The Honolulu City Council is scheduled to vote on Bill 62, which would expand the sit-lie sidewalk ban to six areas in downtown and Chinatown. The ban would extend the ordinance to College Walk Mall (along the Ewa side of Nuuanu Stream between Beretania and Kukui streets), the unnamed mall mauka of College Walk (from Kukui Street to Foster Botanical Garden), Sun Yat Sen Mall (parallel to College Walk, Diamond Head side of Nuuanu Stream), Kekaulike Mall, Fort Street Mall and Union Mall. Each ban would be effect from 5:00 AM to 7:00 PM daily. City Councilwoman Carol Fukunaga, who represents the Chinatown-downtown region, stated that the intent is not to criminalize the homeless, but rather get people "into something better for them, and to help business owners take back control of the areas outside their businesses."
In recent weeks, residents, business owners, and community leaders in the downtown and Chinatown communities have been complaining about a surge of homeless place, who may have been displaced from a recent ordinance preventing them from sitting and lying on sidewalks in Waikiki. Mayor Kirk Caldwell said that he is inclined to sign Bill 62 provided that city attorneys say it passes constitutional muster. Caldwell stated, "All of these are tools or measures to try to make a difference in areas that are adversely impacted by people who choose to sit and lie in areas that were designed, like this (Kekaulike) mall, to walk on."
Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 12-3-2014, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Principal Broker, REALTOR®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
www.myhawaiihomesearch.com
www.myhawaiicondo.com
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Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Principal Broker, REALTOR®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
www.myhawaiihomesearch.com
www.myhawaiicondo.com
www.myhawaiidreamhome.com
