Gov. Josh Green signed a bill into law Thursday at Ha‘ena State Park on Kauai that would exempt nonprofit parking lot and concession operators from bidding requirements for certain state parks.
The law amends Section 102-2 of Hawaii Revised Statutes, which regulates concessions on public property. The legislation, House Bill 1183, is specifically aimed at locations identified in each county’s destination management action plan as “hot spots.”
According to the measure, those hot spots attract large number of visitors which “may result in overcrowding, congestion, degradation of resources, safety hazards, and a negative experience for residents and visitors.”
The measure uses Ha‘ena, a popular state park on the Na Pali Coast on Kauai’s North Shore, as a statewide model for “community-led, government-sponsored management” which it says “has reversed decades of overcrowding, abuse of natural resources, and negative impacts to the surrounding residential community.”
“We are transitioning Ha‘ena into a destination management star, basically. This is what everybody has been asking us to do — and you’re doing it in real time,” Green said, addressing community leaders and partners who helped the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of State Parks to kick the park’s master plan into high gear after floods in 2018 that shut down much of Kauai’s North Shore for 18 months.
Utilizing a pause in tourism caused by the natural disaster and subsequent novel coronavirus pandemic, the state redesigned and rebuilt the parking lot, engaged with the community, and developed partnerships with nonprofits and others, such as Hui Maka‘ainana o Makana, which is now handling reservations and parking and a shuttle service to and from the park.
The exemption under this bill would apply only to certain operations supported by nonprofit corporations within state parks, that are designated by the Board of Land and Natural Resources as environmentally, culturally, historically or operationally unique. The exemption is modeled after the existing exemption in state law for certain county zoos, botanical gardens and county parks.
“We’ve been worried for a long time about the impact of too many travelers — overcrowding, damage to what we think is most precious, which is our land that we need for our keiki,” Green said. “This is our destination management example. This is really a translation of what we said we wanted to do, what people asked us to do. And here it is. It creates resources to help with visitor capacity, and it regulates our use of this space in a way that is sane.”
State Rep. Nadine Nakamura, a Kauai Democrat who represents the district that includes the park, called the measure “the foundation for longterm management partnerships between the DLNR Parks Division and community- and place-based nonprofits.”
“Right now, the state has to go through a competitive procurement process to issue a contract to a group that wants to operate a parking lot or run a concession,” Nakamura said. “HB 1183 exempts the state’s Parks Division from state bidding requirements. And this is so important, because now, DLNR can work directly with community groups, with stewards like Hui Maka‘ainana o Makana, who have deep connection to the park and these lands.”
State Sen. Lorraine Inouye, a Hilo Democrat who chairs the Senate Water and Land Committee, called the park’s transformation “a model for all of us, not only for the state of Hawaii, but I think throughout the world.”
“This is just wonderful to see community- and place-based projects and the DLNR … to come together and create a vision for … all of us in our parks system,” Inouye said. “We have parks on he Big Island, as well, and this is the model that can be used.
“But I’ll tell you, it takes a community to create this village. Let’s hope that carries through the rest of our parks system.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
