LIHU‘E — Neighboring businesses are urging caution regarding a measure that would impose parking fees for non-residents at three county beach parks.
Kaua‘i County Council Bill No. 2843, which authorizes and provides flexible pricing guidelines for parking fees at the Lydgate, Black Pot and Po‘ipu beach parks, was approved by the Parks and Recreation/Transportation Committee at its March 9 meeting. The bill moves to the full council for final, second reading on Wednesday.
“There is concern from chamber businesses that a parking fee will impact their ability to accommodate parking for their guests at their businesses, especially at Po‘ipu,” said Mark Perriello, president and CEO of the Kaua‘i Chamber of Commerce. “We’re not opposed to a parking fee in general. We just want to make sure that whatever is put in place is done right, that it pays for itself and that it doesn’t impact our businesses negatively.”
On the North Shore, within walking distance to Black Pot in Hanalei is the Ching Young Village Shopping Center.
“It’s going to spill over to public parks, shopping centers and other communities,” said Michael Ching, managing partner at Ching Young Village. “If it spills over and they’re at the beach for eight hours, of course, it’s taking our customer parking away. Does it mean that we need to hire a security guard?”
Proponents of the measure say that it would control the parking situation at these parks and make them more accessible to locals.
“I think it’s time we implement something to control the catastrophic amount of tourists that overrun our beach parks,” said Councilmember Billy DeCosta at the committee meeting.
A study conducted last July found that establishing an enforced parking structure could be a solution to eliminate the over-use of grounds at the three parks.
Preliminary numbers discussed show that the plan would be revenue-positive, costing about $880,000, while generating $1.1 million in revenue, but these are rough estimates and could be subject to change, the Department of Parks &Recreation clarified.
The bill was amended by the committee from a $10 flat rate to give parks flexibility to charge up to $20/day or an hourly rate.
“I think that an hourly fee encourages more turnover than a daily fee,” said County Councilmember Luke Evslin. “If you’re just paying a $10 fee you’re incentivized to stay for the whole day,” said Evslin, who introduced the amendment. “The intention of this was simply to give the parks department more flexibility.”
The bill only sets a fee schedule, and still must undergo a significant process before fees are implemented.
Part of that process is a study being conducted by North Shore-based nonprofit Hanalei Initiative, which is looking at the potential effects fees have on neighboring businesses and communities.
“The devil is in the details. Where the rubber meets the road is where you see the impact,” said Joel Guy, executive director of the Hanalei Initiative. “Hopefully our work will flesh out those concerns and provide some recommendations that are solutions-based.”
They are currently in the process of engaging with businesses on the effects of parking fees, and plan to release a survey to residents next month.
“We all have some thoughts on what might improve the quality of life on the North Shore,” said Guy. “But we think it’s really important that the community is the voice on that.”
Councilmember Felicia Cowden shared business concerns at the meeting, saying that the “well-intentioned” plan could “create more problems than it solves.”
Cowden was the lone holdout against moving the bill forward, requesting that discussion on Po‘ipu and Black Pot be deferred until the Hanalei Initiative study is completed.
“All we’re doing is setting a max fee,” said Evslin, in support of moving forward with the bill. “I don’t see that changing whether we do this now or six months from now.”
The meeting also featured discussion about potentially pairing the measure with shuttle options or changes to fees for illegal parking.
It was ultimately approved in a 4-1 vote, and will now head to second reading later this week.
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Guthrie Scrimgeour, reporter, can be reached at 647-0329 or gscrimgeour@thegardenisland.com.
