City plan could worsen Waikiki parking

Waikiki parking is so tight that Cherise Musselman has spent two hours idling in her car before finding street parking.

She and her daughter, Brianna, keep scrambling because their Waikiki rental is one of many in the tourist district without adequate parking. They found affordable monthly garage parking for one car but not for another. They compete nightly for Waikiki’s 1,017 on-street public spaces hoping they won’t have to park in one of the 290 metered stalls.

“We moved from Waianae to cut down on driving. We spend as much time in our car looking for parking,” Musselman said. “If there were reasonable garages around here, we would use them. But we called everyone and there aren’t any openings. Garage parking can be very expensive. Prices ranged from $95 to $290 a month.”

In just one year the Musselmans have accrued $747 in parking-related tickets and towing costs. A city plan to convert more of Waikiki’s free public parking into paid has them and other neighbors worried that parking woes will worsen.

The city Department of Transportation Services is adding 51 new meters on Kaiolu and Launiu streets. Poles were installed earlier this month, with meters to go active in December, said Mark Garrity, DTS acting director. On Oct. 23, city workers were towing on Launiu Street because car owners ignored a parking ban for pole installation.

Obviously, many residents aren’t embracing change, but the city says it’s necessary to update its parking strategy for Waikiki, which consultants say is priced below market.

“The city has received numerous complaints over the years about the lack of available street parking in Waikiki,” Garrity said. “The addition of meters will help regulate and provide short-term parking for residents and visitors that need it.”

It also will increase the city’s parking revenue. Garrity said the new meters will cost the city $33,000 and will net about $5,000 monthly for the city’s highway fund.

Officials also are weighing other parking recommendations, which would eliminate nearly all Waikiki free public parking.

Walker Parking Consultants was paid $74,500 by the city to develop a parking plan last year. It advised converting Waikiki’s off-street free public parking into metered whenever possible. It also proposed charging for loading zones. It suggested creating monthly parking permits that give preferential treatment to Waikiki residents and commercial users. In some zones it advocated extending metered hours, increasing rates and changing time limits.

“There were many good recommendations in the Walker report, and we are working with the Waikiki Neighborhood Board, the Waikiki Improvement Association, the Waikiki Transportation Stakeholders Oversight Committee, City Council members and others to consider ways to improve the effectiveness of our street parking program,” Garrity said. “We recognize that parking can be a contentious issue, so we want to be very careful in how quickly we make changes.”

While most of Waikiki parking is private, critics say eliminating free public parking would greatly affect Waikiki’s 33,000 residents as well as the many hotel workers who rely on free parking. Real estate analyst Stephany Sofos, a longtime Waikiki resident, said parking is inadequate for most residential buildings built before 1980, when parking was less of a commodity.

Development and beautification have contributed to tight conditions, Sofos said. Public parking was reduced when Mayor Jeremy Harris removed stalls to beautify the Ala Wai Canal, she said. The city discussed adding a parking garage on Aloha Drive, but Sofos said that’s now slated for a city park. A 2008 zoning charge also eliminated parking requirements for ground-floor Waikiki retailers.

Solutions must include workers, said Ben Sadoski, lead researcher for United Here Local 5. The labor union, which represents Waikiki hotel workers, recently filed a Zoning Board of Appeals complaint against the Ritz-Carlton Residences, Waikiki Beach. The condotel development’s elimination of 172 public parking spaces is central to the union’s objections, which are slated to be heard Feb. 2. The developer is building 220 new stalls, but Sadoski said the project “nets 48 stalls while adding 553 condotel units, restaurants and a grocery store.”