KAILUA NEIGHBORHOOD BOARD NO. 31

PARKS AND RECREATION COMMITTEE
MEETING AGENDA
Thursday, May 15, 2025
8:30 to 9:00 pm
In-person at the Kailua District Park District Meeting Room
Chair: Evan Weber. Members: Travis Counsell, Bill Hicks, and Claudine Tomasa.
1. Call to Order.
2. Approval of Minutes.
3. Announcements.
4. Continuing Issues Status
a. Maintenance needs for the Parks (particularly lighting issues and bathrooms)
b. Possible multi-use path cut through between Kailua Road and Kainalu Drive that uses Kailua District Park
c. Island-wide beach status signage
d. Triangle Park post-construction plan
e. Kailua Beach Park (hours of operation, shoreline restoration)
f. Kailua District Park (Playground, lighting, bathrooms)
g. Enchanted Lake Park sidewalks
h. Kailua Soccer Fields – Hazardous Conditions and Maintenance
i. Boettcher Estate (WiFi, Adopt-a-Park program)
j. Kaha Park as a potential limited use interim dog park until the proposed Kailua dog park becomes operational
5. New issues
a. Youth sports field availability
b. DPR request for Kailua NB recommendations for allowing leashed dogs at additional parks.
6. Resident and Community Concerns.
7. Adjournment.

Parks and Recreation Committee
April 2025 Meeting Report
Chair Evan Weber
1. A committee meeting was held in-person on April 10, 2025, chaired by Evan Weber and attended by committee members Bill Hicks and Travis Counsell, KNB member Jay Etzenbach, representatives from Honolulu Police Department and Department of Parks and Recreation, and dozens of community members including representatives from the Kailua Youth Sports Community, Kaha Park dog community, neighbors of Kaha Park, Kaha Park users, and other residents (Officer Jarrett Atkins, Chris Bretz, Chad Daniels, Sierra Fallau, Johann Freeberg, John Freeland, Roberta Goto, Karley Halsted, Alan Heu, Gabriella Higgins, Neil Holmquist, Rona Ikehara-Quebral, Leah Kaplan, Allison Madiam, Loralyn Masuda, Chad Mizuta, Steven Nava, Shawn Sanekane, Christopher Sherrard, Bob Strand, Andrew Steuppe, Sharon Tolentino, Donald Thompson, Chuck Williams, Nathan Wittig, and Andrew Yamaguchi).
2. Perspectives were shared on the future use of Kaha Park including a proposal from the Department of Parks and Recreation to place a fence somewhere near the middle of the park in order to create Kailua’s first legal off-leash dog park while allowing for the safe continued utilization of the park for youth sports and other park uses. Perspectives on the proposal were shared by different parties. HPD shared the history and status of enforcement in the park. A presentation was given by Johann Freeberg from the Kaha dog park community. Representatives from AYSO and AYLA shared about their challenges with uses of the park.
3. Kaha Park is currently an on-leash dog park and will be enforced by HPD as such until its status changes. HPD has a responsibility to respond to complaints they receive from community members.
4. Reception to DPR’s Kaha/Kawainui Park Off-leash Dog Park Proposal: DPR’s proposal for an off-leash dog park on the Waimanalo side of the park was mostly well received by youth sports users, and all parties generally agreed that the fence could go at least up to the large tree/bench and likely past the large tree/bench towards the gate. DPR’s proposal received mixed reviews from the Kaha dog owners community. Some were supportive of the proposal, acknowledging that compromise would be necessary, and the significance of having a legal off-leash dog park in the area. Other dog users questioned why there could not be permitted use of the whole park for off-leash dog purposes during certain hours instead, citing the emptiness of the park during off-peak hours (outside 4-6 pm), the flooding of the Waimanalo side area of the park during the winter season, and how constraints on the park and the shrinking of field size could impact dog behavior and possibly increase dog aggression. Dog users hoped that in any scenario, the cane grass would remain high in places and natural features could be retained generally because the cane grass is an area where dogs like to play. No formal action was taken, but Chair Weber said that he would work with DPR Director Thielen and park staff to arrange a meeting in the park with community members and DPR as a next step that was offered by Director Thielen.
5. The discussion brought to light that there is a serious dearth of field space for youth sports in Kailua, particularly during the current Spring season, where Kaha park is the only non-DOE field in Kailua available for non-baseball sports practice. Chair Weber vowed to work with the youth sports community and state and county parties to find solutions to this and open up more field space.
6. Other continuing issues were discussed, including updates on the Adopt-A-Park program and its potential applicability to Kalama Beach Park and the Boettcher Estate there, commitments from DTS to the Triangle Park community post-construction, the removal of the dilapidated dinosaur from Pohakupu Park, the fixing of the swing set at the Kailua District Park playground, and the Kailua shoreline restoration project.

To view agenda and minutes, visit our board website.

Event shows physical location; however, other options of participation may also include WebEx and phone.  If available, instructions for WebEx and phone can be found at the top of the agenda.