TESTIMONY SAMPLE

TESTIMONY OF [YOUR NAME]  IN STRONG SUPPORT OF 

SB1034 – RELATING TO PUBLIC PARKING AT ALA WAI BOAT HARBOR

Aloha Chairs, Vice Chairs, and Honorable Members of the Committees,

My name is [FILL IN YOUR NAME] and I am writing in strong support of SB1034 to guarantee at least 300 parking stalls free of charge for the public at the Ala Wai State Boat Harbor (AWSBH).  [FILL IN PERSONAL INFORMATION, Where do you live, Are you a paddler or surfer that uses the area? What does this place mean to you?]

The parking lot of the AWSBH provides ocean access for the canoe paddlers of the Anuenue Canoe Club and surfers for the surf spots Kaisers, Rockpiles, and Ala Moana Bowls. There are 941 parking stalls with 312 stalls for permit holders who rent boat slips. In 2008, the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation (DOBOR) requested that the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) reduce the remaining 549 free-of-charge stalls to 130 and implement paid parking for the rest. After huge public opposition and outcry, where the majority of the public wanted to keep all remaining stalls free, BLNR approved DOBOR’s parking plan with the compromise that at least 300 stalls remain free of charge (6h time limit and no parking allowed from 10:30 pm to 4:30 am). In January 2020, DOBOR attempted to reduce the number of free parking stalls again and convert 125 free stalls to paid parking in total disregard of the compromise reached with the community in 2008 and without any prior community outreach. 

Paid parking will cause surfers to park at Magic Island and paddle across an active boat channel to reach the highly popular and world-famous surf spot “Ala Moana Bowls.” This causes serious safety concerns for surfers and boaters alike, especially at dusk and dawn, besides the fact that the free-of-charge parking lot at Ala Moana Beach park is already overcrowded with the influx of new developments in Kaka‘ako.

Converting more or all of the free parking stalls at the AWSBH will detrimentally affect and exacerbate the financial hardship of local ‘ohana and practitioners of Native Hawaiian traditional and customary practices such as canoe paddling, fishing, and surfing, who are already suffering the most from the exorbitant cost of living in Hawai‘i. This is the last place in Waikīkī where local ‘ohana can access the ocean without having to pay for parking. 

In September of 2022, the BLNR approved DOBOR’s recommendation that delegated BLNR’s authority to the Chairperson to publish a Request for Proposal (RFP). This RFP is to find a lessee that would redevelop the AWSBH. This potential new developer is supposed to follow DOBOR’s parking plan that provides for 300 free public parking stalls, but it allows DOBOR to change the parking plan to fit the type and configuration of the new development if approved by the BLNR.

It is imperative to act now and protect the last free access to the ocean for our local ‘ohana and practitioners of Native Hawaiian traditional and customary practices in Waikīkī. Please support SB1034.

Mahalo for your time and consideration,

[YOUR NAME]