(a) Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following definitions apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning:
Activity. The occupation, use or participation in any endeavor other than a parade that requires the exclusive use of streets as defined in § 15-2.23.
Agency. Any federal, State or city agency whose review of a permit application the director determines or finds to be necessary for the director to issue such permit.
Chief of Police. The chief of police of the city, or the chief's authorized subordinate.
Department. The department of transportation services.
Director. The director of transportation services, or the director's authorized subordinate.
Expressive Activity. Speech or conduct, the principal object of which is the expression, dissemination, or communication by verbal, visual, literary, or auditory means of political, religious, philosophical, or ideological opinions, views, or ideas and for which no fee is charged or required as a condition of participation in or attendance at such activity. Expressive activity generally would not include sports events such as marathons, fundraising
events, beauty contests, commercial events, cultural celebrations, or other events the principal purpose of which is entertainment.
First Amendment Parade or Activity. A parade or activity that constitutes an expressive activity in which individuals may participate without charge.
Parade. Has the same meaning as defined in § 15-2.15.
Public Safety. The safety or protection of any motorists, pedestrians, occupants of vehicles, participants, spectators and police officers assigned to a parade or activity, or the protection of any real or personal property.
Street. Has the same meaning as defined in § 15-2.23.
Street Block. Has the same meaning as defined in § 15-2.23.
Waikiki Legacy Parades and Activities. Any parade or activity that has been held in the Waikiki special district annually for at least 15 consecutive calendar years. In order to maintain legacy status, the parade or activity must be held every calendar year after attaining legacy status. Failure to hold the parade or activity in every calendar year after attaining legacy status results in the loss of legacy status.
(b) Permit required. No person shall conduct a parade or activity on streets or highways, except for funeral processions, parades, marches or processions by members of the United States Armed Forces, State of Hawaii Armed Forces and city police and fire departments, or undertake any activity on streets or highways without first obtaining a permit from the director pursuant to this section.
(c) Application. Any person desiring a permit shall file an application on forms provided by the director with the department. Information to be submitted on application forms must include but is not limited to:
(1) The date of the parade or activity;
(2) The starting time and estimated duration of the parade or activity;
(3) The route of the parade or activity;
(4) Whether the parade or activity is a First Amendment parade or activity; and
(5) For a non-First Amendment parade or activity, the public purpose to be served.
(d) Conditions to be met prior to issuance of permit.
(1) Public purpose. The director shall determine whether the parade or the activity serves a public purpose. For purposes of this section, a First Amendment parade is deemed to serve a public purpose. The director may consider that a non-First Amendment parade or activity is for a public purpose, so long as any private benefit arising out of the parade or the activity is incidental to the benefit arising out of the parade or activity to the community as a whole.
(2) First Amendment parades or activities. Upon receipt of an application for a First Amendment parade or activity no later than five working days prior to the date of the event, the director shall immediately transmit a copy of the application to the corporation counsel, who shall make a recommendation to the director regarding whether an application meets the requirements of a parade or activity held for the purpose of participants expressing views or engaging in other activities protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. The director shall make the determination to grant or deny the application and shall notify the applicant of the director's decision. The application may be denied if inadequate information is provided to determine whether the parade is a First Amendment parade or activity. If the application for a First Amendment parade or activity is not denied within three working days from the date the application is submitted, the application is deemed granted and a permit will be issued. An application for a First Amendment parade or activity:
(A) Filed less than five working days prior to the date of the event, or
(B) That conflicts with a permit application that has already been received or a permit that has already been issued by the department, will be denied, or both.
(3) Other parades and activities. Applications for parades and activities that are not First Amendment parades are subject to the requirements of this subdivision.
(A) Non-Waikiki parades and other activities. An application for a parade or activity, other than one subject to paragraph (B), must be filed with the department in accordance with deadlines set by the director.
(B) Waikiki parades and other activities. The application for a parade or activity subject to this paragraph must be filed in accordance with deadlines set by the director. The director may approve, upon the director's determination that all other conditions have been or will be met, not more than 12 permits per year for a parade or activity that:
(i) Has a route, in part or in whole, through the Waikiki special district;
(ii) Would result in the closure of one or more streets for a total distance of four street blocks or more within the Waikiki special district; and
(iii) Has an estimated duration of two or more hours.
Waikiki legacy parades and activities will automatically receive a permit if all other permit conditions and requirements are met. If a parade or activity qualifies as a Waikiki legacy parade or activity, it must be held every calendar year in the Waikiki special district to maintain its status as a Waikiki legacy parade or activity. Waikiki legacy parades and activities are not counted towards the permit issuance limit for parades or activities in the Waikiki special district. For parades or activities for which legacy status is being sought, it is the responsibility of the person applying for the permit to demonstrate to the city that the parade or activity was held annually in the Waikiki special district for 15 consecutive calendar years and has been held every calendar year thereafter.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this paragraph, no permits for non First Amendment parades or activities in the Waikiki special district may be issued for days on which a general election is held. In addition, the director may, by rules adopted pursuant to HRS Chapter 91, designate other dates during the calendar year as unavailable for non First Amendment parades or activities in the Waikiki special district if the director finds that those dates historically have experienced high traffic volumes in Waikiki; provided that no more than ten dates may be so designated.
(C) Review by chief of police. Upon the filing of an application for a non First Amendment parade or activity, the director shall transmit a copy of the application to the chief of police for the chief’s review, comments, and recommendations, and to any other agency if the director determines a particular agency's review is necessary. The chief of police or any agency to which an application has been transmitted shall return the application with comments and recommendations, if any, to the director within five working days after receipt of the copy of the application.
