Council committee drops plan to enlarge parking stalls
By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
No changes will be made to the city's parking stall size requirements after the City Council Zoning Committee set aside a plan yesterday to enlarge the spaces.
With the exception of former state District Judge Russell Blair, who proposed the increase, no one came forward to support larger spaces.
On the other hand, representatives from Ala Moana Center, office, retail and commercial property owners and managers and the Kalihi-Palama Neighborhood Board showed up to oppose changes to the parking code.
The plan that was set aside yesterday would have increased the width of a parking space by three inches to 8 feet 6 inches, and extended the length of the stalls by one foot to 19 feet. The Department of Planning and Permitting said existing parking spaces would not be affected and current stalls would be resized only if there were changes to the property that required the owner to increase the number of spaces. Compact stalls (7 feet, 6 inches by 16 feet) would not have been affected.
Laurie Lush, who drives a Dodge Caravan with an extended end, said the Council should have passed the resolution. "They definitely need to have bigger stalls," she said.
She said the problem is exacerbated when compact cars park in standard-size stalls, leaving no room for full-sized cars, trucks and vans.
The extra inches would have been a big help. "That makes a big difference when someone opens up their doors," she said.
The committee deferred the resolution indefinitely. Councilman Charles Djou, the committee's chairman, said the issue raised too many questions and suggested the city look at alternative ways to address stall sizes.
Ala Moana Center General Manager Dwight Yoshimura said it would cause hardship for retailers since the cost of reconfiguring the 9,000-stall lot would be passed on to them. Although existing stalls would remain the same size, any retail expansion could require larger stalls, which would be hard given the size of the mall and the surrounding area. "In terms of Ala Moana, we're fairly restricted in terms of density," he said.
Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
