WAILUKU, Maui — A county panel yesterday drove a stake into the heart of organized Halloween festivities in Lahaina that attracted crowds of up to 20,000.

In denying a permit request seeking to build outdoor entertainment stages and operate craft, food and activity booths in the historic district, members of the Cultural Resources Commission said the Oct. 31 event endangered Native Hawaiian cultural sites and did nothing to promote Lahaina's rich history dating to ancient times.

"People don't know Lahaina as a historic district or a place to come and see the history ... they know Lahaina for the 'Mardi Gras,' " said commissioner Nani Watanabe, referring to a former slogan for the celebration.

The commission's 6-0 vote against the permit request by LahainaTown Action Committee, representing merchants, restaurants and other businesses, will not keep restaurants and bars from conducting their own Halloween celebrations and costume contests, and will not prevent the public from strolling the streets in costume.

The decision also will not halt the annual keiki costume parade down Front Street. A permit for that late-afternoon event, organized by Soroptimist International of West Maui, was approved by the commission at a previous meeting.

It also will not eliminate the need for additional crowd control, portable toilets and cleanup crews, responsibilities formerly undertaken by LahainaTown Action Committee that will now have to be assumed by the county.

Police have indicated it is likely they will continue to block traffic on Front Street, the main road through town, on Halloween night to protect the large crowd still expected to turn out.

Rina Sampson, executive director of LahainaTown Action Committee, told The Advertiser she is uncertain what economic impact the loss of the sanctioned event will have on businesses already feeling the effects of a slowdown in tourism.

The Halloween celebration was the town's single largest one-night event and occurred during a "shoulder" month for tourism, between the busy summer and winter seasons.

The vote also disappointed Lahaina resident Ann Burkhalter, who, with husband Bunk, is a five-time winner of the organization's costume contest.

"The entertainment and music was great fun. It was a free evening out," she said. "There will still be Halloween and we will dress up and have as much fun as we can."

NEXT TARGET: ALCOHOL

Several Native Hawaiian groups and others opposed to the large-scale celebration said they are hoping that crowds will taper off once outdoor entertainment and activities in Banyan Tree Park and elsewhere are gone.

"It's a start," said U'ilani Kapu of Kuleana Ku'ikahi. She said the cultural group will next go to the county Liquor Commission to urge stricter enforcement of alcohol-serving rules to prevent bars "from releasing drunks onto the streets" during Halloween.

During public testimony, Patricia Nishiyama of Na Kupuna O Maui told the commission that her group supports the keiki parade and other Halloween events for children, but objects to the alcohol and drug use and lewd costumes and behavior that accompanied the adult-oriented events later in the evening.

Nishiyama also said that Halloween and similar events contaminate Lahaina's legacy as a sacred place once inhabited by Hawaiian royalty.

"This is not the Mardi Gras of the Pacific. We want to make sure that the history books of Hawai'i and kanaka maoli will be about the culture of Pi'ilani and all the ali'i that was born and raised here in Lahaina. I don't want that for my mo'opuna (grandchildren). ... I want our rich history to continue, not the Mardi Gras of the Pacific."

The county Planning Department recommended approval of the permit with 23 conditions. A department analysis of the permit application noted a comparable event has operated successfully and without major incident since at least 1989.

That changed in 2004, when the official event logo featured a headless, cape-wearing Hawaiian on horseback holding a pineapple "head" in his outstretched hand. The image ignited a protest among Native Hawaiians and others who saw the celebration as disrespectful to the host culture.

Measures were taken in subsequent events to address some of their concerns, including promoting the festivities as family-friendly, increasing police presence and enforcement of historic district rules, providing more toilets and shortening hours of booth operations.

HALLOWEEN CAN GO ON

The analysis of the latest request noted that if the commission denied the permit, "it is probable that would-be participants will arrive in Lahaina and carry on the celebration regardless of the lack of the activities at Banyan Tree Park."

At yesterday's commission meeting, Planning Director Jeffrey Hunt clarified for members that if they denied the permit, "you won't be denying Halloween."

He said the matter before the panel was a permit only for stages and commercial sales in the historic district. Entertainment stages offer an alternative to bar-hopping and the costume contest puts the focus on creativity "rather than drunk and lewd behavior," Hunt said.

The planning director also acknowledged the passionate tenor of the debate over Halloween in Lahaina, citing a series of mediation sessions held between Nishiyama's group and LahainaTown Action Committee.

He said the concerns are best addressed "through conditions of approval rather than trying to shut down the event."

Cultural Resources Commission members seemed taken aback when presented with the docket on the permit request. They said all previous discussions considered impacts of the event as a whole.

"The previous application had a lot more in it. ... This is not what we had seen before," said commissioner Erik Fredericksen.

"It seems like there has been an effort to sanitize this. We're the Cultural Resources Commission. This isn't, to me, about two stages or whatever. This is about an event that is taking place in a historically significant area that may or may not be appropriate."

Commissioner Kalei Moikeha said he was "thrown for a loop" by the docket. "We were all under the assumption we were going to talk about this event, not about setting up stages."

Hunt acknowledged that earlier staff reports on the permit application "weren't as precise as they should have been" and gave the impression all the Halloween activities in Lahaina were subject to commission approval.

"I'm not saying the county cannot shut this down. I'm just saying that today is not that decision. I don't want any false expectations that Halloween is not going to occur" if the permit is denied, Hunt said.

During public testimony, former commission member J. Ke'eaumoku Kapu accused the Planning Department of "twisting and tangling this whole process." He reminded commissioners that their foremost duty is to protect Lahaina's cultural and historical sites.

Before casting his nay vote, commissioner Raymond Hutaff said that just because Halloween has been allowed for years doesn't mean it should continue if the activities conflict with the commission's mandate.

He said the panel "has not stood up for Hawaiian culture" and has been too "generous" to other cultures. Hutaff called for educating the public that the history of Lahaina "did not start with the building of plantations and Front Street."