Residents are pushing the city to do more to address a homeless encampment in Kapi'olani Park, where, despite a new "illegal camping" ordinance, about two dozen people are still staying every night.

The ordinance, which went into effect Sept. 5, has driven away most of the more than 150 homeless people who were sleeping in the park at night.

But officials say some homeless are skirting the law by sitting in the park at night and setting up tents to sleep during the day. Some homeless also sleep in groups in the park at night, appointing a watchman who wakes them up when the police patrol for camping violators.

The situation is irking residents and others who say Kapi'olani, one of the most popular parks on O'ahu and situated adjacent to Waikiki, the state's top tourist destination, shouldn't be dotted with tents, shopping carts and belongings.

"It's pushing out regular park users," said Scot Drown, treasurer of the Diamond Head, Kapahulu, St. Louis Heights Neighborhood Board, whose district includes Kapi'olani Park.

In a meeting Wednesday night, neighborhood board members, Waikiki residents and others gathered at Paki Hale to discuss options for the park, including closing it at night or banning camping at all hours.

Bob Finley, Waikiki Neighborhood Board chairman, said some of the homeless remaining in the park have not only been skirting the city camping ordinance, but disabling sprinklers so they don't get wet at night, urinating on trees and the grass and scaring off park users, sometimes by asking for money.

"As a group, we're not going to solve homelessness," said Finley, who participated in the Paki Hale meeting. "But there needs to be some enforcement of using recreational facilities for the purposes they're designed for."

Those who live in the park counter that they're not breaking the rules.

"We sleep during the day," said Joe Damrell, 57, who sat with a friend in Kapi'olani Park yesterday. He said he can't afford a place of his own and has been homeless at the park since July 2007. He understands why residents are peeved with the tents in the park, but said there's nowhere else to go.

"I wish we could ask for a designated area" in the park, he said.

Kay Laurence, 56, said she has been homeless in Kapi'olani for about six weeks and hasn't broken the camping law. During the night, she said, she sits on a chair and brings her belongings to the sidewalk. In the day, she sleeps.

"If I had any other place to go, I'd go," she said, her voice breaking.

OLD LAW TOO VAGUE

The new camping ordinance went into effect 10 months after the Hawai'i Supreme Court struck down a similar law that banned camping in parks. The court said the old law was too vague, and unfairly targeted the homeless.

The new law, which applies to all city parks, provides a stricter definition of camping and sets hours — 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. — when camping is banned.

Enforcement of the new measure has been perhaps closest watched at Kapi'olani, where during the absence of a camping law about 150 homeless moved in because police officers had no grounds to kick them out.

For several weeks after the camping law was passed, advocates said police were not issuing citations to campers in Kapi'olani though they were informing them about the new law. Residents said they thought once enforcement kicked in, the campers would be gone. But a group of about 25 people remained even after officers started issuing citations.

One Kapi'olani camper said the number of homeless people in the park could be as high as 50 on some nights.

Honolulu Police Department spokesman Maj. Frank Fujii said police are enforcing the new law as it is written. He said those in the park at night are "in compliance." From mid-September to the end of October, police issued 19 citations for illegal camping in Kapi'olani Park and 185 warnings.

The camping ordinance is part of the city's ongoing initiative to reclaim everything from beaches to parks to bus stops and make sure everyone has equal access to public space. City officials acknowledge the homeless population on O'ahu, which advocates say could increase in the downturned economy, is one of the most difficult problems they face, but they also say public places are for all.

Homeless advocates agree parks are no place for the homeless to live. But they say the camping law only makes the lives of the homeless tougher.

Darlene Hein, program manager of Waikiki Care-a-Van — which provides supplies and services to the homeless islandwide — said the homeless remaining in the park live in about three campsite areas. She said the campers take down their tents about five minutes before 10 p.m., and put them up at 5 a.m.

"There's a kind of battle going on," Hein said.

She said that those left in the park are mostly single men. And she said that she understands why residents are getting angry. "This is not good for the community," Hein said of the tug-of-war between homeless people still in the park and residents.

WEIGHING OPTIONS

Still, she said, many of those in the park have no place to go. Some can't even go to homeless shelters because of their criminal histories.

City Councilman Charles Djou, whose district includes Waikiki, said he is pursuing options for addressing the homeless population in the park.

"My constituents are unhappy," he said. "They all love Kapi'olani Park and believe it is a wonderful asset in the community. They don't want to see it destroyed."

He said one option being thrown around is a nighttime closure of the park — an option that probably won't work, he said.

At other large, well-used parks, including Ala Moana Beach Park, the city instituted hours to keep the homeless out at night and discourage camping. But Kapi'olani Park is huge — more than 200 acres — and has so many access points that police say a nightly closure would be nearly impossible to enforce.

Djou said he is looking at improving lighting at the park. And he said the council also could ban camping at Kapi'olani only.

"There is no magic bullet," Djou said.

Advocates also point out that shuffling people from park to park is no answer.

Some of the homeless people who had lived in Kapi'olani Park before the homeless camping law went into effect appear to have gone into shelters. But many went to other parks, including Thomas Square across from the Academy of Arts.

Ed Soule, 63, said he moved to Thomas Square several months ago — because of problems with his girlfriend, not problems with the law. At Thomas Square, he pointed out, homeless people have to be out all night. When the park closes at 10 p.m., he said, the homeless move to the curb and sleep on the sidewalk.

"It's getting harder and harder to find parks to sleep in," he said.

Meanwhile, several homeless at Kapi'olani say they're sticking around, adding they would face similar rules at other parks.

At the park yesterday afternoon, Craig Bays was resting in his camouflage tent. At 10 p.m., he said, he takes the tent down. In the morning, he puts it back up. He added he has overslept several times and received warnings.

During the long hours of the night, he chats with friends.

"I sit up. I talk," he said.