Big Island Now poll results: County garage is answer to downtown Kona’s parking woes

With 2,744 votes cast for the latest Big Island poll, readers overwhelmingly agreed that the trial one-way traffic pattern on Ali‘i Drive is not the answer to Kona’s downtown parking problem.

Most people who voted in the pool — 757 or 28% — thought the solution was a parking garage, built and run by Hawai‘i County.

“Build a nearby parking garage, run a shuttle service to and from the facility every 15 minutes,” commented J. Hine. “Charge a reasonable fee to visitors, but it should be free for residents.”

Hine also said evacuation access and road safety must be prioritized over profits.

Another 484 votes (17%) were for the county to buy land for a parking lot.

The current patchwork of parking lots stretching from King Kamehameha Beach Resort to the Coconut Grove shopping center on Ali‘i Drive are private and charge fees, except for the county-owned lot off Kuakini Highway that provides about 100 free stalls.

To many residents and visitors, the fees are exorbitant, ranging from $12 to $21 an hour. These private lots are operated by either Parklinq or Diamond Parking.

The countyʻs trial of the one-way traffic pattern, from the hotel to the Hualālai Road intersection, added 46 free stalls. However, since the trial began on May 1, new issues have arisen, including reports of reduced foot traffic on the downtown touristy street, a decline in business, and people parking for more than two hours in the newly created stalls.

The one-way also has led to traffic slowdowns on northbound Ali‘i Drive for motorists turning onto Hualālai Road.

Another issue relates to safety, as cyclists sharing the roadway are harder to see when they come onto the roadway from behind parked vehicles and side streets.

Only 173 votes (6%) were for keeping the one-way road, indicating it solves the problem.

Mayor Kimo Alameda, when told about the number of voters and the results on Friday, said: “This [one-way] experiment has created more sympathizers for this issue.”

Thirty days into the trial run, Alameda said he is leaning toward returning Ali‘i Drive to a two-way street and continuing to research alternative solutions.

Alameda said he is looking at some properties in town that could potentially be used for free parking, but he wasn’t ready to make those sites public in the midst of ongoing discussions.

He said he also is going to push for more answers as to why the county can’t open the parking lot for regular use at the county-run pavilion, Hale Halawai, located on Ali‘i Drive.

Many commenters on the poll felt the answer to the parking woes was addressing the privately owned lots. Tim Dalhouse said instead of building a garage, the county could lease the paid parking lots from the current owners and turn them into free parking.

“It will cost a ton less to lease lots rather than build a garage and can be done immediately to eliminate the paid parking problem,” Dalhouse stated. “The lot owners get paid. The county immediately solves the problem for a lot less than building a garage. And, the public immediately gets free parking (well, not really free because your tax dollars to the county would pay the lease).”

The poll received 691 votes (25%) for the county to work with private parking lot owners to cap hourly fees.

Commenters elaborated on ways to work with these parking lot owners. Lori Seaman said the county could take over the existing parking lots through eminent domain, which is when governments take over private property for a public use but also pay the property owner fair market value.

“Current owners are paid a fair price, parking lots already exist, so no new construction would be necessary, at least not immediately (though improvements would be great),” Seaman wrote. “Charge reasonable parking fees for non-residents, and tax property owners an amount dependent on costs, expenses and revenues from parking fees. We’d need to see a projected cost analysis to determine if this is feasible.”

Jake Hill wrote that the fix would be to rezone the lots.

“In 2020, we rezoned them to commercial, raising their property taxes by tens of thousands annually,” Hill stated. “Offer to rezone them back under the condition that they can’t charge for parking.”

Lisa Diaz offered two solutions. The first requires parking lot owners to allot 10% of spaces for resident parking use.

“Residents who can prove they have a job or are retired from a job in West Hawai‘i could pay a small annual fee for a local parking sticker – fee could be waived for low-income kūpuna,” Diaz stated.

The second solution Diaz presented was to increase Hele-On bus routes and offer free Ali‘i Drive Kailua-Kona shuttle buses that pick up in Kona’s free parking lots near downtown.

And 411 voters, or 14%, thought Aliʻi Drive should return to a two-way street and let drivers fend for themselves.

For now, the trial one-way test on Aliʻi Drive will run until at least July. Click here to check out all the comments on the poll.

Here are the full poll results:

• County builds and runs a parking garage: 757 (28%)
• County works with private parking lot owners to cap hourly fees: 691 (25%)
• County buys land for a parking lot: 484 (17%)
• Go back to a two-way street and let drivers fend for themselves: 411 (14%)
• Solution found! Keep the one-way traffic pattern. 173 (6%)
• Other ideas? Please leave them in the comments. 228 (8%)

Total Votes: 2,744