Honolulu Begins Enforcing New Sidewalk Ban Against Homeless

Michael Levine/Civil Beat

Honolulu officials have taken the first major step toward using the new belongings ban to remove homeless people from public sidewalks.

Workers in the city's Department of Facility Maintenance, wearing neon orange vests, posted 24-hour warning notices on tents and carts lined up along two Moiliili parks and promised to return Tuesday to confiscate belongings that aren't moved.

The notices, produced with help from city lawyers, have two separate components: one small square noting the violation, and one longer piece of paper detailing the items and the time of the posting. A handful of homeless people sat on benches nearby while officials taped the warnings to their belongings.

Workers also took pictures of the possessions so they know what they can take Tuesday, department director Westley Chun said.

"It's not going to be to the detail where we're going to look at the toothbrush and say, well, we won't be able to take that one because it doesn't show up in this photograph," Chun said. "We're going to do the best we can when we impound the property."

The move against the homeless comes after three months of heated debate at the Honolulu City Council. The proposal, despite protestations by the bill's supporters, was widely seen as the city's next step in trying to keep homeless people from taking over public spaces. An earlier effort to clear sidewalks had gone nowhere because it was too complicated to enforce.

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