West Hawaii residents are pleading for Hawaii County to intervene against extreme parking prices in Kailua-Kona.
A group of business owners and residents on Tuesday appealed to the County Council’s Committee on Communications, Reports and Council Oversight and urged action against “predatory paid parking providers,” who have dominated much of Kailua Village’s available parking spaces over the last two years.
Parking lots that were free to use two years ago now have parking rates as high as $25 per hour, said Maria Brosnan-Faltas, who spoke Tuesday on behalf of the Fix Paid Parking Committee, a group of concerned citizens fed up with the state of Kona’s parking.
In particular, Brosnan-Faltas highlighted the company ParkLinq, a Honolulu business that has bought up lots throughout Kailua Village. According to ParkLinq’s website, a space at Kona Inn Shopping Village could cost $17.50 per hour on a Tuesday afternoon.
“We’re hearing people say more and more ‘we just don’t go downtown anymore,’” Brosnan-Faltas said, noting that some of the town’s parking rates exceed the average hourly wage of residents.
As parking becomes less affordable for users, local businesses also are suffering. Fellow Fix Paid Parking Committee member Chris Freed said some businesses have reported revenue declines between 20% and 40% over the last two years.
Freed said he and his wife, who own FreedForm Hawaii, opened a second shop location for their woodworking business on Ali‘i Drive, assuming the popular tourist destination would attract steady customers. Instead, he said, “nobody comes in.”
“I hear all the time — at my other store, where people actually go — from people saying they’ve been coming to the Big Island for 30 years, but they aren’t going to come back again,” Freed said. “Because it costs more to park the car than the entire meal they drove to get.”
Brosnan-Faltas called the issue “an existential threat” to the Big Island’s economy, sharing several negative online reviews of Kailua-Kona’s parking prices and the city as a whole.
One review, purportedly by a Columbus, Ohio, resident named Cathryn C., claimed that a $13/hour parking fee ballooned to more than $58 after she was “less than 15 minutes late” to return to her car after the hour was up — although she added she was able to get the price reduced to only $18.
“If the paid parking stays, I predict the death of the downtown shopping area,” wrote another reviewer, a Gilbert, Ariz., resident named Lawrence B. in 2023. “I watched a number of tourists drive in, read the (paid parking) sign, talk among themselves and drive back out.”
Freed mentioned that he and his wife have to park far away from his store because they can’t afford the monthly parking budget necessary to park closer.
“Do any of you have a ‘monthly parking budget’?” he asked the council members, with other attendees scoffing at the concept.
Freed added that the most expensive parking spaces invariably seem to be handicapped spaces, which he guessed is likely illegal — and Deputy County Managing Director Merrick Nishimoto confirmed at the meeting that it is.
Fix Paid Parking Committee member Bruce Prunk said the problem is not confined to Kailua-Kona, or even West Hawaii. Already, he said, businesses buying up parking spaces are creeping into Waikoloa, and if they continue to profit, they will almost certainly make their way to Hilo.
“It’s clear that paid parking is a big business, and it’s an unregulated one,” Prunk said.
Brosnan-Faltas and Freed urged the council to pass an ordinance to control the situation, such as establishing a cap on parking rates, offering a kama‘aina parking pass, and more.
For their part, the council committee shared the citizens’ concerns and agreed to investigate possible solutions for a future bill.
Public Works Director Jeff Darrow also acknowledged the growing issue at the meeting, and said DPW “would like to be a part of resolving it,” in whatever form that takes.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
