Bill Text: HI SCR160 | 2015 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Haiku Stairs

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-23 - Referred to WTL/PSM, WAM. [SCR160 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2015-SCR160-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	160
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the city and county of honolulu and state of hawaii to conduct a FEASIBILITY study of a public-private partnership to restore, allow public access to, and maintain the haiku stairs and the honolulu board of water supply to defer plans to remove the haiku stairs until the feasibility study is concluded.

 

 

     WHEREAS, the Haiku Stairs, also known as the Haiku Ladder, Pali Ladder, and Stairway to Heaven, is a series of galvanized-steel ship ladders from the Haiku Valley floor to the top of Puu Keahiakahoe, reaching an altitude of more than 2,800 feet, with some of the most beautiful and breathtaking views in the world; and

 

     WHEREAS, beginning in 1942, contractors for the United States Navy began construction of the Haiku Radio Station, a top secret facility that was to be used to transmit long distance radio signals to Navy ships operating throughout the Pacific; and

 

     WHEREAS, the radio station at Haiku Valley was inactivated in 1958 and began to function under the United States Coast Guard as an experimental OMEGA radio navigation station; and

 

     WHEREAS, millions of television viewers viewed the Haiku Stairs in an episode of Magnum P.I. on April 9, 1981, attracting the attention of visitors, residents, and film and television production companies; and

 

     WHEREAS, according to United States Coast Guard records, the popularity of the Haiku Stairs hike, at its peak, was nearly two hundred people per day on the weekends and averaged 20,000 climbers a year; and

 

     WHEREAS, despite the permanent closure of the Haiku Stairs in 1987, the public continues to illegally climb the Haiku Stairs for the sweeping views of Oahu; and

 

     WHEREAS, the increased popularity of the Haiku Stairs has led to a number of maintenance issues, including litter and vandalism, as well as public safety issues, including emergency rescues and liability concerns, incurring additional burdens to city taxpayers; and

 

     WHEREAS, after a storm on February 14, 2015, inflicted major damage to the structure, the Honolulu Board of Water Supply developed a plan to study the feasibility of permanently removing the Haiku Stairs; and

 

     WHEREAS, an ecological, historical, and recreational treasure should be opened to the general public and saved in perpetuity; and

 

     WHEREAS, a pay-to-hike proposal of $5 to $20 per hiker would be a way to raise revenue to maintain and repair the Haiku Stairs, with at least one or two days per month available for free hikes for those who cannot pay; and

 

     WHEREAS, paying hikers may meet at a location away from the Haiku Stairs and be bussed to the trailhead to alleviate the need for parking stalls in the community; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, the House of Representatives concurring, that the City and County of Honolulu and the State of Hawaii conduct a feasibility study of a public-private partnership to restore, open to the public, and maintain the Haiku Stairs; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the feasibility study include an option for a pay-to-hike system where revenues generated would pay for the operation and maintenance of the Haiku Stairs; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Honolulu Board of Water Supply defer any plans to remove the Haiku Stairs until the feasibility study of a public-private partnership is concluded; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, Chair of the Honolulu City Council, Manager and Chief Engineer of the Board of Water Supply, Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, and President of the Friends of Haiku Stairs Board of Directors.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Haiku Stairs