After weeks of confusion, Hawaii County officials confirmed this week that county parks will remain closed for the duration of the COVID-19 lockdown.
Sort of.
Mayor Harry Kim acknowledged in a phone call with the Tribune-Herald earlier this week that the county’s handling of its parks has led to mixed messages during the early weeks of the COVID-19 lockdown.
But, despite a comment he made at the end of March — wherein he said county staff would evaluate potentially reopening certain parks — he reiterated that all county parks remain officially closed in order to discourage social gatherings there.
James Komata, deputy director of the county Department of Parks and Recreation, expanded on Kim’s remarks, saying the county technically forbids people from being within all county parks until further notice, but added that beach parks are tricky: The beach areas makai of the waterline are not part of any parks and remain open to the public.
And because the quickest access point to many beaches is through closed county parks, many people are still entering parks in order to get to the beach.
“Going through the park is technically not permitted,” Komata said. “But that’s something we’re having meetings about, looking to resolve it.”
As a sort of compromise, Komata and Kim said traveling through parks in order to reach beaches is permissible, so long as the people doing so don’t linger within the park.
“If you want to run along the beach or swim, that’s fine. Just come back immediately when you’re done,” Komata said.
Kim said beach gatherings should be discouraged, but reiterated his desire to allow residents to to seek outdoor recreation as much as possible.
The mayor added that sunlight and ocean water are “beautiful allies” in combating COVID-19 and called saltwater a “natural detergent,” although such claims are not substantiated by coronavirus experts.
Further complicating matters are restroom facilities at county parks. Kim said the parks were initially closed because the public restrooms represented a sanitation risk that could transmit the virus.
“What happened was the state announced they closed all the state parks, but we kept our county parks open,” Kim said. “But I was told the next day that the restrooms at county parks were too unsanitary.”
But before the lockdown order, Parks and Recreation ordered 400 soap dispensers and refill cartridges to be installed in park restrooms, Komata said. Those dispensers have since been installed, and restrooms at 18 county parks are now open for public use.
“We realized people were going to use the parks one way or another, so it’s better to open some of them for general sanitation reasons,” Komata said.
Since then, however, Parks and Recreation has had to contend with the frequent vandalism that prevented the dispensers from being installed sooner, Komata said. Some bathrooms already have had their dispensers stolen or destroyed multiple times since March.
Restrooms at the Mo‘oheau Bus Terminal, Lincoln Park, Bayfront Soccer Fields, Bayfront Beach Park, Lili‘uokalani Gardens, Reeds Bay Beach Park, ‘Alae Cemetery and Wai‘aha Bay Beach Park are open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.
Restrooms at Honoli‘i Beach Park, Shipman Park, Kurtistown Park, Kahalu‘u Beach Park, Magic Sands Beach Park, Kailua Park, Waikoloa Pu‘u Nui Park, Waimea Park and the Gilbert Kahele Recreation Area are open 24 hours daily.
The restroom at Veterans Cemetery No. 2 is open from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.