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Residents of Oahu neighborhoods would be able to band together and petition for "restricted parking zones" along their streets under a bill before the City Council. They could then pay for exclusive rights to park their cars in those zones.
Bill 52, introduced by City Councilwoman Carol Fukunaga, won the first of three approvals from the Council on Wednesday. It now goes to the Council Transportation Committee for further discussion.
Fukunaga said she introduced the bill in response to constituents living in the Prospect Street area, where workers from the Queen’s Medical Center and other nearby workplaces crowd the free stalls along the street.
The situation was made worse recently when a landscaping project took over an unimproved area that previously gave neighborhood residents about 20 to 30 unofficial parking stalls, Fukunaga said.
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CITY COUNCIL BUSINESS
Also during the Council’s monthly meeting Wednesday at Kapolei Hale, members voted to:
>> Confirm Gary Nakata as Community Services director and Guy Kaulukukui as Enterprise Services director.
>> Give final approval to Bill 31, which eliminates a provision that allows owners of property dedicated for agricultural use for one year to pay lower taxes but keeps lower taxes for those who promise to use their property for farming for five years or longer.
>> Give final approval to Bill 36, allowing homeowners to keep their homeowner exemptions if they move into a long-term care facility or adult residential care home.
>> Give second reading approval to Bill 5 (2014), allowing sparklers and fountains, limited by permit, on New Year’s Eve and the Fourth of July.
>> Give second reading approval to Bill 45, requiring certain establishments to set up baby diaper-changing stations for both genders when doing new construction.
>> Give first reading approval to Bill 51, requiring people who own more than nine pigeons or other birds to obtain a permit from the city.
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Residents from the area, and other Oahu neighborhoods, would be able to ask the city Transportation Services director to set up a restricted parking zone, Fukunaga said.
Besides Punchbowl, Fukunaga said she envisions folks in a neighborhood such as Manoa, which gets inundated on weekdays by the vehicles of University of Hawaii students when school is in session, taking advantage of a restricted parking zone.
The bill also allows for employee permits to be issued in certain restricted parking zones where doing so would help reduce neighborhood traffic demands.
If a zone is established, motorists would need to get permits for a fee from the city to be able to park there — only during certain times, if appropriate. Vehicles allowed to park in the zone would need to display some form of identification.
Some have incorrectly concluded that the bill is intended to harm motorists in neighborhoods when "this is only by request of the community" and designed to help those affected adversely by employees of neighboring businesses competing for on-street parking, Fukunaga said.
Transportation Services Director Michael Formby said he has not concluded that restricted parking zones are a good idea on Oahu, but thinks it’s an idea that should be studied and discussed.
"It’s used on the mainland," Formby said. "It works pretty well where your demand (for street parking) exceeds your capacity, and you try to strike a balance by regulating who has a right to park in certain zones."
Hawaii has unique circumstances, such as laws ensuring beach and mountain access, that need to be analyzed, Formby said.
"If you’re talking about a coastal community, is it really appropriate to have a restricted parking zone?"
Oahu also has many unimproved roadways "where shoulders are technically unimproved sidewalks (and) it’s illegal to park there," Formby said.
"And if you put in a restricted parking zone, then are you going to change the traffic code and allow people to legally park in certain unimproved shoulders when you can’t in others?" he said. "There are all kinds of issues like that."
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