Email: communications@ulupono.com
COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF MAUI DISASTER, RESILIENCE, INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, AND PLANNING COMMITTEE
Wednesday, March 11, 2026 — 1:30 P.M.
Ulupono Initiative offers comments on Bill 47 (2026), Amending the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance on Off-Street Parking Requirements.
Dear Chair Paltin and Members of the Committee:
My name is Micah Munekata, and I am the Vice President of Government Affairs at Ulupono Initiative. We are a Hawai‘i-focused impact investment firm that strives to improve the quality of life throughout the islands by helping our communities become more resilient and self-sufficient through locally produced food, renewable energy and clean transportation choices, and better management of freshwater resources.
Ulupono offers comments on Bill 47 (2026), which uses the number of bedrooms rather than square footage to determine the minimum number of off-street parking spaces for dwelling units used for housing.
Ulupono generally supports policies that eliminate minimum parking mandates altogether, as they increase housing costs and reduce land available for homes and community uses. Our comments are offered in that context.
Land Use
By having parking mandates for development, we are prioritizing parking over many of our most critical issues — housing, food, and jobs. Land used for these parking mandates accumulates project by project across our communities, and Hawai‘i has plenty of parking. In Maui County alone, there are more than 725,000 parking spaces, about 9 square miles of parking — roughly the size of Kīhei.1 In some cases, the parking required for a studio unit can take up nearly as much space as the unit itself. In a state with finite land resources, we must ask whether the best use of that land is for parking — an important consideration.
1 https://ulupono.com/project-list/the-cost-of-the-vehicle-economy-in-hawai-i-2025/
Costs
The high cost of building parking makes housing more expensive for all residents — including those who rent, those who own, and even those without cars who still pay for parking they’ll never use. Ulupono’s “The Costs of Parking in Hawai‘i” report, published in 2020, documents the costs of building parking. In Maui, construction costs range from $3,600 per space in a surface lot to $59,900 per space in a free-standing parking garage. These construction and ongoing carrying costs are passed on to Hawai‘i residents, businesses, and visitors through higher rents and housing prices, regardless of their use. That’s between $226 and $511 per unit added to the cost of monthly rent, or an additional $100,000 per 2-bedroom house or condo purchase in Honolulu.2 It’s worth noting that these numbers are likely much higher now given the past few years of inflation.
In addition, eliminating costly parking mandates can increase the ability and space for homebuilding. Sightline Institute, a leader in understanding the expensive impact parking can have on our communities, summarized how communities can boost homebuilding by 40-70 percent by eliminating parking mandates. Their analysis draws on examples from studies in Colorado, individual developments in Beaverton, Oregon, and post-reforms in Buffalo, New York, as well as Seattle, Washington.
More than 110 jurisdictions have eliminated these parking mandates and help improve the land and resources available for housing, schools, parks, and community spaces.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Respectfully,
Micah Munekata
Vice President of Government Affairs
The teams meeting information is not available on the calendar. What is the meeting?
Testimonies received by DRIP Committee (4)
Email: communications@ulupono.com
COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF MAUI DISASTER, RESILIENCE, INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, AND PLANNING COMMITTEE
Wednesday, March 11, 2026 — 1:30 P.M.
Ulupono Initiative offers comments on Bill 47 (2026), Amending the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance on Off-Street Parking Requirements.
Dear Chair Paltin and Members of the Committee:
My name is Micah Munekata, and I am the Vice President of Government Affairs at Ulupono Initiative. We are a Hawai‘i-focused impact investment firm that strives to improve the quality of life throughout the islands by helping our communities become more resilient and self-sufficient through locally produced food, renewable energy and clean transportation choices, and better management of freshwater resources.
Ulupono offers comments on Bill 47 (2026), which uses the number of bedrooms rather than square footage to determine the minimum number of off-street parking spaces for dwelling units used for housing.
Ulupono generally supports policies that eliminate minimum parking mandates altogether, as they increase housing costs and reduce land available for homes and community uses. Our comments are offered in that context.
Land Use
By having parking mandates for development, we are prioritizing parking over many of our most critical issues — housing, food, and jobs. Land used for these parking mandates accumulates project by project across our communities, and Hawai‘i has plenty of parking. In Maui County alone, there are more than 725,000 parking spaces, about 9 square miles of parking — roughly the size of Kīhei.1 In some cases, the parking required for a studio unit can take up nearly as much space as the unit itself. In a state with finite land resources, we must ask whether the best use of that land is for parking — an important consideration.
1 https://ulupono.com/project-list/the-cost-of-the-vehicle-economy-in-hawai-i-2025/
Costs
The high cost of building parking makes housing more expensive for all residents — including those who rent, those who own, and even those without cars who still pay for parking they’ll never use. Ulupono’s “The Costs of Parking in Hawai‘i” report, published in 2020, documents the costs of building parking. In Maui, construction costs range from $3,600 per space in a surface lot to $59,900 per space in a free-standing parking garage. These construction and ongoing carrying costs are passed on to Hawai‘i residents, businesses, and visitors through higher rents and housing prices, regardless of their use. That’s between $226 and $511 per unit added to the cost of monthly rent, or an additional $100,000 per 2-bedroom house or condo purchase in Honolulu.2 It’s worth noting that these numbers are likely much higher now given the past few years of inflation.
In addition, eliminating costly parking mandates can increase the ability and space for homebuilding. Sightline Institute, a leader in understanding the expensive impact parking can have on our communities, summarized how communities can boost homebuilding by 40-70 percent by eliminating parking mandates. Their analysis draws on examples from studies in Colorado, individual developments in Beaverton, Oregon, and post-reforms in Buffalo, New York, as well as Seattle, Washington.
More than 110 jurisdictions have eliminated these parking mandates and help improve the land and resources available for housing, schools, parks, and community spaces.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Respectfully,
Micah Munekata
Vice President of Government Affairs