Oahu Chapter

Action Alert! Protect Ala Wai Surf Parking

Written by Lauren Blickley | Dec 5, 2023 3:30:33 AM

Since 2008, the Surfrider Oʻahu Chapter has been partnered with Save Surf Parking to Save Ala Wai Surf Parking and protect the last remaining 300 FREE parking stalls in Waikīkī. Below you will find information on our December 2023 action alert and background information. 

Action Alert: Testimony Needed for 12/7/2023 BLNR Meeting

The good news: the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation (DOBOR) has decided to drop its recent push (November 2023) to eliminate the free recreational parking at the Ala Wai Boat Harbor. However, our work isn’t finished. Please submit testimony by Wednesday, December 6, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. DOBOR administrators are still not having active conversations with the public, nor are they proactively solving the issues of parking and towing.

Your testimony matters and contributes to the community’s commitment to maintain this harbor as a user-friendly open ocean access area. We want to prevent predatory towing at the harbor.

Here's how you can help:


  • Provide virtual testimony 
    • Send your request to blnr.testimony@hawaii.gov. Include your name and the agenda item (J-7) on which you would like to testify. Once your request has been received, you will receive an email with the Zoom link. Requests may be made during the meeting.

  • Show up and voice your concerns at the BLNR hearing on Thursday, December 7 at 9am. Wear red! 
    • Attend live at 1151 Punchbowl St. Room 132 (Kalanimoku Building), Honolulu. Please arrive at least fifteen (15) minutes prior to the meeting start time in order to add your name to the sign-in sheet.

 

DOBOR's History of Trying to Eliminate Free Beach Parking 

The local community has been opposing privatization of the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor (AWSBH) and a reduction of the free parking numerous times over the last two decades through grassroots movements. In 2008, the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR), as recommended by its Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation (DOBOR), reduced the number of free parking stalls (from 545 to 300). The below image shows a 2008 letter from Surfrider Foundation to DOBOR detailing our opposition to the issuance of revocable permits to private companies for parking management at AWSBH. In the letter, we argue that not only does privatization of the parking threaten public access, it also would illegally privatize a government function. 

After the 2008 community outcry and testimony, the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) held a state funded mediation process in which all parties agreed to the maintenance (saving) of the 300 free parking stalls. This was a well documented and established agreement. DOBOR immediately took ‘possession’ of the 249 parking stalls, yet they never delivered on their side of the negotiated agreement! DOBOR in the formal agreement in 2008 (15 years ago) were to: 

  1. Provide standard parking management. DOBOR agreed to monitor the 6-hour recreational time limit by providing parking attendants who issue citations, parking signage on poles, and ground striping. Provide clear signage and informational actions to prevent workers parking the 300 recreational stalls.
  2. Provide an ad hoc committee (Community and DOBOR Staff) to continue to refine parking signage and implement policies to improve and protect this beach access for the public.

DOBOR has still not fulfilled these promises.  

Another attempt was made in 2020 by DOBOR to reduce the free parking by another 125 stalls, which was unsuccessful due to public outcry. The most recent attempt to monetize public ocean access was in September of 2022 when the BLNR authorized the issuance of a Request for Proposals (RFP) to find a private developer of the AWSBH. This action by a state agency does not protect the free recreational parking that was negotiated by the public in 2008 because the parking plan was “subject to change” in the RFP.

In November 2023, DOBOR tried to replace the Ala Wai harbor free parking stalls with 125 free stalls along the Hilton Lagoon and increase the hourly paid parking fee from $1.00/hr to. $2.00/hr. They slipped this recommendation into a submittal to the BLNR without proper public vetting and discussions. Luckily, community group Save Surf Parking has kept a vigilant eye on DOBORʻs actions and caught their recommended submittal. This was removed from BLNRʻs agenda and thus consideration (for the time being).

Lack of free access would (1) add a financial barrier to the local community and restrict their access, (2) increase the financial risk of getting towed if the parking is converted to metered parking, (3) pose a public safety concern with people parking at Magic Island and paddling through the channel to access the surf breaks.