(4) The director may impose any conditions prior to the issuance of the permit that will provide for public safety; minimize traffic congestion or hazards; and permit the passage of authorized emergency vehicles. Any conditions imposed by the director to be met prior to the issuance of the permit must be reasonable and necessary and not unduly restrict the ability of a participant in any parade or activity to express views or engage in other activities protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
(e) Conditions to be met after issuance of permit.
(1) Any parade or activity for which a permit has been issued must comply with any rules adopted pursuant to HRS Chapter 91 that may apply to parades or activities using streets.
(2) The director may impose any conditions that are required to be met after the issuance of the permit that will provide for public safety; minimize traffic congestion or hazards; and permit the passage of authorized emergency vehicles. Any written conditions imposed by the director to be met after issuance of the permit shall be reasonable and necessary and not unduly restrict the ability of a participant in any parade or activity to express views or engage in other activities protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
(3) Within 30 days after the conclusion of a parade or activity in the Waikiki special district, other than a First Amendment parade or activity or a parade or activity designated as a Waikiki legacy parade or activity as of December 31, 2019, the person who obtained the permit shall file documentation with the director evidencing compliance with the public purpose requirement set forth in subsection (d)(1). If the director, upon review of the post-parade or post-activity documentation, determines that the parade or activity failed to comply the public purpose requirement set forth in subsection (d)(1), the person who obtained the permit will be ineligible to receive a permit for a parade or activity in the Waikiki special district, other than a permit for a First Amendment parade or activity, during the following calendar year.
(f) Denial or revocation of permit.
(1) Denial or revocation of permit. The director is authorized and empowered to deny any permit application if the parade or activity does not conform to this chapter, the Statewide Traffic Code and other State laws, the rules adopted by the State director of transportation or the director pursuant to HRS Chapter 91, any conditions imposed by this section, or any other written conditions imposed by the director under subsection (d)(4).
(2) Chief of police to revoke permit or terminate parade or activity. The chief of police is authorized to revoke any permit if the chief finds that, at the site where a permitted parade or activity is to commence, and prior to the actual commencement of such parade or activity, any written conditions imposed by the director have not been met. The director is also authorized to terminate any parade or activity in progress if the director finds that public safety is endangered, or any written conditions to be observed during a parade or activity by the participants imposed by the director under subsection (e)(2) have been breached.
(3) Before the director may deny an application for a permit under subdivision (1), the director may conduct a hearing pursuant to rules adopted by the director for such hearing. An applicant for a permit under subsection (d)(2) whose application has been denied and a permittee whose permit has been revoked under the conditions set forth in subdivision (2) may pursue any and all remedies as provided by law, since there will be no time to issue a notice and conduct a hearing as prescribed in HRS Chapter 91.
(4) Applicants for Waikiki parades and activities as provided in subsection (d)(3)(B) denied a permit solely due to the limitation on permits for Waikiki parades and activities, as established by this section and as may be implemented by rules, may apply for a waiver as follows:
(A) The applicant shall submit an application for a waiver to the mayor's office, on forms provided by the director.
(B) The applicant shall attach to the waiver application a copy of the permit application.
(C) The waiver application must be submitted no later than 60 calendar days prior to the date of the parade or activity.
(D) The parade or activity must be on an existing route.
(E) Except for the limitation on permits for Waikiki parades, the parade or activity must satisfy all permit conditions or requirements.
(F) The mayor may grant a waiver if the mayor finds that the parade or activity meets any one of the following criteria:
(i) The parade or activity would be of economic benefit to the city, considering: the revenue expected to be generated for businesses in the city; the public facilities to be used by organizers and participants in the parade or activity; the number of visitors the parade or activity is expected to bring to the city; whether the event would generate media exposure for the city that could result in further economic benefits; and any other factors or information that the mayor may reasonably determine to be relevant;
(ii) The parade or activity would be culturally or historically significant;
(iii) The parade or activity would recognize an outstanding achievement or significant accomplish ment; or
(iv) The parade or activity would foster community spirit, pride, identity, or well-being, would benefit community organizations or causes, or would result in some other identifiable community benefit.
The applicant shall identify the criteria that apply to its parade or activity, and shall explain how the parade or activity meets the identified criteria.
(G) The mayor may grant no more than six waivers for parades and activities in the Waikiki special district per calendar year. However, the actual number of waivers for parades and activities in the Waikiki special district per calendar year will vary depending on the number of Waikiki legacy parades and activities. For every Waikiki legacy parade and activity over 12 in number per calendar year, the number of available waivers in that calendar year will decrease proportionately. There may be no more than 20 Waikiki legacy parades and activities per calendar year, and the number of available waivers for parades and activities in the Waikiki special district may not be less than two per calendar year.
(g) The director shall adopt rules pursuant to HRS Chapter 91 for purposes of administering or implementing this section, and conducting hearings as authorized in subsection (f). The director shall also include a list of Waikiki legacy parades and activities on the department’s website.
(h) Penalties.
(1) Definition of “violation.” Violation, as used in this subsection, means any person who:
(A) Fails to obtain a permit for a parade or activity on any public street;
(B) Authorizes, urges, or solicits any person to participate in a parade or activity without a required permit;
(C) Participates in a parade or activity on a public street when there is no permit issued therefor, or the permit therefor has been denied or revoked as provided in this section; or
(D) Fails to obey any lawful directive, order, or command of a police officer when such police officer believes that public safety is in peril.
(2) Criminal sanctions. Any person who violates this section or falls within the definition of violation, as defined in this subsection, shall be fined up to $200, or imprisoned up to 30 calendar days, or both.
(Sec. 15-24.20, R.O. 1978 (1983 Ed.)) (1990 Code, Ch. 15, Art. 24, § 15-24.20) (Am. Ords. 06-39, 15-44, 19-9)