HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0498.003 2022-2024From:
Sent:
To:
Cc:
Subject:
Bill 93, second reading
L)LQU-061
1 �5
CDMM � qn
Claudia Rohr
Sunday, December 03, 2023 1:37 PM
Council Testimony
Kimball, Heather, Lee Loy, Sue; Evans, Cynthia F.W.; Inaba, Holeka; Kanealq�7..,�Ieinfe{lcler,
Matt; Villegas, Rebecca; Kagiwada, Jennifer; Galimba, Michelle M.; Kierkiewfe'z, Asfileyr
testimony OPPOSED to Bill 93, second reading, December 6, 2023 councif eetiw( g4
Aloha e Chair Heather Kimball and Honorable Council members -
The Council is deciding whether to pass public works' Bill 93. 1 am OPPOSED to Bill 93. Bill 93 is
proposing to limit night fishing at Kona's Kahalu'u beach park area by changing the parking schedule,
HCC 24, 24-280, and risking the safety of the night fishers by making fishers walk or ride their bike in
the dark from a mile and a half away. Bill 93 is a pretense to move the homeless/van-lifers out of the
neighborhood without considering the violation of the rights of the fishers who fish and gather food at
night.
Bill 93 proposes an ordinance that makes previously available parking on the mauka side of Ali Drive
fronting Kahulu'u beach park area into a no parking -tow -away zone (enforced by self -interested
towing companies) between the hours of 8:00 pm to 5:00 AM, without creating night parking for
night fishers' safety and convenience. Try riding a bike with a cooler filled with ice and fishing gear).
A Council member admitted that eliminating all night parking on both sides of the street is to help
control people sleeping in their cars. But there is already a county law against sleeping in your car, or
anything with wheels, between the hours of 10:00 pm and 6:00 am. And, there is a law limiting
excessive noise after 10:00 pm. In my opinion, Bill 93 is a pretext to hide moving the homelessness
(van -lifer) problem out of an unnamed landowners' backyard and is duplicative of other laws.
The cars of the fishers, who would be on the beach fishing, would be the only cars the tow
companies would be able to tow away. The tow companies would have to let those sleeping in
their cars wake up and drive away or else it would be kidnapping.
Bill 93 is treating night fishers unfairly and unequally in violation of the county's Ethics Code and,
because Public Works and council members have not considered the night fisherman's safety and
convenience thus discouraging the exercise of their right to access a public right -a -way to the
shoreline, Bill 93 violates Hawaii's fishers' constitutional privileges and contravenes the spirit of HIRS
section 115-1:
§115-1 Findings and purpose. The legislature finds that miles of shorelines, waters, and inland
recreational areas under the jurisdiction of the State are inaccessible
to the public due to the absence of public rights -of -way; that the absence of public rights -of -way is
a contributing factor to mounting acts of hostility against private
shoreline properties and properties bordering inland recreational areas; that the population of the
islands is increasing while the presently accessible beach, shoreline,
and inland recreational areas remain fixed; and that the absence of public access to Hawaii's
shorelines and inland recreational areas constitutes an infringement upon
Comm. No
Ref. To:
Ref. Datlet",
the fundamental right Offree movement iDpublic space and access bJand use Ofcoastal and
inland recreational areas. The purpose Ofthis chapter isk}guarantee
the right Ofpublic access tOthe sea, shorelines, and inland recreational areas, and transit along
the shorelines, and toprovide for the acquisition ofland for the
purchase and maintenance of public rights -of -way and public transit corridors.
Without providingnight parking for the fishers, Bill 93isunconstitutional, facia|h@DdaSbwiUbe@ooUedfo[Ule
reasons above.
Claudia Rohr