Skyrocketing parking costs in downtown Kona keeping residents away, hurting businesses

Over the past few years, the patchwork of parking lots along and around Kailua-Kona’s touristy Aliʻi Drive from King Kamehameha Kona Beach Resort to Coconut Grove have drastically increased their parking rates, with some previously free places to park transitioning to pay lots.

As a result, many locals no longer come into downtown Kona to eat and shop. The prices also impact the lifestyle for those who run on Ali‘i Drive, swim in Kailua Bay or play volleyball at Coconut Grove, Ziemelis said.

“If we don’t do something we’ll ruin the name of Kona and the community will abandon downtown,” said Kona resident Julie Ziemelis, the founder of 365 Hawai‘i Island Community Fund.

She has invited businesses, landowners, parking companies and Hawai‘i County officials to a public meeting about the issue on Friday at 5 p.m. at the West Hawai‘i Civic Center, 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, in Building G.

Ziemelis said the goal is to outline how the paid parking started, discuss what’s happening now and come up with economic solutions.

“We’re trying to save the lifestyle of this town,” Ziemelis said.

A little over a year ago, parking lot fees ranged from $9 to $15 per hour. Ziemelis said those prices now range from $12 to $21 an hour.

The paid parking lots are owned by private landowners who contract primarily with two parking companies, Parklinq and Diamond Parking Services.

Some of the paid parking lots provide free time or discounts. Coconut Grove and Kona Inn, both operated by Parklinq, offer the first 90 minutes free for kamaʻāina with a valid Hawaiʻi Driver’s License.

Emails and calls to Parklinq on Wednesday were unreturned.

Jasmine Crusat, city manager for Diamond Parking, said Diamond operates four lots. Their focus is compliance and enforcement, which includes ticketing and towing vehicles.

Crusat said the increase in parking rates is due to the rising cost of doing business.

The biggest issue, Crusat said, is there is more demand for parking than there are parking spots. This has led to many people parking in lots and not patronizing the businesses connected to those lots.

Diamond has been working with landowners and wants to see the tenants thrive, said Crusat, who added: “We’re not about scaring customers away.”

She said the focus needs to shift to the public county lots, where some people park in them all day, which does not allow other customers to park for free and patronize the businesses.

It has created a domino effect, she said.

The county has tried to mitigate the issue by establishing a park-and-ride by Target and offering a free trolley running from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. However, very few people used the trolley, so it was discontinued.

Ross Wilson, executive director for the Kailua Village Business Improvement District, said he’s met with 30 downtown merchants to discuss their issues with paid parking and how it’s impacting their businesses. He said the merchants need to talk to their landlords about the parking lots.

“I’m all for coming up with a solution to the problem,” said Wilson, who looks forward to working with the incoming county administration under mayor-elect Kimo Alameda.

Wilson said he would love to see the county open the parking lot at Hale Halawai, which is next to Waterfront Row when there are no events at the county park.

Another idea floated, Wilson said, was making a portion of Ali’i Drive a one-way road from the pier to Hualālai Road, allowing free parking on the mauka (mountain) side of the roadway.

A parking study was conducted in 1986 where it counted 1,116 parking stalls for Kailua Village. The county lot, located off Kuakini Highway, accounts for 120 of those stalls.

During the parking study, Wilson said building a parking structure at the county lot off Kuakini Highway was discussed. However, it would end up being paid parking to help pay for the infrastructure.

Derek Proudian, 66, has been an investor in a property lease, originally occupied by the restaurant Daylight Mind, on Waterfront Row on Ali‘i Drive since 2013. After the business went bankrupt, Proudian assumed the lease in October 2019 and rebranded it as Papa Kona Restaurant and Bar.

In 2013, Proudian said there was a lot of free parking in town, including Coconut Grove, and the parking lot that is occupied by the farmer’s market. The underground parking for Waterfront Row was $3 per hour.

“That was fine. We didn’t have a lot of resistance from guests,” Proudian said.

With most of the free lots going to paid parking, Proudian said it’s hard for his employees to get to work.

Outside of the peak tourism season, Proudian said the restaurant would be frequented by locals during the shoulder seasons, which run from the second half of April to the end of June and then again in September until the first half of November.

Proudian said his restaurant is down about 30% in revenue during this shoulder season.

“The boutique shops are being hurt the most,” he said. “No one wants to do window shopping with the meter running.”

Papa Kona employees are carpooling and parking at the old Safeway, located above Walmart on Henry Street and walking down to the restaurant.

The business owner said the cost to park should be set at a reasonable rate or customers can pay an annual fee.

“I’m hoping people can come together and work out reasonable solutions,” Proudian said. “If we can’t come to reasonable, Kona town is going to turn into a ghost town.”