Event organizers for the National Football League said Friday that they want an alcohol-serving VIP tent at Queen’s Beach in Waikiki in conjunction with the upcoming Pro Bowl, but insisted that it is only a small portion of a larger event open to the public.

A slew of individuals, however, many of them Waikiki residents who live nearby, testified at a public hearing that they oppose the idea of alcohol being served in an exclusive area of one of the island’s most iconic beaches in seeming conflict with the city’s islandwide alcohol ban in parks.

The city Department of Parks and Recreation is considering a change in its administrative rules that would establish permits for vendors who want to serve alcohol for private events at Queen’s Beach on the Diamond Head side of Kapahulu Groin. Parks officials stressed that they were submitting the proposal only at the behest of events organizers and that Parks Director Michele Nekota had not taken a position.

The rules change would allow alcohol to be served a maximum of four times annually at Queen’s Beach, also known as Queen’s Surf Beach. No other park sites are listed, but the language is set up so that other parks and beaches may be added by the parks director.

Rick Schneider of Events International said the NFL is spending more than $1 million to set up a “ministadium” attraction at Queen’s Beach Jan. 29-30 that is free and open to the public and is expected to draw 10,000 a day. The Pro Bowl is Jan. 31 at Aloha Stadium.

The league wants to be able to serve alcohol in a tented “VIP area for the sponsors” who are putting on the larger event, Schneider said. “What the NFL would like to do is host them and be able to give them an area where they can be hosted away from the stage, away from the main part of the event,” he said.

The ministadium concept is replacing a public block party that the NFL has held in the past, Schneider said.

Ed Nishioka of DNA Communications also testified in favor of the rules change, and said the NFL is not intending to make alcohol sales within the tent. “Without sponsors, events that our residents enjoy today would not happen,” Nishioka said. “To put things in perspective, the rules change would allow for a secured hospitality area that would have hundreds of people in it, versus tens of thousands of residents and visitors that come to enjoy the Pro Bowl experience.”

The 2,400-square-foot tent “would not stop or block access to the beach,” Nishioka said. The NFL is popular in Hawaii despite not having a team based here, and the league’s Pro Bowl-related public activities “allow our residents to have the NFL experience that’s very memorable to them and is special.”

The larger event would require a facilities permit for the site from Parks and Recreation. Nishioka told reporters after his testimony that the permit application is “in the process.” City spokesman Andrew Pereira said the department has not received a formal application.

Asked by reporters afterward whether the league intended to continue with its other activities at Queen’s Beach if it did not have a permit to allow liquor in a small area on the two days, both Nishioka and Schneider said that would be a call for the NFL.

NFL public relations staff could not be reached for comment after business hours, East Coast time Friday.

A slew of Waikiki residents and public access groups testified against the proposal.

Waikiki resident Laura St. Denis questioned the need to carve out an area of precious beach space to serve alcohol. “There are a large number of beautiful, new hotels and restaurants; some of them are oceanfront,” she said. “I’m sure they would appreciate having some business.”

John Shockley, coordinator of the group Free Access Coalition, said the Caldwell administration needs to reconsider the proposal. If drinking at beaches by the public is prohibited, “why is it good for people with money or who are able to buy into the area?” he asked.

Several members of the Diamond Head/Kapahulu/St. Louis Heights Neighborhood Board voiced outrage that the group was not alerted about the proposed rules change and said the city’s only notice of the proposal was through a classified ad in the back of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

Alethea Rebman, president of the Kapiolani Park Preservation Society, said the idea of closing off a section of beachfront for exclusive use by executives and VIPs and their cocktails is a bad one. “That’s not what Hawaii has ever been; that’s not what it should be,” she said. “This would be taking beach days away from families and everyone else in order to benefit partygoers.”

Rebman called the proposal “pure, special-interest legislation” that opens up the possibility of huge liability by the city.

Not everyone in the public opposed the proposal. Waikiki resident Dave Moskowitz said Waikiki already hosts a number of other activities that take up more space and bring more people.

“I think it’s good to have a pro-tourist and business environment, and it’s time we stop trying to hurt business,” Moskowitz said.

It’s not clear whether the rules — if adopted by Nekota — could be in place in time for the NFL or its sponsors to obtain a permit by Pro Bowl weekend. The event would also require a separate liquor permit from the Honolulu Liquor Commission, but the agency has not yet received an application.

The deadline for written testimony on the proposal is Friday. Go to honolulu.gov/parks.html for links to the proposal and to submit testimony.