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The controversy over the Haiku Stairs hiking trail has spilled over to the other side of the Koolau Range, where Moanalua residents are asking why their entire neighborhood park has to be closed just to block access to a trail that leads to the same summit.

Three years ago, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi decided to remove the Haiku Stairs from a mountainside in Kaneohe, marking an end to decades of hikers trekking up the stairs to reach the summit’s spectacular views.

The dismantling process started in April. While the hike has been illegal for years, the city ramped up police enforcement to stop trespassers eager for one last hike. 

In May, the state closed a Moanalua trailhead that had been used as the legal back way to the summit, citing safety concerns related to construction. 

Hikers continued to trespass on that trail, leading the city to close the adjacent Moanalua Valley Neighborhood Park in June. These closures will last the roughly six months of the dismantling, officials said. 

But an ongoing legal battle ensures that the dismantling will be delayed, and some Moanalua Valley residents are upset that it might prolong the closure of their park.

Two lawsuits filed by the Friends of Haiku Stairs accuse the city of not following proper environmental and historic preservation procedures for dismantling the stairs. After almost a year of legal twists and turns, the Friends convinced a panel of judges to order the city to halt its dismantling of the stairs for the remainder of the lawsuit. The deadline for each side to file opening briefs is Aug. 5.

Alana Bryant and her family lived in condominiums in town before moving to Moanalua Valley. She grew up in Manoa and likes the feeling of living in a valley with more green space.

“I have to say that this park was a huge draw,” she said. The park is about a 10-minute walk from their house, an easy distance for their four kids. 

When the city initially closed the park, she was bummed but figured that it would be temporary.

“We didn’t do anything about it because I thought maybe the stairs would be removed quickly or in a few months,” she said. 

But in July, the state Intermediate Court of Appeals ordered the city to halt its removal of the stairs until the conclusion of the Friends’ appeal, which argues that the city’s environmental impact statement from 2020 doesn’t cover its current dismantling process. 

“That’s when I realized that it could be a really long time,” Bryant said.

She started a petition online and in person, knocking on doors and creating signs to carry around the neighborhood that read “LET THE KIDS PLAY” and “OPEN OUR PARK.” She had 88 signatures as of Thursday, Bryant said.

H1 cuts off Moanalua Valley from the rest of the island, making it difficult for pedestrians like her children to access other parks. Her two teenagers ordinarily would play basketball at the park but can’t anymore.

“Now they’re just on their phones,” she said. 

She doesn’t have a strong opinion on whether the stairs should be removed. Before this, she thought the controversy over Haiku Stairs would remain restricted to the neighborhood on the other side of the mountain. 

Cindy Nawilis and Daniel Pham live a few blocks away from the park with their two young kids. They enjoyed using the basketball court as a place for their older son to practice riding his bike, and would visit the playground a couple of times per week.

Like Bryant, they thought the drama around Haiku Stairs had nothing to do with them until it reached the Moanalua Valley park. Nawilis and Pham said they don’t know all the details and don’t have a firm opinion for or against the stairs. 

“I follow the Reddit threads,” Pham said. 

Bryant thinks that there’s a better way. 

The park itself is just the entryway to a state trail that leads back into the valley and eventually ascends the Koolaus, and she wants law enforcement to block that trail rather than blocking the park that leads to it. 

City spokesperson Ian Scheuring said that the city closed the entire park because it wanted to limit the number of entry points for ease of enforcement.

“It may seem a little like overkill. But when the stakes are as high as they are with regard to trespassing and safety on that trail while work is taking place, we were just in a position where we couldn’t take any chances,” he said.

He said that the city is working to reopen the park before the conclusion of the lawsuit, but he did not have an estimate for when that would happen. Reopening might mean allowing access to just the basketball courts or playground rather than the entire grounds, he said.

In the meantime, Bryant and her family have found something else to do.

“We’ve been going on our walk with the sign,” she said.