Pine gets ball rolling to expand parking at Kapolei Regional

For several years, Kanani Wond has volunteered as a coach and referee for a girls soccer team that plays and practices at Kapolei Regional Park. But due to limited parking spaces, Wond says she has been ticketed twice for parking in nearby areas.

The Kapolei resident maintains that additional parking is needed to accommodate the various soccer, football, baseball and other sporting activities hosted at the 70-acre complex.

City Councilwoman Kymberly Pine, who represents the area, introduced a resolution requesting that city administrators conduct a study to determine the feasibility of adding 100 more parking stalls and possibly obtaining the use of alternative stalls at nearby businesses. The Committee on Parks, Community and Customer Services is slated to take up the proposal at a meeting Tuesday. Pine said the cost to conduct the study would be minimal.

“You have a lot of young families who have kids, so the park is heavily used,” said Pine, pointing out that she and her family spend time at the park and walk her dog in the area. “We want to explore all options.”

Wond, a member of the Makakilo/Kapolei/Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board, said more parking would give her “peace of mind and a pleasureable experience,” pointing out that parents, grandparents and volunteers from across Oahu come to the park, including her parents, who travel from Kailua.

“They have to find parking just like everybody else,” she said. “We don’t want to make a bad experience. We want to make a good experience.”

The complex’s 212 parking stalls “are inadequate to support current park users,” and limited space, especially during holidays and weekends, has forced many to park illegally in the nearby areas and businesses, resulting in tickets, according to the resolution.

Additionally, the number of residents using the park will likely increase due to Kapolei’s growing population, which stands at about 15,200, the resolution said, with nearby Makakilo at about 18,200 residents.

Pine, a resident of Ewa Beach, added that the park near Kapolei City Hall and the public library is a valuable resource especially for many young families who live in Kapolei, where the median age is 31.

“It’s a beautiful park, and there’s lot of land for parking,” Pine said. “It’s just deciding what is the best cost-effective ways.”