The state launched new parking measures for the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor this morning, charging ocean users hourly for 229 stalls that used to be free under a plan hammered out after months of contentious talks with surfers, boaters and others.

Paid stalls cost 25 cents an hour, which is much less than most paid parking in Honolulu.

Meanwhile, 300 stalls remain free under the deal, down from 549 free stalls previously.

Though ocean users say keeping some free parking is better than doing away with it altogether, some are still miffed that any free stalls were taken away.

"You're blocking people who can't afford to park and who are already paying an arm and a leg for gas to get there," said Scott Werny, co-chairman of the Surfrider Foundation O'ahu chapter, adding the public consensus was to keep parking free.

The state Land Board unanimously agreed in May to approve the public parking plan for the harbor, an ocean access point for hundreds of beachgoers, paddlers and surfers daily.

Laura H. Thielen, state Department of Land and Natural Resources chairwoman, said the parking plan may still need tweaking and welcomed input from harbor users. "The elements of the parking plan we are now implementing may not be the final solution," she said, in a news release.

"The department will be open-minded to changes to make operations at the harbor run smoothly."

Ocean users say the parking plan is a significant improvement from the state's original proposal, which was to do away with most or all free parking stalls at the harbor. But some groups worry that the state will move to raise rates for the paid parking area soon or do away with more free stalls.

Changes to the parking plan need the consent of the board.

In August, the Land Board approved Diamond Parking as the concessionaire for the parking area.

Diamond has a 12-month permit, starting this month, and is charged with providing 24-hour surveillance, collecting fees and paying for necessary infrastructure upgrades. A flat percentage of gross receipts from the parking area will go to the state Boating Special Fund for harbor upgrades.

As part of the new plan, the state will close the free parking area from 10:30 p.m. to 4:30 a.m.

Any cars in the area will be towed away.

MAKING SOME PROFIT

The impetus behind the parking changes is twofold: Officials hope to generate income (though it's still unclear how much) to help pay for harbor improvements, while also better managing the area. The lot fills quickly on weekends and holidays, forcing some to go elsewhere.

Construction and hotel workers often use the lot, which is why the state also erected signs that say the parking area is for ocean and harbor users only.

Ed Underwood, the administrator of the state Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation, which oversees harbors, has said the hourly parking rate may have to go up if Diamond can't make a profit. If the parking rate was raised to $1 an hour, he said, revenues generated annually by about 300 paid stalls would be about $800,000. He couldn't say how much of that would go to the parking vendor.

In addition to the 229 new paid stalls at 25 cents an hour, the parking area also has 101 existing metered stalls where the rate is 40 cents an hour. There are also 295 permitted stalls for harbor users.

Filings with the Land Board in August show monthly parking revenues for all metered, permitted and daily stalls in the parking area would be about $39,000. Under the permit issued to Diamond Parking, the company would get $13,000 of the gross receipts for operating expenses.

Eight-five percent of all revenues beyond that would go to the state. The rest would go to the parking vendor.

PEEVED OVER PARKING

Melissa Ling-Ing, of Common Ground Hawai'i, said she is OK with the switch to some paid parking — as long as the minimum 300 stalls remain free. "I think that's pretty adequate for surfers" and other ocean users, Ling-Ing said yesterday. "We feel it was a fair compromise."

But others aren't as happy.

Noa Napoleon, of the Free Ocean Project, said ocean users said over and over again in public meetings that they wanted all the parking to remain free. With that kind of consensus, he said, the state should have left the parking area alone.

"We just feel like we were duped," he said.

Napoleon also said that there are fears the state will chip away at the 300 free stalls. "We have no promise of protection," he said.

Over the next 12 months, the state said it will develop a request for proposals for a long-term parking plan for the area. An ad hoc committee of Ala Wai harbor users has been formed to provide input, the state said.

Werny, of the Surfrider Foundation, raised concerns about the ad hoc committee, though, saying it doesn't appear to have much say into what decisions the state will make in a year.

"I'm afraid they're going to say, 'We need to raise rates,'" he said.