HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 1140.003 2004-2006
Arabinda Adrienne Dey
To: shiga@co.hawaii.hi.us
Cc: Amundson, Ron; jarmstrong@hawaiitribune-herald.com; tspinolacampbell@co.hawaii.hi.us;
parksrecreation@co.hawaii.hi.us; aquatics@co.hawaii.hi.us
Subject: Hono_lii Beach Park expansion
Dear Chairman Higa:
I am writing about your interesting idea of expanding the Honolii Beach Park. It occurred
to me that there may be a further benefit in such a land acquisition in addition to the
benefits mentioned in the HTH article. In order to explain my idea I need to give some
background; forgive me if you are already familiar with what follows.
Some years ago the County of Hawaii was sued in federal court by some local disabled
residents because none of the parks and recreational facilities on the island had been
made accessible as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The judge ruled
that every single one of the county facilities within the Park & Recreation Department had
to be made accessible as provided under the law. The County had to enter into a consent
agreement with the court. An expensive consultant was hired to develop a Transition Plan
for the department. All the facilities were surveyed and plans were developed to provide
accessibility. A timeline was also included in the plan. Note that it is now 15 years
since the passage of the ADA.
The Honolii park is an especially tough location to be made accessible because of the
steep cliff above the beach. The consultants proposed to install an elevator to solve the
problem. However, such an elevator would be very expensive, subject to vandalism, and to
corrosion because of the salty environment, and would most likely malfunction within a
short period of time. Therefore I am thinking that the additional land you are proposing
for the County to buy might provide a much more reasonable and simpler accessible route to
this beach. Of course this would have to be determined by a careful survey of the area.
If you can find a copy of the Transition Plan which is probably gathering dust somewhere,
you will see the Honolii project listed as no.73 in the South Hilo section. Activities
listed for this park are swimming, surfing, and restrooms. I have to say that swimming
would be extremely dangerous at this site. To this day there is no accessible safe
swimming beach overseen by a lifeguard near Hilo. The only other beach where there is a
permanent lifeguard is at Richardson Ocean Park which the County stubbornly refuses to
make accessible. This is the site of the summer aquatics program for children. Obviously
children with certain mobility problems are excluded from this program and it is my
opinion that this is a serious violation of the ADA.
I hope my comments may turn out to be helpful. It is high time for the County of Hawaii
to fulfill its responsibilities under the ADA. It appears that the work required by the
Transition Plan keeps falling off the bottom of the to-do list. There appears to be money
for all kinds of land acquisitions and the development of brand new parks so there is no
excuse for putting off this work for so long. I look forward to the County finally
showing its aloha to all of its residents.
Very sincerely,
Adrienne S. Dey
39 Poko Place, Hilo, HI 96720
934-8580
Member, Board of Directors, Paukaa Community Association
Trained as a Community Access Monitor by the MA Architectural Access Board
Co-founder and subsequently Chair for 3 years of the Needham, MA Commission on
Disabilities
Legally blind since 1984
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