A parking war simmering in Kaka'ako has turned ugly.

Tow companies have become the latest weapons in the fight to deter illegal parking, and this month, the CompUSA parking lot on Ala Moana Boulevard emerged as a key battlefield after more than 100 cars were towed in two weeks.

CompUSA general manager Ken Elton said the policy was a last resort, after hearing customers say they couldn't find parking at the store. But the practice backfired when some would-be customers were towed and had to spend several hours and hundreds of dollars retrieving their cars from a tow yard.

Elton said he heard complaints from 18 people who were towed. Charlie Aldinger was one of those complaining, and she got a refund.

"It seems to me there are parking wars going on in Kaka'ako," said Aldinger, whose daughter's rental car was towed from the CompUSA lot March 23, after the college student spending spring break in the Islands went across the street to get a cup of coffee. Aldinger said her daughter intended to go into the store as soon as it opened to buy a pair of earphones.

The two spent more than three hours trying to retrieve the car from a Waipahu yard.

"I think jumping to a very aggressive tow policy is a bad business move," Aldinger added.

It should come as no surprise that parking in Kaka'ako is at a premium these days, what with the area's soaring popularity as Honolulu's new development corridor.

As more businesses, institutions and high-rise condominiums move in, the inventory of parking spaces — at least in the short term — is shrinking. In the past 18 months, a parking lot on South Street was lost to development and the Cancer Research Center of Hawai'i announced plans to build a new state-of-the-art headquarters atop the existing student and visitor parking lot at the University of Hawai'i's John A. Burns School of Medicine.

The work is expected to start sometime this year, forcing hundreds to find parking elsewhere.

PROBLEM TO GET WORSE

Officials say the parking headaches in Kaka'ako show just how much the neighborhood has grown in recent years. A new condominium will open soon on South Street. The Ward Centers developments are expanding. And institutions are eyeing space in Kaka'ako makai — a key center for growth since the medical school opened its site there in 2004.

In addition to the Cancer Research Center, there are plans over the next few years to build the new headquarters for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs next to the medical school and a biotechnology center across from the old Gold Bond building.

Nearby, at Kaka'ako Waterfront Park, Hawai'i Community Development Authority officials are already cracking down on those who park illegally — in part because they hope to head off a bigger problem when the medical school's student and visitor lot closes.

Authority executive director Dan Dinell said the park's lot is monitored periodically and violators are given a warning. If they choose to remain, they are towed.

"We've got to be vigilant that the park parking lot doesn't become a place for UH students or downtown workers. The parking lot for the park is for park and ocean users," Dinell said.

The demand for parking, and the promise of more growth in the community, have also spurred the development authority to look at building its own parking structure. A $125,000 parking study for Kaka'ako makai is set to be completed in June.

Dr. Carl-Wilhelm Vogel, executive director of the Cancer Research Center, said he hopes to break ground by the end of the year on his new facility, which will include laboratories, physicians' office, classroom space — and a parking structure.

The structure likely will have about 1,000 spaces, accommodating medical students and visitors, along with Cancer Research Center patients, employees and others.

But the facility will be built on Lot C at the medical school, which now accommodates 250 students and dozens of visitors daily. Construction on the $200 million project is expected to last for two to three years, Vogel said. And during the work, said medical school spokesman Gregg Takayama, parking for students and visitors "will be a mess."

PEAK HOURS

John Breinich, chairman of the Ala Moana/Kaka'ako Neighborhood Board, said parking is becoming even more of an issue because many small businesses don't provide their own spaces, and instead expect customers to park on the street or at neighboring lots.

"A lot of people, they don't have as much parking as they need," he said.

Even at the Ward Centers sites, which have more than 3,000 spaces in nine lots, parking often gets tight during peak hours on weekends. The situation has annoyed more than a few customers, prompting businesses to place attendants at key lots on weekend nights.

The attendants help direct traffic and point out open parking spaces.

Joey Char, associate general manager for Ward Centers, said there is enough parking to accommodate everyone — but sometimes it takes a little longer to find it.

And sometimes, you have to know where to look.

"It's a very popular destination and during peak times parking is going to be at a premium," he said, adding that the parking lots behind the IBM building, at Ward Plaza and at the Ward Industrial Center (mauka of the Ward Farmers Market) are available on nights and weekends.

Ward Centers is also building a seven-story parking structure as part of its Ward Villages Shops development. The structure will have 800 spaces and open in fall 2008, Char said.

Meanwhile, there are no immediate plans to add parking on South Street, where a private lot was closed in October 2005 to make way for the Keola La'i condominium project.

CUSTOMERS COUNT

For Elton, of CompUSA, that means his parking problem won't be alleviated anytime soon.

Last week, Elton stopped putting attendants in his lot after several people who were towed complained, saying they had intended to come into the store after going to other nearby stops.

For now, Elton has told 24/7 Park Inc., the tow company he contracted with, that he will request a tow if he needs one.

Tow company general manager Dave Domcalski said his company towed at least 100 cars in the two weeks that attendants were in the lot. As many as 400 other people were caught before they left the lot, warned about the policy and asked to leave. "You cannot park at CompUSA property and walk across the street," Domcalski said.

Elton said he will probably put tow company attendants back in the lot once more signage is posted and he is confident drivers are aware of the policy. He also said a car will be towed only if he has given his approval.

"I definitely have a parking issue," Elton said, adding he has seen people park at his store, then walk off to other businesses, the courts or the Department of Homeland Security.

"Our parking lot is being used by everybody at these other locations, which means our customers don't have adequate parking," he said, adding that the store gets 25,000 customers a month. Its lot has 250 stalls, and Elton said he often gets complaints about the tight parking.

But Aldinger, who had to help her daughter pick up a towed rental car at a yard in Waipahu on March 23, said Elton went too far when he positioned attendants in the lot to tow those who walked off the property. Aldinger said the attendants could have easily warned drivers.

She also said many CompUSA customers park at the lot, but also stop at other businesses and run errands. Most people would assume they wouldn't have to move their car.

Aldinger said it took three hours and $195 for her daughter to get her rental car back from the tow yard. Her daughter had a flight back to Washington, D.C., later that same day, and though she made it, Aldinger said the whole ordeal was stressful and unnecessary.

That night, Aldinger, the director of public relations for Bishop Museum, sent out an e-mail to people in her address book, detailing her daughter's towing ordeal and asking them to "boycott CompUSA." The e-mail has been forwarded several times to reach dozens.

"There's a better answer than just knee-jerk towing," Aldinger said. "The business people need to get together and come to a better solution."

At the CompUSA parking lot on Thursday, there were several open spaces.

Bob Miller, who lives in Kaka'ako, said he understands why CompUSA started towing cars.

"It's their right to tow," he said. "They own the property."

Miller said he comes to the store frequently. But only once, a few years ago, did he park there illegally. In light of the recent towing, he said, he wouldn't chance it again.

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.