The Honolulu City Council this week passed a measure that bans commercial activities on Waimanalo beaches, with the exception of commercial filming regulated by the Hawaii Film Office.
Council member Esther Kiaaina, who introduced Bill 38, said it aims to improve beach access for residents now contending with crowding touched off by various commercial activities.
“The fact of the matter is Waimanalo is more disproportionately impacted than any other area on the island,” she said during Wednesday’s Council meeting.
“I don’t believe that commercial operators have a right, per se, to use our public parks and resources for personal economic gain. Some commercial activities are appropriate at certain times and in certain locations. … Bill 38 is what I believe is the right balance for Waimanalo based on the community input we have received.”
The Council voted 7-2 to pass the bill, with Council members
Calvin Say and Andria Tupola
casting “no” votes. Say stated
concerns about favoritism and enforcement of the proposed ban, which would fall to the understaffed Honolulu Police Department.
“We’re just stretched too thin as far as how I see county government services,” Say said during the meeting. Further, he said,
“I think right now this measure would open up a can of worms. Why we are allowing the film industry? And that’s the discussion that we need, because if you’re going to allow one commercial activity, why not the other?”
Kiaaina maintained that commercial filming should be allowed because it is regulated by the state’s Film Office, and that she has heard from the Waimanalo community that the industry has done a good job at self-regulating.
“What happens with the film industry is intermittent. They work with the community. It employs a lot of local people,” she told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
In written testimony addressing Bill 38, about 60 testifiers supported the measure, and about 200 opposed it, with much of the opposition tied to commercial operations, such as wedding and photography industries.
In testimony given during the meeting, Lauren Carson, who works for a local wedding and photography business, said, “A ban of this magnitude is devastating to Hawaii entrepreneurs and locals like myself.”
She added, “The message this bill is currently sending is that big business and Hollywood is more important to Hawaii than our local hardworking families and locals who want to have special moments … captured on film at this beach.”
Responding to such testimony, Kiaaina said Thursday, “They made it seem like zoning big business versus local photographers.” She continued, “There’s tons of local people who are hired by the film industry, including from Waimanalo. For me, at the end of the day, it’s all about respect, right? Forget the regulations for everything. The film industry has done everything right — not only in Waimanalo, but elsewhere on Oahu — and that is the difference.”
Kiaaina said that in past versions of the bill, when she tried to insert exemptions for still photography, community members
objected.
“Part of the legislative process is I have to hear what the community has to say,” she said. “They realized that that actually was the avenue in that all of the weddings and photography was occurring, and that was the biggest grievance.”
The measure is now on Mayor Rick Blangiardi’s desk. If he signs off on Bill 38 or lets it become law without his signature, the ordinance would cover city-
manged beaches such as Hunananiho, Makapuu and Waimanalo beach parks.
At area beaches managed by the state, such as Erma’s Beach and Waimanalo Bay Beach, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources issues Wiki Wiki permits for commercial activities. If Bill 38 is enacted as law, Kiaaina said she is prepared to ask DLNR to adjust its permitting system to align with the city’s law.
