Officials in Honolulu planning to destroy a popular hiking trail and Instagram-worthy site that draws thousands of visitors each year, arguing that it's too dangerous and its influx of visitors is a detriment to the local community.
The Honolulu City Council voted unanimously last Wednesday to remove the Haiku Stairs or 'Stairway to Heaven' and set aside $1million to get the job done. The next step is for Mayor Rick Blangardi to approve the city budget and finalize the move to destroy the site.
In a resolution on its agenda, the council says that it is 'urging the City Administration to remove the Haiku Stairs and its accessory structures to stop trespassing, reduce disturbances to local neighborhoods, increase public safety, remove potential liability to the City, and protect the environment.'
Despite the long-time access challenges, 3 hazzers managed to post from the hike over the years. May the NIMBYs live happily ever after.
I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies.
@chumley
I read that a previous Mayor spent $875,000.00 renovating sections for safe public access. Seems like money well spent prior to spending $1 millon to tear them down. Nepotism and/or cronyism at play? Not likely in State government ...sarcasm intended.
If you build it, they will come. When too many people come and behave badly, then you close it or restrict it. Surprised they didn't go with the restriction/permit option given the investment.
Hike Arizona it is full of sharp, pointy, ankle-twisting, HAZmaster crushing ROCKS!!
Hike Arizona it is full of sharp, pointy, shin-stabbing, skin-shredding plants!
Hike Arizona it is full of striking, biting, stabbing, venomous wildlife!
The last line seems straight from the gub'ment rhetoric book... When they close Squaw Peak & Camelback for good I conjecture we will see these words again.
"to stop trespassing, reduce disturbances to local neighborhoods, increase public safety, remove potential liability to the City, and protect the environment."
"The censorship method ... is that of handing the job over to some frail and erring mortal man, and making him omnipotent on the assumption that his official status will make him infallible and omniscient."
George Bernard Shaw
cactuscat wrote: ↑Sep 13 2021 12:22 pm
@rustyshackleford135
You mean like the tyranny that "gave" the Hawaiian Islands to the US to use as our playground?
Unless you're giving away your home to an indian you have no room to talk.
Last edited by joebartels on Sep 13 2021 1:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason:Ripped out two words to keep from shattering the second guideline. By request, no more pins in the teva voodoo doll.
One of those most annoying things liberals enjoy doing is giving a sanctimonious performative virtue signal. It takes on religious significance to some.
It's a form of a power grab. In a warped world where being a victim is identified as being better than another, the next best thing is telling others how they victimize some group, or person.
@rustyshackleford135
Well we weren't talking about Native Americans - but you guys are good at changing the subject ... so, no - I am still living on stolen Native land. At least I acknowledge it. And I can list three non-profits that benefit Natives which I donate to regularly ... plus the hundreds of dollars worth of PPE and supplies I shipped to strangers in the Navajo Nation early in their Covid outbreak.
I would ask what you have done to help, but I bet I know the answer - plus I don't care. I'll add you to my "blocked" list so we can ignore each other.
@sidhayes
Do you also find it amusing that the mentioned tribe, the " Navajo", have more land today than they had in the 19th Century before Anglos entered the region, that they took land from other "natives" like the Hopi, Utes, and Zuni, and raided the northern New Mexico Puebloans, but somehow didn't manage to "steal" any land? This is despite their originating in northwestern Canada and being no more native to the 4 corners region than a taco. Same for the Apaches, though less so in some ways.
This thread seems like a cf rabbit hole worth revisiting. Apparently it's taken 2.5 years from council approval to reach the stage of removal. (De-) Construction is set to begin in the next two weeks.
O‘AHU – The City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Design and Construction (DDC) and project contractor The Nakoa Companies Inc. announced Wednesday that preparatory work on the Ha‘ikū Stairs removal project has officially begun, with the removal of more than 600 stair modules scheduled to start later this month.
@chumley - I just drove past the neighborhoods where this hike starts last month. The neighbors are quite vocal about making sure nobody hikes this trail. Hawaiian trailheads were odd, you drive through a maze of streets and see a trail starting at the end of the block. So you have to park in front of someone's house unless you get lucky enough to snag the 2-3 dedicated parking spaces at the end of the street. Every entrance to the neighborhood with the trail to the stairs has a huge sign stating that the trail is closed and that one of the neighbors will call the cops to have a trespassing ticket issued to you. My son lives close by and does a lot of hiking, he confirms the neighborhood is quite anti-hiker and is aggressive about it.
@SpiderLegs Yeah, one of my high school buddies used to live in that neighborhood right by the base of the Steps, and one of the drainage canal paths that's a back-door to getting to the base of the steps was right in his back yard, so he'd have people sneaking through his yard all the time, leaving trash, etc. The neighbors all hated that it had become such an attractive nuisance.
He said he'd go out of his way to shuttle me to just about any trailhead on Oahu as long as I promised him I wouldn't sneak through his neighborhood to do the Steps.
Route Editor
Route Scout
...sarcasm intended.
