The City Council Committee on Parks discussed a multi-year priorities framework intended to guide parks planning, maintenance and revenue generation across Oahu, committee chair said during the committee’s Oct. 12, 2025 meeting.

The chair presented proposed vision and mission statements, an effort to update the 2004 park standards and the functional plan, and a set of priorities focused on park safety, community feedback, revenue generation and a potential parks special fund to keep fees and donations at individual parks.

“Park safety is huge. Park safety means that people feel safe there,” the committee chair said, explaining that safety includes working equipment, functioning restrooms and adequate lighting. The proposal asked the department and commission to work with the committee to identify shortfalls in each district and to pursue parity in park amenities across the island.

Laura Thielen, director of the City and County of Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation, said the department supports many of the committee’s priorities but stressed the trade-off between day-to-day operations and planning. “The functional plan is something that in the charter, it’s an aspiration to update that every five years and so it’s been well beyond five years,” Thielen said. She added that the existing park-standards document (prepared in about 2004) contains recommendations, some implemented and some not, and that inventory and demographic shifts have created gaps in facility types and sizes.

Thielen cited planning details that would inform priorities, including statistics the department maintains on fields and park sizes: the department inventory includes more than 300 parks but far fewer regulation-size athletic fields. She said revisiting the functional plan would help target investments to meet present needs and to leverage outside funding programs such as the Clean Water and Natural Lands Fund.

Specific items the chair proposed for committee work included:

- Adopt clear vision and mission statements to guide long-term planning and present operations.
- Update park standards and the functional plan so the city can more accurately match facilities to community needs.
- Prioritize public-safety improvements such as maintenance standards, asset-management schedules, lighting and security cameras, and continued expansion of the park ranger program.
- Pursue revenue tools including entrance fees, rental fees for large events, concessions, sponsorships and a parks special fund that would keep revenue at the park level when donors prefer local impact.

Councilmembers emphasized transparency and equity. Councilmember Tova (referred to in the meeting as Toba at one point) and Councilmember Nishimoto both urged clear communication to residents about where resources are allocated, and Councilmember Cordero suggested aligning master-plan updates with the city’s age-friendly goals to make parks safer and more usable for kupuna (older residents).

The chair proposed committee cleanups and asked the director to suggest parks that need attention; members discussed rotating cleanup priorities across districts and suggested doing multiple cleanups annually. The department said it would work with the committee and commission on priorities and identify whether professional consultants are needed to update the functional plan.

Next steps: The committee will continue working with the Department of Parks and Recreation and the Parks and Recreation Commission to refine priorities, define metrics, and identify funding sources. The department committed to provide information on inventory gaps, ordinance details governing park dedication, and potential uses of external grant funds.