News admin September 4, 2026 0 Comments

Tensions rise over beach park sweep despite cleanup deal with homeless encampment

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – After 20 years living at Lualualei Beach Park, Chan says another city sweep of the area has become overwhelming.

Chan is among 65 people living near the beach park, commonly known as Sewers, who faced another stored property ordinance enforcement operation.

“Back in July, we were told if we clean up the beach park that we would be all right. That they weren’t gonna bother us,” Chan said.

The sweep had been planned for months, and residents were notified weeks in advance. But the enforcement still exposed differing understandings of an agreement involving residents, a nonprofit supporting them, and lawmakers.

Lena Suzuki, a member of the nonprofit Suzuki Foundation, said the agreement was that residents could remain in the area as long as they kept it clean and worked with the nonprofit.

“We came up with an agreement that as long as they keep the area clean and that they work with us, that they would not sweep down here,” Suzuki said.

Upon the agreement, lawmakers say residents were also expected to work toward permanent housing.

Honolulu City Council member Andria Tupola said “the areas that we’re cleaning are not meant for permanent living.”

Tupola said the agreement included specific conditions for residents, including keeping bathroom areas and walkways clear, removing trash and working with an outreach group on weekly check ins.

She also said residents were told about the September enforcement during a July 11 cleanup and were given a checklist and resources to prepare.

“These stored property ordinances are set ahead of time,” Tupola said. “There was quite a bit of effort, quite a bit of communication that went out about prepping yourselves and preparing to get the resources you need in anticipation for the date.”

Suzuki said Tropical Storm Lala made it more difficult for residents to maintain the area before the enforcement.

“Lala came by, and so a lot of them had to reorganize their stuff, and so it looked messy again,” Suzuki said.

“We keep our place clean, but because we had the storms, we had the rain, we had the wind, everything gets all chaotic again,” Chan added.

Suzuki said she asked for additional dumpsters and bins to help residents clean up, but said she did not receive a response. She said she was frustrated to learn the sweep would still move forward because she believed the group was continuing to work under the agreement.