Blog

May 05, 2023

Part II: Free parking may end soon in Wailuku and some South Maui beaches

This map shows the proposed Paid Parking Zone for Ulua/Mokapu Beach Park. Other

This map shows the proposed Paid Parking Zone for Ulua/Mokapu Beach Park. Other trial South Maui beach sites are also proposed at the Kamaole beaches.

WAILUKU is going first in the Park Maui program with an anticipated starting date of Sept. 1. See the draft map and what few specifics are available at https://www.parkmaui.com/phases/wailuku-town.

Wailuku is proposed as the guinea pig for this program. It is expected that some version of this plan will come before the County Council during June and July. Supporters expect adoption by Sept. 1, in time for the opening of the new county-owned Wailuku parking garage. The multi-story facility contains 393 stalls.

Parking Consultant Julie Dixon estimated the on-street spaces at about 350. No estimate was provided for various Wailuku lots.

Despite what the Department of Management describes as "extensive outreach and engagement," the Lahaina News was unable to find many people who knew about the Park Maui plans for Wailuku. The few who did were not in favor of it.

One reason for this lack of familiarity may be that informational meetings in Wailuku have been brief and during daytime hours. One recent event was held from 8 to 11 a.m. at a local coffee shop. Another was at the County Building from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Both were thinly attended and focused on demonstrating the operation of the parking kiosks and explaining how the new phone app will work.

Information from the Park Maui Wailuku website

The website notes: "Wailuku Town was previously evaluated as part of the 2018 Parking Action Plan. It was determined that this location faces parking management challenges that could be alleviated by the Park Maui program. (It) will require non-residents to pay for parking in all small towns. The program will offer employee parking passes and two-hours of free residential off-street parking."

Details in the draft of the plan state that those who park on-street will be required to move once the posted time limit has elapsed and will not be eligible to re-park in the same block for a minimum of three hours.

Like the information cited in the Lahaina section that ran last week, all of these specifics are proposed and subject to council review and approval.

RESIDENTS: The website says the Wailuku Park Maui program expects to offer residents two hours free in the Wailuku garage. A fee is proposed for all on-street parking in Wailuku Town. Monthly employee passes will be available for purchase, and discounted passes will also be available. No dollar amounts on rates or permit fees are stated. To be eligible for resident rates, a Hawaii State Driver's License must be verified using the mobile application or at the pay station.

PART-TIME AND NON-RESIDENTS will pay fees or buy passes similar to those described in the Lahaina article last week.

More about the Municipal Wailuku Garage from the Park Maui website

"The Wailuku garage is the County's first multi-level parking facility. The upper levels of the garage will be allocated for permit parking to ensure that the convenient lower levels are prioritized for customers. The County will offer affordable employee parking permits to employees of businesses and government offices located within Wailuku.

"The rate in the garage will be lower than the surrounding on-street locations so it will be a desirable location to park throughout the day. It is important to encourage long-term parking off-street and prioritize the most convenient on-street parking for quicker visits like banking or picking up a coffee. By directing drivers who plan to stay in town for more than an hour or two, to the garage, this will minimize congestion from drivers searching for parking on-street."

The garage will offer:

· A total of 393 parking stalls;

· (Of the 393 stalls), 226 parking stalls will be designated for permit holders;

· 167 parking stalls subject to hourly paid parking rates (with two hours free for Maui residents proposed);

· Ten ADA parking stalls;

· Electric vehicle chargers on floors two and four;

· Community event space on the ground floor.

Sign up and offer feedback

The Wailuku section website has links to sign up to be registered as a resident or non-resident, and also a link to leave feedback.

Reaction from Wailuku

A long positive statement from Council Chair Alice Lee, who represents Wailuku, ran last week. Erin Wade and staff from the county Department of Management are also enthusiastic. Otherwise, there were few voices raised in support of the Wailuku plan.

The reaction from Wailuku itself fell into two categories. It was either: "I don't know anything about it; tell me more," or strongly negative.

Those who knew and actually live and work in Wailuku did not like the plan, especially the part to charge residents to park on the street.

Uniformly, they questioned why Wailuku — with little visitor traffic, a brand new garage and as yet few other attractions to draw traffic — would want local residents to bear the brunt of the costs of this experiment?

"Cart Before the Horse"

Luana Whitford-Mitchell, executive director of Maui OnStage at the Iao Theater, attended the May 15 morning drop-in held from 8 to 11 a.m. at the Coffee Attic. She was accompanied by Bob Wills, a Wailuku resident who is a member of the OnStage board.

Neither one of them were happy campers. Whitford-Mitchell told Erin Wade, project manager representing the Department of Management, that the theater is far more concerned with public safety and adequate police protection than parking. To consider parking first, she said, "is putting the cart before the horse." She gave examples of recent run-ins with people exhibiting violent and erratic behavior. "We don't feel safe," she said.

