Haiku Stairs: City urges public restraint, portions set for removal despite injunction

HONOLULU (KHON2) — Portions of iconic Stairway to Heaven will soon be removed despite the court’s temporary injunction.

The City and Sean Pager, president of Friends of Haiku Stairs, are urging the public to refrain from hiking the trail.

“It’s really a tragic mistake that we’ve gotten where we are,” Pager said. “But hopefully we can still fix this.”

As the fight to save the popular Stairway to Heaven continues, Pager is asking hikers to cooperate.

“We agree with the city that this is not the time to be climbing on the stairs,” he warned.

Despite the closure of the popular trail and a potential fine of up to $1000, hikers have continued to trespass.

The City said they are not paying for outside security; HPD is already helping secure the area.

In a statement a city spokesperson said: “The trail is extremely dangerous, and it is critically important that the trail remain secure while the project is taking place.”

The Intermediate Court of Appeals temporarily halted the city’s plans to tear down the stairs, but the City said they are removing some of them.

The city spokesperson said: “We are allowed to finish removing approximately 60 stair modules that have already been detached from the mountain. Those modules were already fully detached prior to the court issuing its injunction, and that work is going to proceed over the next couple of weeks.”

“We think that’s a tragic mistake,” Pager said. “The stair modules the city’s talking about are on the what’s called the back stairs. We’re not the main sections past the summit the place very few hikers actually go.”

According to him, the main stairs are going to be preserved under the court order.

“We would like the city to keep all of them because we think what they’re doing is illegal, and eventually they will be ordered to put them back. So, it’s just going to be wasting taxpayer money if they would proceed,” he said.

The beauty and historical significance of the trail make it worth saving, Pager emphasized.

“There is a managed access plan that we’ve put forward, there are willing landowners who provide access that would bypass the residential neighborhoods, so there’s no reason to trespass through people’s backyards,” he said. “The only reason that is happening is because the city has closed legal access.”

The Friends of Haiku Stairs will file their opening brief by August 5 and the City will have until September 3 to file its response.