LAHAINA, Maui — Organizers of the annual Halloween celebration in Lahaina that draws 30,000 people received approval yesterday for this year's festivities, over the objections of some Native Hawaiian groups that say the event promotes behavior disrespectful to the national historic district's cultural and historical sites.

During their daylong meeting to consider the permit application filed by the LahainaTown Action Committee, members of the county Cultural Resources Commission heard often-emotional public testimony that boiled over late in the afternoon when an exchange of words outside the meeting room at the West Maui Senior Center turned physical and resulted in the arrest of two men on assault and harassment charges.

Commissioners said they were torn between both sides of the issue, but decided to approve the permit in the interest of public safety and order, since crowds would turn out whether or not there is a sanctioned event.

"My heart goes with the kupuna but my problem-solving brain goes with the LahainaTown Action Committee," said commissioner Lon Whelchel.

Commission chairman Sam Kalalau III said, "My concern is it's going to happen anyways and I'd rather see it in a controlled environment."

Despite voting to approve the 2007 permit, some members of the commission seemed to be yielding to the concerns of the Hawaiian groups and indicated they would not rubber-stamp a permit request for 2008. In fact, one of 24 conditions of the permit approval was that the LahainaTown Action Committee return to the panel at its Dec. 6 meeting to review this year's event and begin discussion on the merit of continuing the celebration in town.

After the decision, Patricia Nishiyama of Na Kupuna O Maui expressed frustration that the cultural commission once again was allowing Halloween in Lahaina to go forward on the basis that planning is too far along to cancel the event. Last September, Nishiyama had sent a letter questioning the appropriateness of the celebration and was told it was too late to stop the 2006 event.

She said officials "dilly-dallied" with her complaint over the past year and now are subjecting Lahaina to at least one more night of revelry. Yet she called yesterday's discussion "a stepping stone" to the eventual transfer of the event to another location, perhaps the Ka'anapali Resort.

The LahainaTown Action Committee has been providing organized Halloween activities since 1990, although the observance began in the 1970s as an informal celebration by town merchants and residents. The activities include a keiki costume parade, entertainment, food and activity booths, and a costume contest for adults. Dozens of bars and restaurants in town hold their own Halloween parties separate from the official event.

SOME COMPROMISES

Yesterday's meeting followed two mediation sessions between Na Kupuna O Maui and members of the LahainaTown Action Committee. Although some agreement was reached to increase the number of portable toilets, adopt costume guidelines, promote the event as a fun, wholesome community affair, and shorten the keiki parade to end at Banyan Tree Park instead of Kamehameha Iki Park, there was no compromise on Na Kupuna O Maui's request that the event be closed down at 10 p.m.

The LahainaTown Action Committee insists there would be no way to end it before 11:30 p.m.

The Planning Department recommended approval of the permit, noting the event "has operated successfully and without major incident for 10 years and become a major attraction." The report noted that the LahainaTown Action Committee provides toilets and rubbish pickup that were not present before it began organizing the event.

"If the commission denies the request, it is highly likely that hopeful participants would arrive in Lahaina and carry on the celebration regardless of permit status," the report said.

Capt. Charles Hirata of the Maui Police Department was among those who testified that allowing the committee to organize the event brings some order to the streets.

He said police plan to step up enforcement activities this year, and that moving the official Halloween celebration to another location wouldn't prevent large crowds from visiting Lahaina town, where police would still have to close Front Street to traffic and provide patrols.

HAUNTING VS. HISTORY

An impassioned U'ilani Kapu of Kuleana Ku'ikahi testified the event never should have been allowed in the first place.

"It hurts me to sit here and allow my history to be dictated by people who think of money ... ," she said. "Go and do it in another area, not in our historical area. I'm sick of it already."

Kapu and other speakers reminded the commission of Lahaina's historic places that include royal tombs and other sites considered sacred or meaningful by some Hawaiians.

A teary Francis Kamakawiwo'ole said allowing 30,000 people to party in Lahaina is like allowing mobs to trample the gravesite of President John F. Kennedy or Pearl Harbor or the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl.

"Move them somewhere else instead of where our ali'i was born and raised," he said.

LahainaTown Action Committee member J.J. Elkin, owner of the 505 Front Street commercial complex, urged the commission to represent all cultures, not just the Hawaiian culture.

"We all want to push Hawaiian culture ... but we do not want to do it at the exclusion of other cultures," he said.

Elkin accused opponents of setting out "to destroy Halloween," since they haven't raised similar objections to other Lahaina celebrations, including the Fourth of July, a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony and Chinese New Year.

But some opponents said they simply want to make Halloween centered on children.

"Halloween is for the children. It has gotten out of control by the adults," said West Maui native Ewalani Shim. "There is lots of alcohol, drugs and sex. ... Why are we helping these bad habits ... and using taxpayer money to hire the police department to babysit crazy people?"

VOTE WAS 5 TO 1

In her testimony, Nishiyama urged the commission to decide "how we will pass on our culture of Lahaina to our children."

"I don't want them to grow up thinking that Lahaina is all about the 'Mardi Gras of the Pacific,' " she said, referring to a now-abandoned slogan for Halloween in Lahaina.

Voting to approve the permit were Kalalau, Whelchel, Kalei Moikeha, Nani Watanabe and Erik Fredericksen. Perry Artates cast the single vote opposing the permit. J. Ke'eaumoku Kapu, the commission's most ardent opponent of the permit, and husband of U'ilani Kapu, recused himself from voting. Kapu claimed there were improprieties with the way the permit application was handled and argued for an environmental assessment of the Halloween event.

Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.