She pointed out that the public bathroom across the courtyard from the theater is the only ADA-compliant bathroom in the area. She recounted a recent incident of an addict shooting up in the bathroom, who left it "all spattered with blood."

During the holiday season, when the theater was presenting a performance of "The Nutcracker," she received reports of a man with a gun outside the theater. With an audience full of kids, she called the police.

The person who answered the phone asked her to describe the man. She didn't know because she was inside. MPD was reluctant to send an officer.

Both Whitford-Mitchell and Wills are not optimistic that the county will address the serious crime, addiction and mental health situation in Wailuku anytime soon. As for paid parking, "It looks like it's baked in," she said.

Store Owner: Information not reliable

Jackie Sabado-Eitel, owner of Paradise Now, a store on Market Street, is also opposed to the Wailuku plan. A Mauian by birth, she said the information she received from the county keeps changing and is not reliable. She also said the events that the county has hosted so far have been at times that were inconvenient for business people and residents.

Sabado-Eitel characterized the county "outreach" as more a marketing venture than actual information and wondered out loud why Wailuku, with a brand new parking garage, was selected to go first, since "it is not a visitor destination" and the impact of the charges will fall most heavily on local residents and merchants.

"The people who come to Wailuku are mainly local people. I know my shoppers are. Erin (Wade) told me I could buy parking vouchers and give them to my patrons. Most of the businesses in Wailuku are barely making the rent. I can't think of more than one or two who could afford vouchers."

She thought this might be a good idea for Lahaina — a high-volume tourist destination attracting thousands of visitors — but it "just doesn't make sense" for Wailuku and "will hurt our local people. People here in Wailuku need to be aware and speak up."

Spot checking the residential areas in the Wailuku plan, the Lahaina News was unable to find a single person with a home inside the proposed paid parking zone who knew such a zone existed or that they might soon need to pay to park on their own street in front of their own home.

Proposed boundaries of the Wailuku Paid Parking District (See website for map)

The boundaries of the district on the draft map dated April 2023 run along West Vineyard and Main Street to an unidentified cutoff at about Moani Place. This is a largely residential area. Then below High Street, the boundary continues down to North and South Market Streets.

On the Vineyard Street side of the district, the boundary runs from West Vineyard for an unspecified distance above High Street and continues down West Vineyard and East Vineyard Street, until it intersects with Central Avenue. Then it runs along Central Avenue to the other side of Main Street, where it jogs to wrap around the Wailuku Fire Station and the Maui Realty Suites. Next, it flares out to Wells Street as far as South Market and then flares out again to Kaohu Street.

This boundary near Kaohu Street encompasses an area that is heavily residential and filled with small homes and narrow streets. No mention is made of whether those who live in these residential areas will have to pay to park on the streets near their homes.

The Kaohu Street boundary continues up to High Street, where it includes all the area near the County Building. Across from the County Building, the proposed on-street parking also includes Aupuni Street for a considerable distance.

PAID ON-STREET PARKING: All of the major streets in central Wailuku Town are included in the proposed on-street parking, including most of West and East Vineyard, North and South Market, Wells Street, and most of North and South Church Streets. Portions of High Street and Main Street are also identified as included, "contingent on state DOT collaboration," as High and Main are state roads.

OFF-STREET PARKING: Areas identified as prospective off-street parking where the resident discount may apply are public stalls at the County Building, the new Wailuku parking garage, the Iao Theater lot, the lot adjacent to the Wailuku Pool and Gym and designated areas near the Wailuku tennis courts and areas along Wells Street. Some of these areas are also identified as being used for employee permit parking. It is not clear from the map just how the resident spaces and the employee permit spaces will be allocated.

EMPLOYEE PARKING: The areas identified as parking allowed with employee permits include 226 non-reserved stalls in the parking garage and an unspecified number of spaces in the Iao Theater parking lot and lots near Wells Street Park.

The South Maui Beaches

The Park Maui website explains: "In the initial Pilot phase 1, the County and community stakeholders will address parking needs and solutions at beach parks, specifically, Ulua/Mokapu Beach and Kamaole III. These two locations were selected to test the system due to the ease of installation of parking equipment at these parks."

The county expects to evaluate the results of the pilot locations and make refinements to the program to ensure it is made as easy and user-friendly as possible while accomplishing the goal of improving access.

These lessons are expected to be applied throughout South and West Maui beach park locations as timing, funding and permitting allows.

The South Maui beach segment of ParkMaui may have real benefits for local residents and give them preferential access to several local beaches, as well as times that these locations would be off-limits to non-residents.

Check out what is proposed for Kamaole I, II and III at https://www.parkmaui.com/phases/kamaole-beach-parks.

And view the plans for Ulua-Mokapu beach park near Wailea at https://www.parkmaui.com/phases/ulua-mokapu-beach-park.

Reaction

The Maui Chamber of Commerce sent an e-mail emphasizing the benefits of the beach parking plan.

A portion of the chamber's e-mail said, "We support parking being free for residents and have seen data that shows visitors are willing to pay for parking."