HALE'IWA — A city resolution to ask the Hawai'i Tourism Authority to pay for sidewalks in Hale'iwa received the unanimous support of the City Council yesterday.

Resolution 07256 indicated that since the authority's goal is to enhance visitors' stay and that 51 percent of tourists on O'ahu visit the North Shore, a contribution toward improving the area would fall under its scope of responsibilities.

The authority's president said he was unaware of the resolution but noted that requests for funding would have to be included in the agency's budget and approved by its board.

"Our source of money is flexible but we have not used tourism money for sticks and bricks," said Rex Johnson, president and CEO of HTA. "We basically use tourism authority money for marketing, product development and those types of things, which to this point hasn't included those types of situations which would normally be considered a city function."

City Councilman Donovan Dela Cruz, who represents the North Shore and introduced the resolution, said that with more than half of the 2.5 million O'ahu visitors annually coming to the North Shore and Hale'iwa, the request is appropriate.

"Obviously the North Shore is an integral part of the Hawai'i visitor product," Dela Cruz said.

But the city may also contribute, said Dela Cruz, adding that the administration had indicated it would consider paying a share of the sidewalk improvement. He has asked what that share was when the city provided improvements in Waikiki, Kaimuki and Chinatown.

"I think Hale'iwa will fall in line with that kind of category," he said. "It's a difficult situation. You're talking about not just the residents but 2 1/2 million visitors."

About a half-dozen residents testified at the hearing yesterday in favor of the resolutions. Among others who sent in testimony was Ed D'Ascoli, president of Xcel Hawaii, which is based in Hale'iwa.

"I'm astounded that the city would fund walkways for Waikiki, Kaimuki and Chinatown but not the income powerhouse of Hale'iwa," D'Ascoli wrote. "If not for the North Shore and Hale'iwa, Waikiki would lose many tourists to the Neighbor Islands."

The town is a Special District and part of the Main Street Program under the state Department of Land and Natural Resources' Historic Preservation Division and as such is eligible for funding and held to design standards that ensure the perpetuation of its rural character.

The division, which was asked in the resolution to also request the HTA funding, had no comment on the resolution, said DLNR spokesman Ken Kawahara.

The town has sought sidewalk improvements for more than 15 years. The few sidewalks that exist are uneven and not uniform. During rainy weather, people walk in the roads to avoid puddles and uneven walkways.

In 1991, sidewalk improvements were the highest priority of a town plan, said Antya Miller, executive director of the North Shore Chamber of Commerce. The North Shore Sustainable Community Plan that was completed a decade later also includes the need for sidewalks, Miller said.

Recently, a survey of 125 Hale'iwa town merchants found that 92 percent of the respondents agreed there is a need for a continuous walkway through town and that one of the overriding reasons is safety, especially for people with special needs and challenges such as physical disabilities, Miller said.

A bill that would have provided state money for sidewalks in Hale'iwa failed to pass the Legislature last session. Community leaders are considering going to the Legislature again this session.

Meanwhile, the resolution puts the issue on the council's radar.

But Miller said she hopes the HTA will respond and that the city administration will make good on a promise to pay a share of the project.

But first a new master plan for the project must be completed, she said.

"We need that master plan and the draft environmental assessment before we can really move forward and go out to seek funding," Miller said. "The mayor told us if we did that they'd be willing to pay for their fair share."

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.