The Honolulu City Council wants to set up a permitting system so some residents can pay for exclusive access to street parking in their neighborhood.
On Wednesday the council passed Bill 20 to establish a “restricted parking zone” program, which advocates say will open up parking spots in areas where availability is an issue.
Seven councilmembers voted in favor of the RPZ program, including two who voted with reservations, and two voted against it.
The program has been the subject of some controversy.
“It's not perfect for every neighborhood, but for these communities where they have these issues where there's an outside attractant, where there is all of the issues that were discussed at length throughout this process, it's very, very good for them,” said Councilmember Tyler Dos Santos-Tam, who introduced Bill 20 with Councilmember Radiant Cordero.
Residents and their visitors in designated RPZs would have the ability to buy annual permits from the City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Transportation Services. Only permitted vehicles would be allowed to street park in the zones.
Annual permits would be $125 per vehicle. Single-day permits for visitors and nonresidents would be available for $10.
Each RPZ would cover at least four “contiguous blocks in a residential- or apartment-zoned district,” according to the bill.
In addition to parking availability, supporters of the program believe it will also reduce illegal activities like dumping, loud noise at night and drug use.
“This bill is really about quality of life, because a huge part of what we discuss here at the council is about housing,” said Councilmember Andria Tupola. “But you can't have a high quality of life of housing if you have to walk miles to get home or you feel unsafe in your own neighborhoods.”
The bill was introduced following a pilot program in 2017 that established RPZs in Kalihi Valley that many deemed a success.
Still, the city council introduced the bill in March and was only able to pass it after 10 council meetings and more than a dozen amended versions of the bill were offered by councilmembers.
Opponents argued that the program would require all taxpayers to pay for a program that only benefits a few. Others said RPZs wouldn't help with crime and that there are already laws to deal with it. Additional complaints included uncertainties about enforcing the new law.
Councilmember Calvin Say, who was one of Bill 20’s holdouts, was among several who rejected the idea of exclusive access on public roads.
“I do not believe in privatization of our roads, for communities that benefit those abiding property owners of that road or that curb belongs to everyone,” Say said at the council meeting. “To say you have to have this permit to park your car here, you're privatizing something that is for the general public at large.”
Say and Councilmember Val Okimoto voted against the measure. Council Chair Tommy Waters and Matt Weyer voted in favor of the bill, but with reservations.
The Department of Transportation Services was in support of the bill.
“We offer our cautious support. I think that there's only a limited number of places where RPZ would be a benefit,” Morton said, later adding, “We do support the extra tool that we have in parking management that will be provided by this bill.”
Morton would be given the authority to create, modify and remove RPZs under Bill 20. He would be limited to establishing just one new zone per calendar year.
The council would also be given the same authority, although it would have to do so via city legislation.
Both authorities would have to take into account several criteria when making RPZ changes, including the extent to which street parking is occupied and available; the number of street-parked cars that don’t belong to nearby residents; and the support of residents in the affected area.
RPZs wouldn’t be allowed within a half-mile of a shoreline, according to the measure.
Bill 20 is now headed to Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi for signing.
