Bill to cap parking rates on private lots in Historic Kailua Village postponed again

Once again, a Hawai‘i County Council bill proposing free parking and a cap on hourly and daily rates at privately owned lots in the Historic Kailua Village was postponed.

During Tuesday’s Policy Committee on Public Works and Mass Transit, Council Member Rebecca Villegas — who has been pushing for solutions to the downtown parking woes that also affect the area business — looked to her colleagues for guidance on where they stood on Bill 132.

“I’ve tried to be bold in my almost eight years sitting in this position,” said Villegas, who first introduced the bill on March 3. “Hundreds of volunteer hours have been put in to drafting the legislation that’s here. Tens more hours into potential amendments.

“And I still return to the principle. What’s good for the long-term future of our community, our small businesses, and our village as a model. People have suffered. Businesses have closed. Our economy has really struggled.”

The bill calls for free parking for the first three consecutive hours a patron parks or stores a motor vehicle in a paid parking facility in Kailua Village.

After that, with some exceptions, the paid parking facility can not charge more than $2 per hour during the first 24 hours, with a limit of $30.

For years, business owners and residents in downtown Kona have been advocating for relief from the economic hardship they say is caused by the exorbitant parking rates, which now range from $9 to $21 an hour, although some lots offer free time or discounted prices for residents.

Villegas said that she was open to amendments on changing what the rate would be per hour, as well as the number of free hours, and all the different things.

Villegas ultimately made a motion to postpone Bill 132, which will now be heard during the May 19 Policy Committee on Public Works and Mass Transit.

“I’m struggling, and I’m disappointed,” Villegas said after the meeting, adding that not getting answers on the council’s political will on the bill, she’s questioning whether or not she should withdraw it.

In the meantime, Villegas is now working on two different parking bills, one of which would prohibit predatory paid parking lots from being established on the island and the other would require lot owners islandwide to post their rates.

Council Member Matt Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder said he thinks there is good resolve between the community and council and hopefully the private parties.

Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder said because Villegas plans to introduce more bills about parking, that it would be good to wait for it before proceeding on this bill.

Tyler Saenz, who represents ParkLinq, one of the main operators of paid parking lots in Kailua Village, testified against the measure saying private property owners should not be required to subsidize parking for non-customers.

But Saenz acknowledged that not all concerns around the issue were without merit.

“Visibility of pricing at the point of entry was a valid issue,” he testified. “In response, over this past week, we’ve already implemented changes so that pricing is clearly displayed upon arrival at all ParkLinq Vantage locations in Kona. We are listening, we are responsive, and we are committed to continuous improvement.”

Villegas said those signs were put up without going through the proper permitting process.

Planning Department Director Jeff Darrow told the council his team is actively reviewing current facilities being used for paid parking in the Kailua Village area and what those original allowable uses and requirements were for those sites.

“There is a lot of background information that has to be done,” Darrow said. “We have staff assigned to it and they are putting together a list of potential issues with each of these. We have had to identify each business and do background reports.”

The focus of the reports, Darrow said, was whether or not these facilities received any type of special management area review when they began their commercial parking business, if they were required to get any type of signed permit or any other permit that might be associated with a structure for that particular business.