‘Anini, Anahola beach parks close Shelter in Place program

‘ANINI — Sitting in a small beach chair surrounded by the remains of his campsite, Kaipo Ah Yet didn’t know where he’d be sleeping Wednesday night.

“I don’t know if I’m gonna go to Salt Pond, I really don’t,” Ah Yet said. “I’ll get a pop-up somewhere.”

Once he takes his last shower at ‘Anini Beach Park and squeezes the last of his belongings into his Pathfinder, he planned to get into his car and start driving. A chef, Ah Yet, 62, didn’t even have a car until 6 p.m. Tuesday.

“I started moving last night,” Ah Yet said. “I’m tired. I’m still tired.”

Wednesday marked the first closures of the county’s Shelter in Place program that established five county-owned beach parks — ‘Anini, Anahola, Lydgate, Salt Pond and Lucy Wright — as a monthly permitted campsite the houseless community could utilize during the COVID-19 pandemic that had access to running water, bathrooms, showers and social services.

Ah Yet moved into ‘Anini in April 2020 after a series of downfalls starting with losing the room he rented to a fire. Due to the pandemic, the restaurant Ah Yet worked at only opened on weekends and shifts began to dry up, leading him to tap into his social security early. Without a car, he wasn’t able to move as quickly as he would have liked.

At ‘Anini, he built up a sand wall to protect himself from the winds and flooding.

“I had a good spot,” Ah Yet said, pointing to a near-empty spot in the sand.

The Shelter in Place program started early last March as a way for the county to limit the movement of the vulnerable houseless population, per safety guidelines established by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Then, the county instituted a monthly permitting system monitored by the county’s Department of Parks and Recreation. That first month of the program, 254 camping permits were issued across the park. The program peaked in July 2020, with 275 permits issued. Last month, that number was 230, with 78 licensed at ‘Anini, according to the department.

In February of this year, the county announced the stagged end of Shelter in Place as part of the county’s COVID recovery strategy. The county worked with nonprofits to get the houseless vaccinated, coordinate outreach events and continued efforts to get individuals and families placed in affordable homes.

Housing Agency Director Adam Roversi said that 168 new affordable housing units had become available since the start of the pandemic.

“We can share that Women In Need estimates about one-third of the 70 or so tenants at Kealaula, which had move-ins from Nov. 2020 through Jan. 2021, came from county beach parks,” Roversi said.

Closing the parks

Anahola and ‘Anini beach parks closed yesterday, March 31. Lucy Wright is next, with a shut-down date at the end of April.

Kaua‘i County Councilmember Felicia Cowden has made visits to the parks throughout the last year.

“The majority have a strategy (of where to go next), but that doesn’t mean it’s a real place,” Cowden said. The councilmember arrived at ‘Anini around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday from Kilauea. “For many that are leaving, there’s a mindset of gratitude. The Parks and Recreation Department has been very respectful and kind. People are working together to help clean the park up.”

Park rangers and caretakers from Parks and Recreation arrived in the morning to load up left-behind belongings and trash. Monday, the county will begin its clean-up of the park, getting it ready to open up for public-use.

“It’s all the stuff that they leave and given us permission to throw away,” Caretaker Supervisor AJ Basuel said. “Most of them don’t got cars, and they can’t take the big items they got donated to them.”

Basuel and another caretaker, Shilo Pa, said that over the last year, they’ve found friends and family members there.

“I have family that was down here down on the end there,” Pa said, pointing down the northern-end of the beach. “They packed up and moved already. They were down here a while.”

The park was home to many families.

While she cooked breakfast, Karri-Lee Texeria began to clean up her campsite situated near the road. Texeira, her husband and her children have lived at ‘Anini since March 2020 because of high rent costs. With five kids, finding a place suitable for the whole family has been difficult, too.

Texeira, waiting for her husband to return to the campsite Wednesday morning, said they were planning to move to Salt Pond, which has the latest close date at June 30.

Department of Parks and Recreation Director Wally Rezentes Jr., said that there were permit increases at both Salt Pond (seven) and Lucy Wright (one) between March and April, from people moving location.

But some people found it more difficult to move without a clear path. Auntie Sunee has been at ‘Anini since June 2020 after being evicted from her home in Moloa‘a. She packed up her belongings and cat, named Spider-Man, on Wednesday, but said it didn’t have to be this way.

Many of the residents Sunee had lived alongside at the park were simply down on their luck, without a job due to the pandemic. Sunee explained that many are compliant with state and county permits and laws, and the closure of the parks without a clear place for people to go is unjust because the island lacks affordable rentals.

“All community support has and remains to be greatly appreciated, with public and private input essential to the formation of a real solution,” Sunee said.