Residents say indefinite closure of park leading to Haiku Stairs is unfair

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

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

The dismantling began in April. Although the hike has been illegal for years, the city has stepped up police enforcement to stop trespassers eager to take one last hike.

In May, the state closed a Moanalua trail that had been used as a legal return route to the summit, citing safety concerns related to construction.

Hikers continued to venture onto the trail, prompting the city to close nearby Moanalua Valley State Park in June. The closures will last about six months, officials said.

But an ongoing legal battle means the dismantling will be delayed, and some Moanalua Valley residents fear it will prolong the closure of their park.

Two lawsuits filed by the Friends of the Haiku Staircase accuse the city of failing to follow proper environmental and historic preservation procedures in dismantling the staircase. After nearly a year of legal wrangling, the Friends convinced a panel of judges to order the city to halt the staircase’s dismantling for the remainder of the trial. The deadline for each side to file opening briefs is August 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 this park has been a big attraction,” she said. The park is about a 10-minute walk from their house, an easy distance for their four children.

When the city initially closed the park, they were disappointed but thought it would be temporary.

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

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

“That’s when I realized this could take 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.” It had 88 signatures as of Thursday, Bryant said.

H1 Park isolates Moanalua Valley from the rest of the island, making it difficult for pedestrians, like her children, to access other parks. Her two teenage children would normally play basketball in the park, but that’s no longer the case.

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

She has no strong opinion on whether the staircase should be removed. Before that, she thought the controversy over the Haiku staircase would remain limited to the neighborhood on the other side of the mountain.

Cindy Nawilis and Daniel Pham live a few blocks from the park with their two young children. They enjoyed using the basketball court to let their older son practice riding his bike and went to the playground twice a week.

Like Bryant, they thought the drama surrounding the Haiku Stairs was none of their business until it reached Moanalua Valley Park. Nawilis and Pham said they don’t know all the details and don’t have a strong opinion for or against the stairs.

“I follow the threads on Reddit,” Pham said.

Bryant thinks there is a better way.

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

City spokesman Ian Scheuring said the city closed the entire park because it wanted to limit the number of entry points to make it easier to enforce the rules.

“It may sound a little bit over the top, but when the stakes are that high with respect to trespassing and safety on that trail during the construction, we were in a position where we couldn’t take any risks,” he said.

He said the city was working to reopen the park before the trial concludes, but he had no estimate of when that would happen. Reopening could mean allowing access only to the basketball courts or playground rather than the entire grounds, he said.

In the meantime, Bryant and his family have found other things to do.

“We took our walk with the sign,” she said.