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Nov 13, 2024

Mo'ili'ili residents upset about installation of new parking meters | News | kitv.com

Reporter Kristen joined KITV4 in March 2021 after working for the past two decades as a newspaper reporter. Kristen's goal is to produce meaningful journalism that educates, enlightens and inspires to

Reporter

Kristen joined KITV4 in March 2021 after working for the past two decades as a newspaper reporter. Kristen's goal is to produce meaningful journalism that educates, enlightens and inspires to affect positive change in society.

Residents who live near Isenberg Street in Honolulu raise concerns about a paid street parking plan by the city that has been in the works since 2017.

HONOLULU (Island News) -- Monique Arenas has never had a problem finding free parking close to home on Isenberg Street.

But that could soon change.

The city's putting up dozens of parking meters on Isenberg Street from Kapiolani Boulevard to Beretania.

"It's very, very costly to be here and any way that we can kind of cut the costs and just live and have good quality of life without having to think every second of the day, 'Oh my gosh, we need to go pay the meter. Oh my gosh, I need to move my car.'"

A City Council spokesman said the project was approved in 2017 after a constituent complained about abandoned vehicles and parking turnover.

The Department of Transportation Services then conducted a study and decided that to improve the situation they needed to install meters.

"So essentially the entire street is going to have the metered parking, which is very concerning for me as a stay-at-home mom," Arenas said. "The thought of like having to pay I think it's 50¢ an hour up to like $6 a day to keep my car in the vicinity of where my home is... it becomes a huge bill for me to have to pay."

She has asked the City Council for an exemption, including a permitting system for residents who live on the street.

"If there's some kind of annual fee that we need to, you know, pay for it's still going to be cheaper," she said. "There's nothing we can do to go back, but it would alleviate so much of the stress and the financial burden."

And help keep her family and neighbors safe.

"Maybe 90% or more are all residents here. We have a few businesses on the street," she added. "To have to walk in the middle of the night sometimes with my child, there's a lot of homelessness in this area. There has been violence in certain areas here as well. I don't feel comfortable doing that."

The city said it has communicated with the neighborhood board about the installation of parking meters, which helps authorities enforce overstays in on street parking, making spaces more available for those in the neighborhood.

Produced in partnership with the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.

Reporter

Kristen joined KITV4 in March 2021 after working for the past two decades as a newspaper reporter. Kristen's goal is to produce meaningful journalism that educates, enlightens and inspires to affect positive change in society.