City Reopens Moanalua Park After Residents Questioned The Need To Close It
The city had closed the park more than a month ago to prevent hikers from accessing a trail leading to the site where the Haiku Stairs are being dismantled.
Moanalua Neighborhood Park reopened Tuesday after the city closed it for more than a month to prevent access to a trailhead leading to a Koolau Range summit where the Haiku Stairs were being dismantled.
When residents complained about the indefinite closure, the city Department of Parks and Recreation and Honolulu Police Department discussed how to reopen the park while still preventing trespassers from accessing the area around Haiku Stairs.
Councilwoman Radiant Cordero said that residents miss the park especially during the summer when kids are out of school and families want access to green space. She has been pushing for law enforcement to block only the trail leading away from the park, leaving the park itself open, for over a month, she said.
The city closed the park itself because it made it easier to stop trespassers from slipping through, spokesperson Ian Scheuring said last week.
Scheuring said the city may reevaluate its decision if it sees a big increase in the amount of trespassing.
“We hope the community can help us continue to keep it open,” Cordero said.
After years of inaction, the city began dismantling the controversial hiking trail in April. Hikers were long enticed to the stairs’ summit by the promise of spectacular views of the Windward Coast. But concerns about liability and trespassing caused Mayor Rick Blangiardi to begin the process of removing the stairs in 2021. While the stairs were already illegal to access, the city ramped up enforcement once the area became an active construction zone.
The stairs climb from Kaneohe to the top of the Koolau Range, and many hikers opted to reach the summit by going up the then-legal back way on the other side of the mountain. The trailhead is on the edge of the Moanalua park.
The state closed that trail in May, and in June, the city closed the park, citing continued trespassing.
Some residents were upset about the closure but figured it would be temporary, since the stairs’ dismantling was scheduled to last about six months.
But legal drama is delaying that timeline.
The Friends of Haiku Stairs filed two lawsuits against the city during the past year, one arguing that it didn’t follow correct environmental procedures for taking down the stairs and the other arguing that it didn’t follow correct historic preservation procedures.
In early July, a panel of judges on the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals ordered the city to halt its dismantling until the conclusion of the environmental lawsuit. Opening arguments from each side are due Aug. 5.
