The City Council yesterday voted 8-1 to advance a bill that would make it illegal to sleep, sit or lie down on public sidewalks on O'ahu.

Bill 69-09, which now goes to the council Public Safety and Services Committee, received mixed testimony from the public.

Councilman Charles Djou said he introduced the bill at the request of Waikiki Neighborhood Board members who complained that homeless people who are barred from sleeping at Kapi'olani Park and other city facilities at night are migrating to the fronts of hotels and other businesses during early morning hours.

"City parks and city sidewalks are meant for the benefit of everyone," Djou said. "No one individual or group of individuals should have the right to occupy a city park or city sidewalk and treat it like their private property."

The bill's sidewalk provisions include benches and bus stop seating.

Patty Teruya, chairwoman of the Nanakuli/Ma'ili Neighborhood Board, said it's throughout O'ahu, and not just Waikiki, that residents have to stand to wait for buses because there are people sleeping on benches and in bus shelters meant for passengers.

Homeless shelters that have been set up throughout the island are not being used, Teruya said.

During a recent public event in Waikiki, "I was kind of appalled to see the homeless lying around the sidewalks, just literally there with all their bags, so you can't walk on the sidewalk, you have to walk over their bags," she said.

But Daniel Gluck, senior attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai'i, questioned the constitutionality of the bill. Djou had previously cited a similar law in Seattle that was upheld by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Gluck, however, said that bill restricted sleeping only in certain parts of Seattle and only during certain hours.

"This ban would apply to every single sidewalk in the entire county 24 hours a day, seven days a week," Gluck said.

"You can't legislate the homeless out of existence," he said. "You have bans at Kapi'olani Park and the beaches. This is just one more attack on the homeless. This is not a productive use of the council's time."

The only "no" vote came from Councilman Nestor Garcia, who said after the meeting that he's worried about a potential encroachment on constitutional rights.

Garcia and Councilman Rod Tam last month introduced a public transit code of conduct bill for passengers. That bill drew controversy largely because it regulated the smell of passengers. But it also included a provision that barred sleeping at bus stops and transit stations.

Tam said he supports the concept of the sidewalk sleeping ban, noting that constituents in his Chinatown district have complained that they are intimidated by people sleeping on bus benches.

The bill would require a person first be warned by a police officer of a violation. The maximum fine would be $50.