Another lot in Kona will be charging for parking starting October 1, making free parking in Kailua Village scarce.
With limited exceptions such as the County of Hawaii’s Parking Lot on Kuakini Highway and the smaller lot behind TK Noodle, most of the Village now operates with paid parking.
Property Manager Greg Ogin through a media release said this has led to an influx of non-customers occupying the parking spaces at Coconut Grove Marketplace, resulting in both congestion and a lack of available parking for the shopping center’s tenants and customers.
He said Coconut Grove conducted research, including anecdotal observations, which consistently show that the Coconut Grove parking lot is often at full capacity, while the shopping center itself remains underutilized. Visitors heading to other destinations on Alii Drive, local residents dining across the street, and employees from other businesses have been using Coconut Grove as a free public parking lot.
To address this issue, Coconut Grove management made the decision to implement a paid parking system. Coconut Grove Marketplace is partnering with PARKLINQ, a locally owned Oahu company. Their website states they are “dedicated to enhancing customer experiences while promoting sustainability and environmental stewardship. Our innovative approach enables drivers to effortlessly locate, reserve, and pay for parking through their mobile phones, making Hawaii a more convenient and enjoyable place to live.”
Kamaaina will receive 90 minutes of free parking per day. If shopping or dining at the center exceeds 90 minutes, you can request an additional 90 minutes of parking validation.
Coconut Grove Marketplace will allocate a specific number of parking stalls within the shopping center where no charges will apply to employees.
The parking program promises enhanced security at the lot. Homeless individuals continue to be an issue on both private properties like Coconut Grove Marketplace and public areas including sidewalks and beach parks. The Parking Program will add advanced surveillance cameras to Coconut Grove ensuring heightened safety awareness especially during the darker evening hours in the large parking lot.
But not everyone is happy about the transition to paid parking. A Change.org petition has garnered over 1,300 signatures in an attempt to stop the paid parking and social media posts express frustration.
Jack’s Diving Locker has been a tenant in Coconut Grove since it was built in 1989. Owner Teri Leicher, while not thrilled with the switch to paid parking has a positive outlook on the transition.
“We as a company at Jack’s Diving locker are not happy about paid parking. That being said, we have the option to validate our customer’s parking and we will be doing that,” said Leicher. “We will pay the validation fee for our customers at our own expense.”
She said she was unsure other businesses would be offering validation as well.
She said looking at one of the good reason the center decided to go to paid parking is because of the dwindling supply of free parking in town, many people who are not customers of the retail establishments at Coconut Grove have been parking there, leaving the lot crowded and unavailable to their patrons and employees.
“Another reason they decided to implement the paid parking is to offer better security. Besides security cameras all over, there will be attendants at the lot explaining how the system works and being an extra set of eyes,” she said. “The best thing to do is to get the information directly from Parklinq.”
This is not the first time Coconut Grove has had paid parking.
“A few years after it first opened they did go to paid parking because there had been a lot of incidents happening in the parking lot. That lasted maybe a year. It was not well received by anyone and it went away,” Leicher recalled.