Posted on: Sunday, July 8, 2001

Proposal calls for Waikiki parking agency

By Scott Ishikawa
Advertiser Staff Writer

A City Council member has introduced a bill to create a parking authority, focusing on relief for Waikiki's public parking shortage, but wants to hold community meetings on the matter before committee hearings begin.

Council Transportation Committee Chairman Duke Bainum submitted a measure last week that would create a Waikiki Parking Authority. The authority would be in charge of finding more public parking in more convenient locations.

But before the bill is heard first by his committee, Bainum, who represents the Waikiki area, wants to hold a series of community workshops to discuss the ambitious concept.

Bainum said the meetings could be held in August and September.

"I acknowledge this will be no quick-fix to the parking problem," Bainum said. "But I want to lay out the idea and hear what the area residents think."

Bainum said the objective is not only to help Waikiki residents, but also to lure other local residents back to the area.

"The locals don't go to Waikiki because there's no parking, or they don't want to pay the current parking rates," he said. "We still need the local people not living in Waikiki to come back for entertainment, shopping and dining. So this plan would help businesses as well."

Most of the free parking or the municipal parking areas in Waikiki are along the Ala Wai and near Honolulu Zoo.

Under the proposal, the five-member, semi-autonomous agency selected by the mayor would oversee the search for potential sites and the construction of parking facilities.

Proposed facilities include:

• A Saratoga Transit Center near Saratoga and Kalia Roads as part of the city's Bus Rapid Transit Plan. The parking center, being discussed by city and federal officials, could contain up to 1,800 stalls and a daycare center.

• A 33,000-square-foot park on an empty parcel on Aloha Drive near Seaside Avenue. About 100 stalls would be build underneath the park.

The council approved $1.5 million in the latest budget for acquisition and planning of the site.

Bainum said the parking authority's other possible duties would be to work with private operators in converting existing parking into municipal parking.

The cost for drivers to use the municipal parking would be somewhere between the city's rate of 50 cents to $1 per hour and the private rate of $4 to $6 an hour, Bainum said.

Bainum acknowledged that the plan may face legislative roadblocks, particularly since it creates another government agency.

"Some people may think of this as more bureaucracy, but I think of this as government actually making something happen, instead of slowing things down."

You can reach Scott Ishikawa at 525-8070 or sishikawa@honoluluadvertiser.com.