Law bans using downtown
area as improv toiletCritics argue that the problem
arises from too few restrooms
available to the public
Anyone caught urinating or defecating on the street, sidewalk, parking lot or any other public place in downtown Honolulu can be fined up to $200 or ordered to perform up to 40 hours of community service.
Acting Gov. James "Duke" Aiona signed into law yesterday a prohibition on public urination or defecation within the area bounded by the seashore, Nuuanu Stream, the H-1 freeway and Ward Avenue. People with medical conditions verified by a physician are exempt.
State lawmakers limited the prohibition to downtown because most complaints come from that area.
Honolulu Park Place resident Greg Stoddard walks his dog downtown three times a day. He said he often sees people relieve themselves in front of his building.
"I just saw somebody, just behind the bus stop," Stoddard said yesterday.
"That'd be me," said Tony Johnston, who was waiting for a bus to take him home to Makaha.
Johnston said he has no choice because he is not aware of any public restrooms in the downtown area and businesses refuse to open their restrooms to outsiders.
"I even offered to pay," he said. "When somebody will not let you use their restroom and I can't hold it anymore, you bet I will."
Honolulu police Sgt. Curtis Sakamoto said there are public restrooms at Aala Park, the Downtown Satellite City Hall below King Street at Fort Street Mall, and the Downtown-Chinatown Police Substation at Hotel and Maunakea streets.
Sakamoto said as many as four people an hour use the restroom at its busiest, usually in the morning.
The Ross store at 1045 Fort Street Mall makes its restrooms available to the public, even though they are frequently damaged by overuse and misuse, said store manager Cornell Lam.
"'Cause there's no restrooms downtown, everybody uses our restroom," Lam said.
Johnston said punishing people is not the solution.
"They need to put public restrooms here. That's what they need to do, and they need to keep the homeless out of them."
Aiona also signed into law bills that:
>> Make it a Class C felony for travel agents to sell sex tours. The measure was prompted by a complaint two years ago to state officials by Equality Now, a New York-based women's rights organization that said a Honolulu travel agency had placed explicit advertisements on a Web site that offered the "Ultimate Asian Sex Tour" to Thailand twice a year.>> Forbid someone from using a mobile-telephone camera to take pictures of someone in a state of undress without his or her permission.
>> Lower the filing fee to $50 from $100 for a legal name change.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.