Honolulu City Council Policy Resolutions

EXPRESSING CITY COUNCIL POLICY OF INCREASED ACCESS BY THE HANDICAPPED AND ELDERLY TO THE OCEAN AT CITY BEACHES AND REQUESTING A REPORT RELATING TO PROVISION OF SUCH ACCESS.

    WHEREAS, State and County law provides that all residents of Hawaii shall have access to beaches; and

    WHEREAS, presently, it is often very difficult for physically handicapped people, including the wheelchair bound, and the elderly, to swim at a beach unless access ramps or other means are available to them to allow access to the water; and

    WHEREAS, in our island state, water-related recreation is part of everyday life, and ramps or other means of access leading to the ocean would allow the handicapped and elderly to take part in these activities; and

    WHEREAS, the City and County of Honolulu has a program to provide sidewalks, curbs and street areas that are adapted for use by the handicapped; and

    WHEREAS, the City and County of Honolulu has designed and retrofitted municipal buildings with ramps and elevators allowing access to and use of these buildings by the elderly and handicapped; and

    WHEREAS, other major public places within the City and County of Honolulu have been adapted to allow access and use by the handicapped; and

    WHEREAS, Fort DeRussy Beach, Kuhio Beach Park and Ala Moana Beach Park are among the City's most popular and centrally located beaches and it appears that the waters thereof should be made available for use by the physically handicapped and elderly; and

    WHEREAS, improvement of access to the waters off of these beaches would make the ocean more readily accessible to the physically handicapped and elderly; now therefore,

    BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City and County of Honolulu that the Council expresses its policy to have increased recreational opportunities for the handicapped and elderly citizens of the City and County of Honolulu, in particular by making ocean-based recreation more accessible to these citizens; and

    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Parks and Recreation of the City and County of Honolulu is requested to study the feasibility and desirability of providing handicapped and elderly access to the beaches at Ala Moana Beach Park, Fort DeRussy, and Kuhio Beach Park and the appropriate means of providing such access; and to commence discussions with the Commander of U.S. Army Support-Command-Hawaii regarding access to the beaches at Fort DeRussy; and

    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Parks and Recreation is requested to submit a report to the City Council within 90 days of the adoption of this resolution and therein to make recommendations with respect to handicapped and elderly access at the above-named beaches; and

                        INTRODUCED BY:

                        Leigh-Wai Doo

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                                 Councilmembers

DATE OF INTRODUCTION:

June 29, 1988
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Honolulu, Hawaii

ADOPTED this 13th day of July , 1988.

(062888)

Policy Resolutions