A contentious plan for a widened Ala Moana Regional Park pedestrian promenade — which would result in the elimination of parking stalls along the makai side of Ala Moana Park Drive — may be on the way out.

Key members of the City Council Parks, Community and Customer Services Committee on Tuesday said they will remove any funding the administration might have tied to the idea, which is part of the Ala Moana Regional Park Master Plan.

“This park has been there for years, and we have to protect it for the people,” Parks Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi said. “So I’m sure we’ll be combing through the budget to make sure that there’s no money for a promenade.”

Councilman Trevor Ozawa, who represents the Ala Moana area, said he and Ala Moana parkgoers like some of the other ideas that are part of the master plan, such as the inclusion of park rangers, renovating of comfort stations, the new irrigation system for park lawns, the filling of potholes and the cleaning of rocks on the beach.

“Those are all positives” that up to 90 percent of the project’s opponents are OK with, he said. “And they understand they’re not going to get everything that they want as well. … It’s really the parking issue that’s top of mind.”

Meanwhile, Parks Director Michele Nekota said the administration is not wedded to the idea and is still taking in the opinions of parkgoers.

Nekota said money is in the upcoming 2019 capital improvements budget proposed for the promenade project but that the final decision won’t be made until after an environmental impact statement can be completed. The public will have additional opportunity to weigh in on the proposal then, she said. “Nothing is set in stone.”

The Council approved $20 million for Ala Moana improvements for this fiscal year, and the Caldwell administration is proposing $8 million more for the fiscal 2019 year that starts July 1.

Late Tuesday, Mayor Kirk Caldwell said the idea of a wider promenade arose from the master plan process, and that the input of the public will be considered in both the final master plan and final environmental impact statement process.

“We have a bunch of proposals in our master plan that we’re getting input through the EIS,” Caldwell said. One of those proposals involves widening the promenade and removing parking from the makai side, he said. “Once the EIS is completed, we’ll look at it, and then decisions will be made. We’re getting input and we’ll take that into account.”

Caldwell said he’s not ready to declare the idea dead now because “I’m going to follow the (EIS) process … to the end.”

The committee Tuesday gave preliminary approval to Resolution 18-50, which calls on the administration to address concerns raised by the public against the planned Ala Moana Regional Park Master Plan.

More than 1,100 parkgoers and supporters have signed a “Save Makai Curb Parking” petition that was initiated by a group of regular park-goers called Malama Moana. A slew of people also submitted written testimony, and about 10 people testified in person Wednesday in support of the resolution.

Raymond Madigan said the concerns of park users haven’t been addressed sufficiently. Public meetings he’s attended “seemed like more of a token gesture, and there was overwhelming discontent among the park users.”

Widening the promenade and forcing people to park across the street does not seem conducive to park frequenters. “You’re going to cut off access to the people actually using the park,” he said. “You’re just going to put concrete where it’s not needed, you’re going to take away green space and you’re not addressing real users. They’re not being listened to.”

Makai-side parking makes it safer for parkgoers, said Sharlene Chun-Lum, a Malama Moana organizer. Chun-Lum questioned whether the expanded walkway was being planned with visitors and residents in ritzy nearby condominiums in mind or today’s typical parkgoer.

“Loading and unloading zones don’t cut it for the typical park user,” Chun-Lum said. “What responsible parent drops off their stuff with their keiki or kupuna and drives away to find parking somewhere else? This will discourage people, or exclude some people, from coming to the park. Too humbug to push grandma in the wheelchair, the kids in the stroller and the cooler across the road.”