Beach Ban for Business Vetoed by Honolulu Mayor
A beach ban for businesses on beaches on Oahu鈥檚 windward coast was vetoed by Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle Wednesday.
Carlisle held a press conference announcing his decision to veto the Honolulu City Council approved , which would shut down commercial activities in Kailua and Kalama beach parks seven days a week.
A previous law is already on the books that limits business activity in those beaches to weekdays only.
In a statement, Carlisle said he worried the ban was too broad and would set a precedent for other neighborhoods and beach parks around Oahu. He said a 鈥渂etter approach鈥 would be to work on rules that would apply to the entire island, something the Department of Parks and Recreation is doing now.
鈥淚 understand and in fact concur with some of the reasons Council members had for passing this bill and some of the reasons why they may not be changing their votes now,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 am concerned, however, that this may be one of those 鈥榖e careful what you wish for鈥 situations where efforts to circumvent a total ban might intensify rather than resolve the problem.鈥
Bill 11 has gotten a lot of play in the local media. It received even more attention last week when Bob Twogood, owner of Twogood Kayaks Hawaii, Inc. in Kailua of the bill who were protesting outside of his shop.
(贬别谤别鈥檚 a link to one of Twogood鈥檚 supporters defending him in Civil Beat鈥檚 Community Voices forum.)
The City Council approved Bill 11 on July 11 with , with members Romy Cachola and Breene Harimoto opposing.
That鈥檚 enough to override a veto, which Carlisle said will likely happen. The City Council only needs six votes to override a veto.
It should be noted, however, that when Bill 11 was passed some council members who voted yes did so with reservations. Those council members include Chair Ernie Martin, Nestor Garcia and Stanley Chang.
Council Member Ikaika Anderson, who represents Kailua, is the sponsor of Bill 11.
