Four months after the city began to clean up Wai'anae Coast beach parks to reclaim them for the public, the region's mounting homeless population has begun moving back in.

The plan called for closing the beach parks at night once they had been improved. But the homeless, with no place else to go while the state builds shelters to accommodate them, are returning to the parks. Tents again can be seen in restored parks from Tracks to Poka'i Bay.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann has repeatedly said the city will not move homeless campers off the beaches until the state has a place for them to go. At the same time the city said once a beach park has been cleaned, improved and restored, it would be closed at night, thus eliminating overnight camping.

This seeming policy contradiction — not to kick homeless off the beaches, and not to allow camping at sites that have been restored — has left homeless people confused and anxious about their fate. They fear they could be run out at any time.

Alice Greenwood, who lives at Ma'ili Beach Park with her adopted child, Makalii, 6, said talk in the area has been that the city finally would be cleaning up the section of the park where she and dozens of other campers have staked their tents.

When other parts of the park have been cleaned, the homeless have moved their tents to the middle — a yet-to-be-renovated section — helping to make this the most visible and publicized homeless encampment along the entire Wai'anae Coast.

"I know everyone's worried about it because there's no place else to go," Greenwood said. To the homeless on the beach, a "cleanup" is synonymous with a "police sweep," she said.

"And that's the anxiety. Because you look at your life and you wonder, what's going to happen to me tomorrow?"

TEMPORARY RELIEF

Hannemann's pledge to not move the homeless out until they have someplace to go appears to have won out over the nighttime closure rule.

"The 'policy predicament' is more a reality factor," said city spokesman Bill Brennan. "With the lack of shelters and affordable rentals, some of these folks have no choice but to return to the parks, even after we've made improvements."

For now, at least, there seems to be no plans to displace homeless beach dwellers anywhere along the beach.

State efforts to find more permanent housing are moving forward.

Kaulana Park, the state's homeless solutions team coordinator, said the state expects to conclude an agreement within a day or two with a service provider to operate the 300-bed Wai'anae emergency homeless shelter, which is scheduled to open by the end of the month.

Park said there's a chance a majority of the Ma'ili Beach Park homeless campers could end up at the shelter.

"Right now Ma'ili Beach Park is about 120 to 150 people," he said. "If those numbers are correct, there is a good possibility that most of those Ma'ili Beach people will be in that Civic Center site."

Park said next week he plans to visit with those living at Ma'ili Beach Park, as well as other area homeless beach encampments, to explain how the emergency shelter will function and to encourage them to consider signing on.

CLEANUPS TO CONTINUE

Meanwhile, the city's coast park improvement plan will continue, said Les Chang, city director of Parks and Recreation.

So far the Wai'anae Coast park cleanup effort has included Tracks Beach Park, Nanakuli Beach Park (where the city is completing a canoe halau), both ends of Ma'ili Beach Park (leaving only the center, occupied, area left to do), Poka'i Bay Park and Wai'anae District Park.

Renovations have included general maintenance and sprucing up plus makeovers for the comfort stations that cover roofing, plumbing, carpentry, flooring and painting, Brennan said.

The work costs between $15,000 and $30,000 per comfort station including fixtures and supplies, he said, with the work done in-house rather than contracted out.

Still to go are parks to the west of Wai'anae District Park.

Chang said for the most part the city is pleased with its Wai'anae Coast parks cleanup effort.

"It's something the community has asked for and a request we are working hard to accommodate," Chang said.

"We're looking forward to having the state open more shelters so that we can continue our successful efforts along the Leeward coast and in other areas of the island while being sensitive to the needs of the homeless."

Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.