see them removed and replaced by a new set of tents before the 24-hour period has elapsed.
City officials this week tagged a number of tents at Thomas Square, as well as on Kalakaua Avenue and at Kapiolani Boulevard and Atkinson Drive.
"No one has the right to permanently occupy public property," Anderson told his colleagues. "Enough is enough."
Several members of (de)Occupy Honolulu testified against the bill, arguing that it criminalizes homelessness and violates the Constitution.
Allowing authorities to seize property without any notice "is kind of scary, not just for the houseless community, but for everybody in general," said Christopher "Nova" Smith.
Bill 7 allows for people to retrieve any items seized if they pay a $200 fee. Smith said that provision makes no sense when a tent costs $20.
"And still nothing’s solved," Smith said. "What have you done? You’ve made it a war zone — it’s a class war, and it’s a scary one."
Among those testifying for the bill was Jay King, community and veterans resources coordinator for the Institute for Human Services, which provides shelters for men, women and children in Iwilei.
King said "sustainable independence cannot be achieved by living on the sidewalk."
The Council also gave final approval to:
» Bill 3 (2013), which allows the Department of Planning and Permitting the authority to impose higher fines on owners whose yards or property are littered with trash or overgrown with weeds. The bill has been dubbed the "Genshiro Kawamoto bill" because of the Japanese billionaire’s string of unkempt Kahala properties.
» Bill 75 (2012), which allows for use permits to be obtained for the construction of "limited service" hotels in lands zoned for urban uses in Central and West Oahu.
