Residents would be able to pay for a permit to park directly in front of their driveways under a bill advanced by a City Council committee Tuesday.
Bill 21, introduced by Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi, would allow property owners of single-family dwellings to pay for a monthly permit to park on the street in front of their private driveways.
Kobayashi said she plans to propose an amendment, at the recommendation of the city Department of Transportation Services, that would limit the bill to some Oahu neighborhoods during a certain period of time as part of a pilot project.
The Council’s Parks, Community and Customer
Services Committee agreed to advance the measure for a second reading at Tuesday’s meeting. The bill passed first reading last month.
Kobayashi, who heads the committee, said she introduced the measure after hearing from residents living in older areas within the urban core, including Makiki and St. Louis Heights, who expressed concerns about limited parking. She said sometimes multiple generations of families live in a home, yet only one car can fit in the garage, which she said forces residents to park on the sidewalks, causing a safety hazard for pedestrians.
“It’s a start. We’re trying to find a solution to parking,” Kobayashi said. “Housing is so expensive now that Grandma lives there, parents and children, and they all have cars. That’s why it’s a growing problem.”
The city’s existing law prohibits parking in front of a public or private driveway or within 4 feet of either side of a driveway.
The bill would allow a property owner to park a vehicle in front of the driveway, provided that the property contains only a single-family dwelling, the owner lives there, the driveway serves only the owner’s property, and parking is permitted on the side of the street where the driveway is located.
Only one permit per driveway would be issued at a time. Under the proposal, the city would issue a placard, printed with the owner’s address, that would be displayed in the vehicle. The cost of the monthly fee is undetermined at this time.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Honolulu police Capt. Thomas Taflinger of the Traffic Division told Council members that the department opposes the bill, pointing out that cars parked in front of driveways would cause safety hazards and block access for emergency vehicles.
“In neighborhoods with narrow streets, sometimes open driveways provide the only means for vehicles to move over for oncoming vehicles to pass,” Taflinger said.
Councilman Brandon Elefante expressed similar concerns, saying that although parking demand is high, the bill does not provide a safe alternative for residents.
Wes Frysztacki, city Transportation Services director designate, recommended that the bill target specific areas on Oahu, similar to a measure that the Council approved last year for some sections of an Ewa Villages neighborhood. Residents there are allowed to park within 4 feet of their driveways under a pilot project that runs through December 2018.
HPD opposed the Ewa Villages bill when it was under Council review, citing safety concerns and warning that the measure could spur other congested neighborhoods to request similar exceptions. Council Chairman Ron Menor said he had introduced Bill 4 at the request of residents who said street parking was a growing problem.
Menor said Tuesday that since the bill was approved, he has not heard feedback from residents, but also no complaints. He said Kobayashi’s bill could provide a “balanced approached” to address parking concerns in some communities.
Julia Allen, who lives in
St. Louis Heights, said area residents resort to parking on their front lawns due to limited parking.
“We actually have homes where the original home had zero parking,” said Allen, a member of the Diamond Head/Kapahulu/St. Louis Heights Neighborhood Board. “It’s a very serious issue.”
