Hawaii County bill would curb paid parking lots, garages in commercial zones

A Hawaii County bill that would bar new paid parking lots and garages across much of Hilo and commercial Waikoloa? No, not Waikoloa. Hilo and Kailua-Kona moved forward after a 6-3 committee vote, sharpening the fight over who pays to park and who profits from scarce stalls.

Bill 154 was referred to the planning director and the county’s two planning commissions after the Policy Committee on Planning, Land Use and Economic Development approved the measure last week. The proposal would prohibit new commercial parking lots and garages in general, village commercial, industrial-commercial mixed, limited industrial and general industrial zones, along with the Downtown Hilo Commercial District. The three no votes came from Hilo Councilman Dennis Onishi, Hilo Councilwoman Jenn Kagiwada and Ka‘u Councilwoman Michelle Galimba.

The bill was introduced by Kona Councilwoman Rebecca Villegas and Council Chair Holeka Inaba, and Villegas said it grew out of “lengthy discussions” over parking problems in Kailua Village and what she called “predatory pricing.” The push comes as paid parking in downtown Kona has become a pocketbook issue for drivers, workers and nearby merchants. In January 2025, residents and business owners told the council that some lots that had been free two years earlier were charging as much as $25 an hour. Maria Brosnan-Faltas, a member of the Fix Paid Parking Committee, said visitors and businesses were being squeezed by “predatory paid parking providers,” while Chris Freed said some local businesses had reported revenue declines of 20% to 40% over the previous two years.

The stakes are not abstract in Kailua Village. West Hawaii Today reported that more than 20 private lots in the area were charging between $9 and $21 an hour, with some surge pricing, while a county-run lot along Ali‘i Drive had roughly 90 stalls. A 2024 county resolution, also backed by Inaba, would add 14 free stalls by bringing a 1,794-square-foot remnant road reserve into county ownership, an attempt to ease the shortage of no-cost parking near the village core.

Bill 154 would not shut existing private paid lots, which would be grandfathered in, and the bill says owners would still have other permitted uses for their land. It also draws a line between public and private parking, arguing that publicly owned facilities serve public purposes and remain subject to public oversight. Opposition filings already included the Japanese Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Hawai‘i, and the fairness argument is likely to keep coming from landowners who say the county is targeting small operators while larger hospitality uses stay protected. For Hilo merchants and Kona shopkeepers alike, the question is whether parking should be treated as a service that helps commerce move, or as a revenue stream that can price customers out of the district.