The Honolulu City Council is considering a measure that would require surfing instruction permits to be site specific.
Resolution 21-186 calls for increased enforcement for commercial surfing activities at city beach parks.
The new permits will limit commercial surf instruction businesses to operate at one beach at a time. Instructors will be limited to five students at a time.
These schools are currently able to send instructors to several beaches at once.
"It’s really a way for us to align ourselves to be more respectful of our public parks, which are supposed to be for public use and not for commercialization," said Councilmember Heidi Tsuneyoshi, who introduced the resolution.
"We do understand and appreciate the history of surf instruction in our beach parks, but this is a way to get it more in line and make sure we’re all operating in ways that allow for the public to also have access to these areas," Tsuneyoshi said.
Backers of the resolution hope it will alleviate some of the traffic in Waialua and the windward side of Oʻahu.
