More parking spaces could added near Akaka Falls as a result of a landowner’s proposal under debate by Hawaii County planners.
Landowner and businessman Tirtha Luitel has requested that the county permit him to convert about 18,000 square feet of a 98-acre parcel near Akaka Falls State Park in to a 49-stall paid parking lot.
Luitel’s proposal argues the lack of parking — there are about 20 stalls — at the popular attraction regularly causes traffic snarls along Highway 220 (also called Akaka Falls Road), with visitors parking along the side of the road and walking to the parking lot.
“Folks park up and down the right-of-way,” planning consultant John Pipan told the Windward Planning Commission last Thursday. “Folks walk up and down the right-of-way. … (It’s) a hazard on our public right-of-way. … I think we can all agree that there is a problem with parking at the state park and, to date, the state hasn’t really done anything to find a solution.”
Luitel’s property is located immediately south of the state park. As proposed, his lot would include a pedestrian route leading most of the way to the park, separated from the road by a fence and retaining wall.
Pipan said the majority of the pavement necessary for the parking lot already exists in the form of a roughly 11,500-square-foot concrete pad and that Luitel would be willing to amend his proposal to do no additional paving on the land and fill out the remainder of the lot with gravel.
Luitel told the commission Thursday that parking fees on his lot would be the same as at Akaka Falls: $10 for noncommercial vehicles. Pipan also said Luitel would offer free parking to Hawaii residents with a valid ID.
However, the Planning Department recommended the commission reject Luitel’s request for a special use permit, because opening a parking lot would conflict with the goals of the county’s General Plan regarding agricultural land use.
In particular, the Planning Department notes the land on which the lot would be built is considered “prime agricultural land” and could sustain high crop yields if properly managed.
Pipan countered, saying full-time farming is not stable enough for agricultural landowners to get by.
“You can’t make an individual, separate farming venture work on its own. There has to be a separate means of generating income,” Pipan said. “This would actually support agricultural use on the rest of the property.”
The recommendation also anticipates possible increased traffic to the state park if a new parking lot opens, which could potentially cause overcrowding in the park and compound the existing traffic problems.
Planning Director Jeff Darrow said at Thursday’s meeting that the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ State Parks Division is discussing the possibility of establishing a reservation system for parks such as Akaka Falls and thereby limit traffic to overburdened parks. Allowing for additional parking — which would not generate fees for the state, unlike existing paid parking at Akaka Falls — would impede any eventual reservation system, he said.
However, the commission was conflicted. Vice Chair Chantel Perrin floated the possibility of the state leasing Luitel’s property to use as a state-run lot, allowing the state to generate additional parking fees and paying Luitel at the same time. Darrow suggested that such a proposal, made by the state, could turn his negative recommendation to a positive one.
“We all agree there is a need, no question,” Darrow said. “The difficulty we have is that we’re hearing something from the state, and we don’t want to step on toes.”
Darrow told the commission that, if they deferred the matter until a future meeting, he could draft potential conditions for Luitel that would allow for a positive recommendation. Ultimately, the commission voted unanimously to do so.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
