Petitions to formally contest the state’s pending three-year contract with Secure Parking Hawaii LLC to manage and enforce public stalls at Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor have been denied.
The state Board of Land and Natural Resources voted unanimously Friday to support six related actions with regard to the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation and Department of Land and Natural Resources’ findings to deny three petitioners’ requests to hold contested case hearings — quasi-judicial proceedings similar to a court trial in which BLNR, like a judge, is deemed the tribunal in such hearings.
Earlier this month, DOBOR Administrator Ed Underwood filed the recommendations with BLNR to wholly deny petitions submitted by Kate Thompson of Kamaaina Boaters, Margaret Hallahan and Karen Boyer, based on claimed failures to meet state administrative rules and related criteria to hold the hearings.
Underwood’s recommendations to deny included Thompson’s contention that she’s a 25-year boat owner at the harbor.
“However, holding a permit to moor a vessel at the Ala Wai small boat harbor does not establish any legitimate claim of entitlement regarding the details of parking management and enforcement at the harbor’s public parking facility,” Underwood stated.
Meantime, requests to deny these hearings stem from BLNR’s decision in December to grant a short-term contract extension for the harbor’s parking management.
Renewal of an existing vehicle parking concession contract and accompanying revocable monthly permit to Secure Parking came amid backlash over a proposal by DOBOR to make changes at the harbor, including the option of doing away with free recreational parking.
In November, DOBOR announced plans that include either converting all 900 of the harbor’s parking stalls to paid spaces or eliminating permit parking and reducing 300 current free parking stalls to just over 100.
In the interim, DOBOR recommended Dec. 7 that BLNR continue its contract with Secure Parking.
In a split vote, the board approved the company’s existing permit for up to six months while the state Department of the Attorney General reviews and drafts a new Secure Parking concession for a three-year period.
Secure Parking was last awarded the contract for Ala Wai harbor in September 2021.
On Friday, petitioners, including Thompson who represents Kamaaina Boaters, a 140-member “social group” of recreational boat owners and their families, urged BLNR to reconsider future contracts with Secure Parking — which monitors parking meters — and the harbor’s contracted tow company, Mr. Tow LLC, over their allegations of excessive towing occurring at the harbor, as a means to boost business profits.
Thompson, who, based on state-issued data, claimed that over 2,000 tows occurred at the boat harbor in 2023 but only seven citations were given, described these actions as “predatory.”
“So what I have a problem with is the public is saying this is basically an abusive situation,” she said, noting the cost of parking violations at Ala Wai harbor. “That these people are paying $160 compared to other public parking areas, which would be $35. … So, having a $160 tow is extremely high cost. So, I’m saying this is abusive, and it’s unfair and inequitable.”
Although not present at the meeting, Boyer submitted written testimony over the harbor’s parking vendor.
“We are requesting a contested case hearing to express our desire for clear structure and rules to be established before renewing a contract with Secure Parking LLC, as Secure Parking LLC is one of the contacts directly related to this radical towing situation” at Ala Wai harbor, Boyer wrote.
In addition, she noted, “I had a recent experience of using Secure Parking in the harbor and all the kiosks were not working. The scan code emblem was very high on a sign and was difficult to navigate. It took me over five minutes as all credit card information had to be entered.
“Later in the day, our boat engine died and I panicked in concern that I would be towed while suffering an engine problem. I was fortunate I had email access on my phone and through an email verification was able to extend my time to avoid being towed. This was very traumatic as I was deeply worried about the possibility of suffering a tow rather than citation,” she wrote.
Boyer’s daughter, Corinne Brenner, appeared at the meeting on behalf of her mother, noting that despite DOBOR’s assertions that petitioners had no standing for the contested case hearings, she believed otherwise.
“This is a public matter. These are people who use the harbor on a daily or weekly basis,” said Brenner. “They pay money to have their boat in the harbor, to pay for a permit to park in the harbor; and all of our tax dollars are paying for maintenance of the public parts of the harbor.”
Hallahan, a boat captain who resides in San Francisco but is a longtime user of Ala Wai harbor, also believed her contested case hearing request had merit due, in part, to how the facility she frequents is run.
“And particularly, there’s a health risk for me because of the tow trucks and their fumes … the way they have their trash cans (and) the whole way that the area is managed,” she said.
BLNR disagreed, however.
At the meeting, board member Kaiwi Yoon said he was troubled by the use of words like “abusive situation” and “predatory behavior” in connection to the state’s contracted vendors.
“For the record, I’m very concerned about the characterization of abusiveness and predatory practices on or behalf of the state when I don’t believe that that’s true,” he said.
Board Chair Dawn Chang, who during the meeting repeatedly told testifying petitioners that many of their comments had no bearing on DOBOR’s recommended denials for the contested case hearings, said she would not get into “the merits or the substance” of Secure Parking and its pending state contract.
“The only questions before us are the requests for” the hearings, Chang said.
However, she’d caution DOBOR and Secure Parking that “this group is not going to go away.”
“They are relentless, and I think they have made their comments very well known,” said Chang, who works as the land department’s chair. “I think staff, you have heard the comments. … Clearly, they have come diligently, persistently to every board meeting that we have had on parking at Ala Wai” boat harbor.
Separate and apart from requested hearings, Chang urged DOBOR to “make sure that you are monitoring Secure Parking and all of the components of that contract.”
“Implementation is the department … but I will ultimately be held accountable to have you come back,” she added.
For his part, board member Vernon Char said, “Apropos of that, the context here is that it’s a revocable permit, and we did ask the staff to come back and take a look at putting the terms for the lease together.”
“And that is forthcoming,” Char added, “so concerns have been noted, and because this is just a revocable permit, we understand that that matter will be brought back to the board.”
Meanwhile, Thompson said if BLNR — or the state — would not provide parking relief to boat owners and users of Ala Wai harbor, then outside legal remedies would be sought.
“We are considering retaining a lawyer,” she told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser after the meeting.
