Maui trying to solve Wailuku parking crunch
By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau
WAILUKU — John Hendrickson is fed up with the parking shortage in town.
Christie Wilson • The Honolulu Advertiser
While Hendrickson, president of Hawaii Meeting Builders, usually is able to find a parking space in Wailuku's municipal lot near his Market Street business, it's almost always a two-hour spot. The 12-hour spaces are gone by 8 a.m. — claimed by government workers, citizens summoned for jury duty at the state courthouse, or others with business in old Wailuku.
Officer Keith Taguma enforces parking laws in the seat of Maui County, where more businesses are moving in.
The problem is that Hendrickson gets busy and forgets to move his car. The consequence: more than $1,000 in parking fines over the last year.
"It's awful,'' he said. "It's so bad, I'm ready to move. The money I'm spending on parking is enough to justify higher rent someplace else.''
Hendrickson's sentiments underscore the frustration of many who do business in Maui's historic county seat, nestled at the foot of the verdant peaks of the West Maui Mountains.
While a parking shortage — fueled in large part by the hundreds of county and state employees who work in Wailuku — is certainly not new to this town, the problem has worsened in recent months as several new businesses have moved in.
The problem seems destined to grow only worse. The administration of Mayor James "Kimo'' Apana has made one of its top goals the revitalization of Wailuku town, an effort that, if successful, will bring in even more folks who will need to park their cars.
The mayor last week unveiled plans to develop a 40-stall parking lot behind the '?ao Theater, along with a minipark and police resource center. But he acknowledges that is only a short-term solution to the parking dilemma.
Apana said his staff is looking at the possibility of building a parking structure where Wailuku's municipal parking lot now sits. The development, which would more than double the lot's current capacity of 204 stalls, would cost at least $6 million.
The county this year allocated $100,000 to create a master plan for the parking lot and to conduct a survey on parking needs. Officials are also considering a private-public partnership to redevelop and expand the municipal lot.
But there are fears that a modern parking structure has the potential to overwhelm the character of the historic town, which first developed out of the need to serve the sugar workers who lived in the surrounding plantation camps.
"It can be tasteful,'' counters Grant Howe, chairman of the Maui Redevelopment Agency, a panel appointed to plan the Wailuku revival. "The goal is to maintain the historical ambiance. It can be done. A lot of small towns have been able to do it. It doesn't have to be a glaring building.''
Last year more than 40 design professionals met to come up with six different concepts showing a variety of parking configurations, including underground structures and multilevel, mixed-use buildings.
Howe said the additional parking is essential to keeping the Wailuku revitalization effort alive. As it stands now, he said, a lot of restaurants, banks and entertainment-related business are shut out without adequate parking.
"The consensus is (the parking structure) is needed, and it's been needed for a long time. We're hoping to take it to the next step,'' he said.
In the meantime, private development in Wailuku has begun to take off. There are at least three major projects nearing completion.
One is the $8 million Main Street Promenade being developed by Robert and Lisa Joslin on a one-acre site. The three-story building will include a ground-level food court and retail space with professional offices above.
On the corner of Market and Vineyard streets, Ed Bello of Bello Realty Inc. is constructing a two-story office building with plantation-style architecture.
Over on Main Street is the Dragon Arts Center, which is just a few weeks from completion. Developer Jonathan Starr of Starr Equities describes the mixed-use, three-story building as an "art-based retail development and creative facility'' that is already half-leased.
"The county should have created more parking a long time ago,'' said Starr, who also intends to redevelop two more old buildings on Main Street: the Hanada service station and the Takitani Building.
Starr said it's time for the county to acknowledge the cost of providing parking and to start charging for it, using parking meters and parking passes common in other areas. Other sources of long-term financing could include the creation of a business improvement district that levies a parking assessment, he said.
"If you do it in a smart way, the (emerging) economic engine of Wailuku will pay for it,'' Starr said.
He believes a parking structure can be built in Wailuku without ruining the town's character.
"Many towns in the U.S. are tearing down their concrete shoeboxes. It's possible to do it in a way that's attractive,'' he said. His suggestion is to put the parking underground, leaving an open plaza as a focal point for the town.
Yuki Lei Sugimura, coordinator of the mayor's Wailuku Revitalization Initiative, said underground parking is something to consider, but it is more costly. Regardless, the parking dilemma must be addressed, she said.
"If you can't provide a place for customers to park, they're going to go elsewhere. If you can't provide convenience — no matter how good the shops are — they are going to go someplace else,'' Sugimura said.
But not everyone on Maui favors multimillion-dollar spending for a parking lot in Wailuku. Theo Morrison, executive director of the LahainaTown Action Committee, said Lahaina is also short on parking and probably more deserving.
"Lahaina is the economic engine of Maui, and we have our own parking crisis. Why build a parking lot in Wailuku?''
Lahaina merchants and community members have been meeting over the past several months to study the former whaling town's parking needs and potential solutions.
