Report Title:

Waikiki Beach; Smoke-Free Area

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

69

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2001

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

requesting the council of the city and county of honolulu to declare waikiki beach a smoke-free area.

 

 

WHEREAS, tourism is Hawaii's number one industry and the State depends on tourism to provide jobs and tax revenues; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii has justifiably earned a reputation as an environmentally-friendly and healthy place in which to live and visit; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature, the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the Waikiki Improvement Association and other public and private organizations have expended considerable funds and energy to enhance this reputation and to develop Hawaii's eco-tourism and health care industries; and

WHEREAS, Waikiki Beach is a world-renowned symbol of Hawaii, and the State's most important tourist attraction, visited by 4,700,000 people each year; and

WHEREAS, the Waikiki area is also a highly popular place of recreation for local residents, offering swimming, surfing, and sailing activities, among others; and

WHEREAS, because of the above factors, it is crucial to maintain the Waikiki area as a clean, attractive, inviting place to visit; and

WHEREAS, reportedly, in recent years, $170,000,000 has been spent by public and private entities to improve the Waikiki area, especially Waikiki Beach; and

WHEREAS, smoking threatens the beauty, cleanliness, and general attractiveness of Waikiki Beach, through the discarding of cigarette butts and dropping of cigarette ashes on the sand; and

WHEREAS, smoking has been determined to be hazardous to human health, and second-hand smoke has also been determined to be detrimental; and

WHEREAS, the beach at the Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve has been a smoke-free area under City Ordinance No. 93-92 since 1995, and has generated highly positive results with regard to cleanliness and ease of maintenance and the absence of second-hand smoke; and

WHEREAS, Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve officials report no decrease in attendance due to the smoking ban; and

WHEREAS, the cost of maintaining a cigarette butt-free beach is significant; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-First Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2001, the Senate concurring, that the Council of the City and County of Honolulu is requested to ban smoking on Waikiki Beach; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, the Chairperson and Executive Director of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the Mayor and the Chairperson of the Council of the City and County of Honolulu, the Executive Director of the Oahu Development Board, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, the Director of the Waikiki Improvement Association, the Chairperson of the Waikiki Neighborhood Board, and the President of the Hawaii Hotel Association.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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