Aloha Surf Parking Protectors 🌺
We are a grassroots volunteer group made of individuals and organizations dedicated to preserving ocean access in Hawaii. Save Our Surf, Surfrider Foundation, O‘ahu Chapter and many groups and individuals are working with us and testifying before the legislature to save the free surf parking and improve parking management at the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor.
Legislature 2023: Win, Lose, and “Still Up In The Air.”
Overall, we did a great job of informing both the legislature and the public about our goal to the SAVE THE SURF AND RECREATIONAL PARKING at the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor.
Now that the 2023 Legislative Session is wrapping, let’s recap the issue and highlight the progress we did make during the 2023 Legislative Session.
THE ISSUE
We kicked off our mission to “save surf and recreational parking” in September 2022, when we discovered the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) had given approval to proceed with the Request for Proposal (RFP) to privatize the entire Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor, including its parking areas, through a 65-year lease as a “public-private partnership”.
The wording in the current RFP prioritizes the “Developer” rather than the needs of surfers, boaters and beachgoers. Note the tricky wording in red:
“The Developer shall follow the existing parking plan approved by the Board of Land and Natural Resources (Board) that provides for a minimum of three hundred (300) free public parking stalls, for a minimum of three hundred twelve (312) permit parking stalls for harbor tenants with valid mooring permits, and for a minimum of three hundred twenty-nine (329) paid parking stalls according to approved parking rates. The current parking plan is subject to change depending on the type and configuration of the new development project. See Exhibit A-2 for the existing parking plan. Any changes to this parking plan shall be approved by the Board.”
To review a copy of the Draft RFP, simply click here and scroll down to the ‘bad parts’ highlighted in yellow and red.
Our response to the Draft RFP written by DOBOR and preliminarily approved by the Board: was to ask legislators to clarify HRS 200-2.5 and HRS 200-2.6 laws, that let the Board to lease or sell harbors and ask the Legislature to intervene and secure a minimum amount of free recreational parking at the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor.
On Feb.8, 2023 Senator Lorriane Inouye, introduced SB 1034, to permanently preserve 300 free recreational public parking stalls (of the 941) at the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor.
The Surfparking coalition and other groups supporting SB1034 think the law HRS 2.6 should say (b) Any lease of fast lands and submerged lands of the Ala Wai boat harbor shall provide for the maintenance of at least three hundred public parking stalls at no cost for recreational ocean access and for the practice of traditional and customary Native Hawaiian rights."
The term ‘maintenance’ in this case means preserve, ‘hold out’ or save.
Therefore any published RFP, to privatize the harbor should say, in the Accommodation section:
The developer must propose a parking plan that maintains at least 300 parking stalls that are free and open to the public.
It makes sense to clearly state the parking requirement/accommodation NOW in the RFP process so that potential developers know the requirement up front, before harbor designs are drawn.
To see our the legislative summary with testimonies and video of the hearings.
Click on the blue legislative summary button below.
THE CURRENT GOAL
For the remainder of the year our goal is too discuss recreational parking area in a public meeting with the Chair of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Dawn Chang. Following that, we hope to to meet with the Land Board Members (Board of Land and Natural Resources members), in an informal discussion and then present formal Testimony.
Press for Surfparking.org
-
![]()
Fight over Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor’s free parking stalls heats up: Star Advertiser
-
![]()
Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor users concerned of possible change in the area: KHON2
-
![]()
Protestors gather to fight for free parking at Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor: KITV4
-
![]()
Pacific Pulse on Hawaii News Now: Save Surf Parking
-
![]()
Bill strives to keep parking free at Ala Wai boat harbor: Star Advertiser
-
![]()
Oahu residents make one final push to protect free parking at Ala Wai Boat Harbor
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.
