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Home My WebLink AboutPD Background Report (PL-CCI-2026-000017)1 BBill154 – 5.1.2026 COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I PLANNING DEPARTMENT BACKGROUND REPORT COUNTY COUNCIL INITIATED BILL NO. 154 AMENDMENT TO CHAPTER 25 OF THE HAWAI‘I COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO COMMERCIAL PARKING LOTS AND GARAGES (PL-CCI-2026-000017) The County Council has referred Bill 154, an ordinance amending Chapter 25 (Zoning), Articles 1, 5, and 7 of the Hawaiʻi County Code 1983 (2016 Edition, as amended), relating to commercial parking lots and garages by revising the definition of commercial parking lots and garages, removing such uses from permitted uses within the zoning code, and establishing nonconforming use provisions for existing commercial parking lots and garages. PURPOSE OF BILL NO. 154 Bill 154 proposes to amend Chapter 25 (Zoning) of the Hawaiʻi County Code 1983 (2016 Edition, as amended) by revising the definition of "commercial parking lot and garage," removing commercial parking lots and garages as a permitted use within the County's zoning districts, and establishing nonconforming use provisions for existing lawful commercial parking lots and garages (Planning Department Exhibit 1). The bill would define a commercial parking lot and garage as “any privately owned building or parking area designed or used for temporary paid parking of automotive vehicles”. Currently, the zoning code defines commerical parking lots and garages as “any building or parking area designed or used for temporary parking of automotive vehicles, which is not accessory to another use on the same building site and within which no vehicles are repaired”. Existing lawful commercial parking lots and garages would be permitted to continue as legal nonconforming uses pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 25. The Bill's findings and purpose section states that privately operated commercial parking lots and garages may contribute to increased vehicle circulation, traffic congestion, and land use patterns that are inconsistent with County planning objectives. The findings further distinguish publicly owned paid parking facilities, which serve 2 governmental and public transportation purposes, from privately operated commercial parking facilities. Accordingly, Bill 154 seeks to prohibit the establishment of new privately operated commercial parking lots and garages while allowing existing lawful facilities to continue pursuant to the County's nonconforming use regulations. PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO HCC CHAPTER 25 Bill 154 proposes the following amendments to Chapter 25 of the Hawaiʻi County Code: 1. Section 25-1-5 is amended by revising the definition of "commercial parking lot and garage" as follows: ""Commercial parking lot and garage” means any privately-owned building or parking area designed or used for temporary paid parking of automotive vehicles [, which is not accessory to another use on the same building site and within which no vehicles are repaired].” 2. Removes "commercial parking lots and garages" as a permitted use from the following zoning districts: o CG (General Commercial) o CV (Village Commercial) o MCX (Industrial-Commercial Mixed) o ML (Limited Industrial) o MG (General Industrial) With this amendment, “commerical parking lots and garages” would only be permitted in the Resort-Hotel (V) zoning district. 3. Establishes that any privately owned commercial parking lot or garage lawfully existing prior to the effective date of the ordinance may continue as a lawful nonconforming use pursuant to Chapter 25. AGENCY COMMENTS 4. Kailua Village Business Improvement District (P.D. Exhibit 2 - Email to Planning Department dated May 28, 2026) AGENCIES – NO COMMENT OR CONCERN 5. County Department of Water Supply; Department of Parks and Recreation; Police Department; Waimea Community Association; State Department of Health. 3 AGENCIES – NO RESPONSE 6. DPW-Engineering; DPW-Traffic; Department of Environmental Management; Civil Defense; Fire Department; County Department of Research and Development; Downtown Hilo Improvement Association; State Land Use Commission; State Department of Agriculture. PUBLIC COMMENTS 7. As of the time of this writing, the Planning Department has received no public comments regarding this request. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz County Council District JV Policy Committee on Planning Land Use and Economic Development -Chair (808)961-8265ashley.kierkiewicz@hawaiicounty.gov Policy Committee on Infrastructure and Assets -Vice Chair COH PLANNING DEPT MAY 8 2026 AM8:02 HAWAl'I COUNTY COUNCIL TO: Hawai'i County Building 25 Aupuni Street • Hilo, Hawai'i 96720 Jeff Darrow, Director Planning Department REC'D HANO DELIVERED FROM: � thley L. Kierkiewicz, Council Member DATE: SUBJECT: May 7, 2026 Referral of Bill 154; an Ordinance amending Chapter 25, Articles 1, 5, and 7, of the Hawai'i County Code 1983 (2016 Edition, As Amended), relating to commercial parking lots and garages. Pursuant to Section 25-2-43(b) of the Hawai'i County Code, I am submitting Bill 154, enclosedfor your comment and recommendation. I also request that you forward the same to the Windward and Leeward Planning Commissions for their comment and recommendation. Bill 154 was referred for comment and recommendation to the Planning Director and the Windward and Leeward Planning Commissions by the Hawai'i County Council's Committee on Planning on May 4, 2026. After your and the Commissions review, please forward your comments and recommendations to Council Chairperson Dr. Holeka Goro Inaba. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Enc. AK/kj Hawai 'i County Is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer 1 Camero, Tracie-Lee From:Dacayanan, Melissa Sent:Thursday, May 28, 2026 11:58 AM To:Ross Wilson Cc:Camero, Tracie-Lee Subject:RE: Request for Comments | County Council Initiated | PL-CCI-2026-000017 | Bill No. 154 Relating to Commercial Parking Lots and Garages Good afternoon Ross Wilson, Thank you very much for your comments. I’ve included Planner Tracie-Lee Camero on this email so she may incorporate your comments into this plan case. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact Tracie-Lee Camero at (808) 961-8166. Thank you. Melissa Dacayanan-Salvador From: Ross Wilson <ross@current-events.com> Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2026 9:53 AM To: Dacayanan, Melissa <Melissa.Dacayanan@hawaiicounty.gov> Subject: Request for Comments | County Council Initiated | PL-CCI-2026-000017 | Bill No. 154 Relating to Commercial Parking Lots and Garages Aloha Melissa, Mahalo for the opportunity to participate in the comments on Bill 154. As an introduction, I’m the Executive Director for the Kailua Village Business Improvement District. I’ve asked my Board of Directors for their comments on Bill 154. This response is from one of my board members: I’m opposed to it for the following reasons: 2 1. It creates a protected class of property owners (existing paid parking lots which will be allowed to stay as non- conforming uses) while restricting future competition from other paid parking lots. Any time you restrict supply but demand stays the same or increases, prices go up because the existing paid lots would then have greater control over limited parking resources.This would hurt the County’s effort to lower paid parking prices in Kona. 2. Restricting the possibility of additional parking lots in the future hurts businesses who need more parking around them, not less. If the County provides more parking that would be great, but they don’t intend on doing that - they only plan to restrict the creation of new privately owned lots thereby forever limiting the creation of additional parking where it’s needed 3. Private parking operators do not create demand, as the Bill asserts in Section 1. Private parking came into existence because of the demand for parking that the County has not met. Restricting private-sector solutions addresses a symptom rather than the underlying challenge. 4. Prohibiting commercial parking does not automatically create housing, agriculture, or redevelopment as Section 1 infers. Removing economically viable interim uses may create vacant or underutilized property rather than redevelopment. 5. Parking availability is not merely a convenience issue—it is an economic vitality issue. Private parking infrastructure supports commerce in the absence of County supplied parking. 6. Smaller property owners may not be able to afford vertical, major construction projects in order to monetize their commercial property. Bill 154 would disproportionately impact these small owners from economically viable land use. As I receive other comments, I will forward them as well. Mahalo, Ross Wilson Jr. Kailua Village Business Improvement District 808-326-7820 3 ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Dacayanan, Melissa <Melissa.Dacayanan@hawaiicounty.gov> Date: Tue, May 26, 2026 at 6:41 AM Subject: Request for Comments | County Council Initiated | PL-CCI-2026-000017 | Bill No. 154 Relating to Commercial Parking Lots and Garages To: DPW Eng <dpweng@hawaiicounty.gov>, DPW Traffic <dpwtrf@hawaiicounty.gov>, HCPDOne <hcpdone@hawaiipolice.gov>, State Office of Planning <dbedt.stateplanning@hawaii.gov>, Waimea Community Association <waimeacommunityassociation@gmail.com>, Downtown Hilo Improvement Association <admin@downtownhilo.org>, Kailua Village Business Improvement District <kailuavillage@gmail.com>, Building Division Internet Email <cohbuild@hawaiicounty.gov>, Spielman, Aaron <Aaron.Spielman@hawaiicounty.gov>, Baybayan, Clinton <Clinton.Baybayan@hawaiicounty.gov>, Henderson, Royd <Royd.Henderson@hawaiicounty.gov>, Kawasaki, Edward <Edward.Kawasaki@hawaiicounty.gov>, Kato, Norren <Norren.Kato@hawaiicounty.gov>, Santiago, Hans <Hans.Santiago@hawaiicounty.gov>, Morrison, Bethany J <Bethany.J.Morrison@hawaiicounty.gov>, Palma, Maryam <Maryam.Palma@hawaiicounty.gov>, Buehler, Tion <Tion.Buehler@hawaiicounty.gov>, Rathje, Joel T. <Joel.Rathje@hawaiicounty.gov>, Uribe, Amelia <Amelia.Uribe@hawaiicounty.gov> Cc: Camero, Tracie-Lee <Tracie-Lee.Camero@hawaiicounty.gov> Good morning, Please see the attached memo requesting your review and comments on the subject matter. We kindly ask that you submit your comments to planning@hawaiicounty.gov no later than June 16, 2026. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Planner Tracie-Lee Camero (cc’d herein) at (808) 961-8166. Thank you. Melissa Dacayanan-Salvador Windward Planning Commission | County of Hawaiʻi | Planning Department 101 Pauahi Street, Suite 3 | Hilo, Hawaiʻi 96720 Tel: (808) 961-8156 | melissa.dacayanan@hawaiicounty.gov <2026-05-26 Memo to Agencies for Comments PL-CCI-2026-017[1].pdf>