Honolulu City Council Parks, Enterprise Services And Culture And The Arts Committee To Hear Bill 19, Focus On Recreational Stops
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 3, 2023
HONOLULU, HAWAI’I – The Honolulu City Council Committee on Parks, Enterprise Services and Culture and the Arts (PESCA) Committee will have a hearing on Bill 19 (2023), Relating to Public Parks, on Wednesday, April 5, 2023, at 1:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers.
This bill is an effort by the Department of Parks & Recreation (DPR) to update Chapter 10 of the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu (ROH) relating to the Rules, Regulations, Charges and Fees for Public Parks, and Recreation Facilities.
This meeting will focus on recreational stops, which is the location for entering, parking, standing, or stopping at any park, beach right-of-way, or unimproved park lands managed by DPR. Subsequent meetings will be held to consider commercial activities, commercial filming, commercial special event filming, and the permitting fee schedule. The PESCA Committee will be working from Bill 19 which passed the first reading on March 15, 2023, as found online here: https://https://hnldoc.ehawaii.gov/hnldoc/document-download?id=16769.
“I appreciate the work that has been done to have this important discussion,” said Chair Augie Tulba, of the Committee on Parks, Enterprise Services and Culture and the Arts, “The current policies are difficult to enforce and, essentially, just moves problems from one community to another. Taking a closer look at Bill 19, there are many sides to this issue, and I want our communities to have a significant part in informing the Council and DPR of their concerns. Parks provide an essential role on our island by providing an outdoor space to connect with our families and neighbors, and I believe we can find a balanced approach to ensure parks are enjoyed by all users and can serve our communities for future generations.”
“While there is still a lot of work to do on this bill, we need to consider an island wide approach to addressing commercial activities” said Council Chair Tommy Waters. “Our parks are vital recreational resources for our communities. We must work to establish a system that is fair for all beach and park users and emphasizes the resident experience at all of our public parks. Mahalo to Chair Augie Tulba, DPR Director Laura Thielen, and their staff for their continued efforts to draft an island-wide policy to regulate commercial activity at all our public parks.”
The agenda for Bill 19 has been posted for the April 5th meeting. The Honolulu City Council continues to encourage the public to submit testimony on this measure. Testimony may be submitted at https://hnldoc.ehawaii.gov/hnldoc/testimony.
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