Proposed Amendments to the City & County of Honolulu’s Parking & Loading Regulations
Katia Balassiano, AICP
In 2018, APA-HI Chapter members were invited to participate in a working
group to generate recommendations to improve the City and County of Honolulu’s
Land Use Ordinance (zoning code). In addition, a comment matrix was
posted online for members to directly submit comments and
recommendations. The final recommendations were forwarded to the City and
incorporated into the Land Use Ordinance (LUO) Update Phase 1 report that will serve as the basis for future amendments.
The City has moved beyond outreach to drafting code updates. Amendments to “Article 6 Off-street Parking and Loading” of the LUO were submitted to the City Council in January 2020. The amendments reflect not only the research done by parking guru Donald Shoup, but regulations put into practice by cities with progressive, APA-recognized zoning codes.
Honolulu. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
The current regulations were largely adopted over 30 years ago, and since then the community’s vision has changed substantially to reflect a better understanding of traffic generation, the environment, affordable housing, and the market for multi-modal development. The proposed amendments align with the vision manifested by the Oahu General Plan, Development Plans, and Sustainable Communities Plans, and implement key legislation to realize the policies and goals of the City and County of Honolulu.
Please see the link below to the Staff Report, Draft Bill, and Technical Memorandums. The Report briefly explains and analyzes the changes being proposed. The Draft Bill is the technical document that changes the language of the LUO. Additional background information, including summaries of the public outreach efforts, can be found in the Technical Memos, which were drafted with the help of the Environmental Protection Agency and Smart Growth America.