HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) -
Under current city
law, no one is allowed to store their private property on public property. For example, the tents that line the sidewalk
along Thomas Square, where Occupy Honolulu protestors took up residence in
November of 2011. Right now, the city is required to tag belongings and give owners
24 hours to remove them before they can be legally seized and stored— but city
council bill 7 would eliminate that notice requirement.
"That would irreparably harm
a lot of people -- when you take people's things and leave them with
nothing. They already feel beaten down
and trodden upon," said D'Angelo McIntyre, a protestor who has been camping out
with Occupy Honolulu. "That's not
helping them. That's getting rid of the
problem for you, not for them, and that's wrong."
The "public sidewalk nuisance"
situation, as city officials refer to it, isn't just an issue with Occupy
Honolulu at Thomas Square. Along South King
Street in front of Sanders Piano, employees say every night – 30 to 40 people –
are camped just outside their doorstep. Employees
say they're gone in the morning, but it's what they leave behind.
"We've had during the day
people go down our back outside stairway to get to their lessons and somebody
has defecated at the bottom of the stairs," described Gregory Smith, a Sanders
Piano employee. "We've had mothers and fathers of piano students who have
quit because they won't come back in this environment," Smith explained. "It's been a nightmare, it's gotten
worse."
Duane "Ku" Souza lives
in Pa'awa In-Ha Park during the day. At night, he moves his family and their belongings
into the Sanders Piano parking lot. The
thought of losing the current 24 hour notice police provide to clear out
frustrates him.
"I tell you what, it's going
be one beef if someone comes and touch my things. Same as anybody else," said Souza. "As a Hawaiian, I know I have a
traditional and customary right to do what I'm doing."
Unless city or state law changes,
officials say there's nothing they can do as long as the tents and other
belongings along the sidewalks provide a minimum of 36 inches of passing space
in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
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