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When I lived in Honomu in the 90's, there was a statistic that over a million visitors a year went there.
I dont necessarily think my property taxes should pay for this but someone has too.
I think the annual park pass, or a week park pass for the county parks would be a good idea. Would I mind paying a $5 a car to park at Hapuna? Absolutely not to get out of rain for a day at the beach!
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Last I heard, Hapuna was also set to charge an admission fee, but again, not to Hawaii residents.
Typical visitors to Hawai'i don't care about $5. They will pay RT airfare from Oahu just to take a morning helo trip over the Volcano. They will use half a tank of gas in pursuit of a recommended malasada or what-not. They pay $100 apiece for a lu'au. $5 for a waterfall is negligible. If that means they can park their car at Akaka without worrying about a break-in, they'll be happy.
If they fix the restrooms at Hapuna so they don't make a person gag, well worth it.
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IMO ... Coming from a very tourist oriented area of California, I agree that visitors won't think twice about paying $5 to park and visit a wonderful area, especially if the restrooms are clean. I believe they will be more surprised if they are not charged. As a guest I would rather pay and not have to worry about the rent-a-car being broken into.
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Clean bathrooms are worth every penny invested in making them happen. Right behind is a safe parking area where nobody gets jumped or has their car broken into. Hawaii County shoots itself in the foot by not maintaining county parks at a reasonable level. The state as well, just to a lesser degree.
I was at a training recently with social studies teachers from all over Hawaii. We had to identify a public policy problem and come up with a solution (we were practicing a process we would use with our students). The problem we all chose was park maintenance, and everyone had horror stories about how their island's state and county parks were not being maintained, especially the parks used by local people more than tourists. Hawaii needs to make a genuine commitment to caring for its parks at every level, from local pocket parks to flagship state parks. If we need to charge our visitors a little to make that happen, I am OK with that.
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
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Some great points were made on this topic most notably the lack of care that is shown by many for some of Hawaii's most beautful places both the public and private ones. Sadly some of the worst offenders of degrading our public spaces are us folks that live here on the islands. I currently reside on Oahu, with property on the Big Island, and some of my favorite surfing spots are littered with garbage from people that live here.
Another good point was that the people that use it should pay for it and I am all for extending that to tourists. Having said that I would oppose raising taxes to pay for the upkeep of a private park if I didn't use it. Especially if their was still exemptions for people just because they live on a particular island.
In my perfect world we pay for the things we use or at least take good care of it. In some cases like this one that might have been all it really took.
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So I took the bull by the horns and dashed off a letter to the DLNR about the confusion at Akaka Falls re: fees. Here's the response I got from Curt Cottrell, the Assitant Administrator:
Hi Richard - thank for you email and comments. Unlike initiating parking fees for visitors and PUC transportation companies at the Pali Lookout on Oahu and Iao Valley on Maui - the entrance fee collection at Akaka was necessary - and more challenging - due to the small parking area in relation to actual visitation.
As you accurately describe - it is a bit more intricate scenario than a straightforward parking fee. When the Division of State Parks (DSP) initiated this concept - the goal was to not replicate how we have been charging entrance fees at Diamond Head - with a gate and an attendant shack and charging all users. This would create queuing up problems at other parks due to layout and traffic.
For this current endeavor across the State we made a commitment to only charge out-of-state visitors (who are more accustomed to paying a fee - and the commercial carriers). Technology has advanced with the sophistication of the parking payment machines that are real time internet and can process both cash and credit cards. The commercial carrier can either enter codes or use a smart card - they do not need to have cash.
The intent at Akaka Falls is to honor the parking entrance scenarios that waives a fee if you are a resident - even if you have a car load of visitors. The goal is to collect only from the commercial companies - who already know in advance about the fee, and the independent visitor. A visitor who comes in with a local resident, typically is a guest - and therefore should be free. DSP did not want to set up the uncomfortable situation where a local stands by while their guest pay. This scenario is consistent with how DSP collects in the 2 parking fee scenarios.
This is a bit confusing, and I will communicate to the vendor about this policy. It does make it challenging for the attendant - but that is their function - to provide polite guidance and insure that money, credit cards and codes are entered into the machine. No money should go to the attendant.
Regarding the placement of the machine and attendant - DSP will also be conferring with the vendor to assess how this is working and how to perhaps improve the process.
This operation is authorized under a month to month Revocable Permit - and once we see if this process is tenable at Akaka, DSP will put this back on the market for a longer term concession contract. In addition to the extra and new revenue, the visitor and commercial user data we are collecting is critical to assess what a reasonable monthly rate should be for a longer term contract. It is also money that we do not have - DSP is literally looking for coins under the couch due to our deplorable budget situation. As an example - the total allocation from the Legislature to DSP in General Funds in 1992 was @ 8 million dollars - for the entire Hawaii State Park System. DSP's current allocation is 4 million.... you get the picture...
Anyway, thank for your interest and taking the time to contact us and share your perceptions - deeply appreciated.
