Some History

1959

The 1959 document proclaiming the transfer of the the Ala Wai Boa harbor to the Board of Harbor Commissioners for non-commercial recreational purposes only. The only exception was Hawaii Yacht Club (with sailing connection with David Kalakaua in the late 1880’s). Read then Governor King’s letter here. It clearly states, ‘transferring this land to the Board of Harbor Commissioners for use as a boat harbor with the understanding that no commercial leases or other extraneous activities will be authorized by the board, with the exception of Hawaii Yacht Club’.

2002

There was a lot going on in 2001/2002. This letter from George Downing describing the problems with the harbor, the funding and facility failures with the State harbors managed by the Department of Land and Natural Resources and its Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation. (currently there is an issue of the pages out of order but you’ll can get the idea). Also is 2002, Surfrider Foundation, Oahu Chapter in conjunction with several other community groups write a powerful letter as a ‘The Shoreline Access Coalition of Hawaii’ to then Governor Linda Lingle, explaining the situation.

2007/2008: Community Activism saved 300 of the 549 parking stalls

Since 2007, Ed Underwood, Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation chief administrator has tried to charge the recreational users of the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor for parking.

In Ed Underwood's 2007 letter to the legislature he requests the conversion of all the free recreational parking to paid parking (see the highlighted area in the remarks section).

In 2007, the State of Hawaii required mandatory public hearings on the subject of the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor parking. Since the harbor is a State recreational area, the meetings were open to the public and held at a local elementary school. During the public hearings, community members expressed their intense opposition to any reduction of the free recreational parking, which, at the time, was 549 stalls. The intense public outcry lead to the State of Hawaii hiring a third party Mediation company. George Downing of SAVE OUR SURF and 30 others testified against any change to the ‘parking plan’ or the fee schedule. In George Downing’s 2007 written testimony he gives a detailed look at situation including parking policy, harbor revenue and the importance proper assessment of the harbor use and Environmental Impact.

The funds gained from the converting some of the 549 originally free parking stalls to paid stalls was to offset the costs of the free (300 stalls) for lighting, signage, surfer shower water. The negotiations went on into January 2008. George Downing, of the SAVE OUR SURF community group ‘represented the public in a small meeting’ and he was able to establish a formal ‘parking plan’ that included the maintenance (preservation) of not less than 300 free parking stalls.

The grassroots community organization Common Ground was involved in recruiting the public for testimony and the negotiation. in which two surfers and two State employees negotiated, and a ‘Parking Plan’ was adopted that preserves ‘no less than three hundred parking stalls’ for recreational use and beach access which was approved by the Land Board in 2008.

The revenue from the 249 parking stalls that converted from free to paid makes about $50,000. (50K) a month. That's about half of the total parking revenue; the total Ala Wai Boat Harbor parking revenue is 100K per month. Some parking revenue is from the boaters who pay for monthly parking permits and some stalls were always paid stalls (near the Iliaki) . One could say the 50K a month earned from the 249 parking stalls (‘lost’ as free parking in 2008) certainly pays for the surfer shower water (about 5 K month) and parking lot lighting.

2023

This is the current working parking map of the harbor which is the graphic used in the RPF by DLNR/DOBOR.

How many parking stalls are there in at the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor? The 2022 UHCDC vision document, states there are 1025 parking stalls at the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor, more than the number we generally work with as a total (941) in the published ‘parking plan’. The 1025 parking stall number probably includes the DOBOR staff parking and the handicapped parking, which is the likely the source of the 80 additional stalls. Surfparking.org has requested a proper land survey (K2 survey) of the parking lot. DOBOR states there are 941 parking stalls in their current Request for Proposals (RFP), and a RFP should be accurate. All community and government organizations need to know the accurate number of parking stalls in the harbor as a starting point for planning, maintenance, informational maps and projected fees/revenue.