20/08/2021
City Council is at it again. Bill 34 (2021) is a repeat of Bill 2 (2018) which did not pass.
However, Bill 34 has already passed First Reading and is coming up in City Council again on August 26th.
A Bill becomes law after passing Third Reading and being sent to the Mayor to sign.
This Bill would ban commercial activities from "Sunset Beach Park, Haleiwa Beach Park, and Haleiwa Alii Beach Park", and all city owned or operated beach rights-of-way and easements from Sunset Point to Kaiaka Point in Waialua. That's 8 miles of coastline from Sunset Beach through Haleiwa. This language is being added to the City Ordinance that already bans all commercial activities from Waimanalo Beach Park, Kaiona Beach Park, Kaupo Beach Park, Makapuu Beach Park, and Bellows Feild Beach Park, and all city owned or operated beach rights-of-way and easements from Lanikai to Kapoho Point (Castle Point). That's basically all of Kailua, All of Waimanalo, and now they want to ban them from all of the North Shore.
This Bill is kind of a moot point after they passed the Parks Rules back in September. The new rules are so restrictive that it makes getting the permit that allows commercial stops at City Beach Parks not worth even trying to get.
It used to be that if I got a Parks Permit for Commercial Stops that that permit was good for all of my tour vans for that month to stop at any of the City Beach Parks, after providing proof of Commercial Insurance with coverage of One Million Dollars, with the City and County as an Additionally Insured. This permit was limited to 5 tour companies per month.
Under the new rules, they have divided the island up into 5 districts, and a permit is now only good for 1 of my tour vans to be able to do a Commercial Stop only in that 1 specific district. None of my other tour vans would be able to do a commercial stop in that same district. And again, this is limited to 5 tour companies per district.
The North Shore is in District 4 which runs from Makapu'u Point, along the windward coast line and the north shore to Kaena Point. So, District 4 covers half of the coastline of the island. But they can only issue 5 permits for that district, to 5 different tour companies, who then can only have 1 of their tour vehicles do a commercial stop in that district for that month. So that's a total of only 5 vehicles that are allowed to do a commercial stop in that district for that month.
So, banning commercial stops, in the way that Bill 34 is trying to do is pretty pointless, as long as the new Park Rules that was passed in September are enforced. (But that is the problem; nobody enforces these rules. Even if this Bill is passed, nobody is going to be there to enforce it.)
On July 1st, I went to the Parks Department to try to get the permit for Commercial Stops, as I had done in the past before the new rules were passed, and after hearing how restrictive the new rules were, I ended up walking out without applying because the permit would be practically useless. I would have to choose only 1 of my tour vans to allow their customers to stop at a City Beach Park?! That's ridiculous. How do I tell 1 family, you can, but have to tell these other families you can't?!
Actually, I had went to the Parks Department office at the end of June, and at that time, they couldn't even explain the new rules to me, they said that they didn't know how the rules work, because nobody had tried to apply yet. Actually, the owner of another tour company told me in June that he had tried, but like me, once hearing how restrictive the new rules were, he walked out without applying. The person at the Parks Department that was trying to answer my questions said, Look, you gotta understand, We didn't make these rules, they were pushed on us by the City Council.
Btw, the other 4 of the 5 districts that they divided the island into, are not desirable to get a permit for. District 5 is Waipio Peninsula in Waipahu. District 1 is Aina Haina, District 2 is Kaka'ako, and District 3 is Waianae. District 4, which covers the entire Windward coast and the entire North Shore would be the most desirable district, and that is divided into only 5 permits for only 5 vehicles, 1 vehicle per tour company.
But I don't think that the people that are passing this bill even know all this.
Tour companies are already banned from all State Parks, so we are not allowed to go to Malaekahana beach, Kahana Bay beach, Kaena Point, both North Shore and West side, Keaiwa state park, La'ie Point state wayside, Ulupo state wayside, Pu'u O Mahuka state park, Pu'u Ualaka'a state park (Tantalus lookout), etc...
We're not allowed into 2 of the 4 botanical gardens maintained by the City, Ho'omaluhia Botanical Gardens, and Koko Crater Botanical Gardens.
Out of the 34 hiking trails that are maintained by the Na Ala Hele Trail & Access Program, Commercial tour companies are only allowed on 7 of them if they have the permit from DLNR.
Then they banned us from all of the beaches in Kailua, and then they banned us from all the beaches in Waimanalo. Together, Kailua and Waimanalo, that made 10 miles of coastline off limits. With the exception of Waimanalo Bay Beach Park, thanks to Bill 93 (2017) which allowed for up to 5 tour vans, if you pay $165 per van, per month for the permit. But they're trying to take that away as well with Bill 77 (2020).
People complain that places like beaches are too crowded, and they blame it on tour companies.
If you look at the vehicles that are at these places, only a small percentage of them are tour vehicles. Most of them are rental cars or private cars and trucks driven by local residents. As we know now that the results of the most recent Census has been released, the population of this island is now over 1 million people. Most of the vehicles at these sites are Toyota trucks, Camry's, Lexus, etc..., not rental cars, or tour vehicles. So you can't blame all of this on tourism.
But you can see how with all the restrictions that I showed above, how that confines tour companies into a smaller area which of course makes those areas seem crowded, because that the only places that they can go to.
If tour companies were less restricted, they would be spread out more, and places wouldn't seem so crowded.
Also, these rules just drive people underground, to give illegal tours, in illegal vehicles, which are probably not on Commercial Insurance, and not registered with the PUC, or DOT, and not paying taxes.
You think that you are helping, but you are creating a bigger problem.
People who want to go to these places that tour companies are not allowed to go to, are just going to get a rental car, and go on their own, with no guide to keep them safe, or to tell them to pick up their trash, or to tell them to not climb on sensitive sites, etc...
We should be encouraging tourists to go with a guide. Not only does this keep them safe, and our island safe, but it also creates jobs for locals.
Here is a copy of the new bill. The new proposed changes are the Underlined sections and words.
https://hnldoc.ehawaii.gov/hnldoc/document-download?id=11624
