Kokua Line
Kokua Line
Camping at Mokuleia Beach
still off-limits to the publicQuestion: Mokuleia Beach Park on the North Shore has been closed for camping for two years. Families on vacation don't have the opportunity to enjoy the park anymore. Everything is now nice and clean and cleared out. Why isn't camping allowed there?
Answer: The problem is with illegal campers continually setting up house there, making it "tough for the general public," said William Balfour, director of the city Department of Parks and Recreation.
The park, at 68-919 Kaena Point Road, remains closed to camping because that is the easiest way now to deal with the problem, he said. That's because current laws don't allow officials to deal with people who want to make the beach their home, he said. The easiest solution, albeit not necessarily the most popular, is to prohibit any camping.
As it is, police and parks personnel periodically go in to roust the illegal campers. Recently, "a whole bunch of plants, dogs and chickens" were seen at the park, Balfour said. In the past, pigs were also part of the environment.
His department has submitted a proposal to the City Council "to come up with an ordinance with teeth to allow us to work aggressively with the chronic campers," Balfour said. However, the proposal has been tabled for several months.
"Until we have an ordinance (with clout) in place, unfortunately, we just don't have the ability to manage (the illegal camping situation) because the courts keep throwing (the cases) out," Balfour said. "Somehow, we have to get that proposal reintroduced."
Until then, "It's a no-win situation," he acknowledged.
However, he pointed out that the city has campsites all around the island that remain open, including at Keaau Beach, which also was shut down for a period because of illegal camping.
Q: The statue across from "Down to Earth" in Moiliili is really nice. It doesn't appear to have any birds around it. What's keeping them off? Is it something special?
A: Hmm, perhaps the pigeons are being respectful of the 26-foot-high, orange-red Japanese torii gate, a gift from the people of Hiroshima, Honolulu's sister city in Japan.
We checked with the Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce, and the word is nothing special has been put on the torii, which is made of steel and titanium. The chamber had asked Hiroshima to donate a replica of the famed torii gate fronting Hiroshima's Miyajima Island for the chamber's Moiliili revitalization project.
The torii, near King and Beretania streets, was meant as a cultural gift between the two cities, but as the Star-Bulletin's Rob Perez reported (Raising Cane, Oct. 28, 2001), critics say it is inappropriate for Honolulu to use public funds to display such a religious symbol on public property. The city spent $135,000 to erect the torii and landscape the area.
The torii is considered a symbol of the Shinto religion.
Mahalo
To the wonderful family who found my wallet at the airport post office, and especially to their young son: thank you very, very much. -- Frank A. Hori
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