The parking areas are outlined in red in this photo of Lahaina Small Boat Harbor.

LAHAINA – Under a new month-to-month revocable permit with Diamond Parking Services LLC, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources instituted a parking plan at Lahaina Small Boat Harbor that will assign the facility’s 35 parking stalls to harbor tenants by permit.

The new parking plan began Sept. 1. The contract with Diamond Parking as the managing onsite vendor is not to exceed one year and will terminate on Aug. 31, 2018.

According to DLNR, it’s hoped that this one-year arrangement will provide the department’s Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation (DOBOR) with insight on the success and potential of a long-term parking concession at the harbor.

The parking plan will allow the boating division to monitor the available stalls daily and ensure users comply with all posted signage and requirements for day and evening use.

The test period will also allow the department to study the revenue generating potential of these available spaces after hours.

“Historically, the available parking at Lahaina Harbor has been managed only on weekdays during regular business hours while the harbor office is staffed,” said Edward Underwood, DOBOR administrator. “In the evening, on weekends and holidays, there has been little enforcement, and boat owners with vessels in the harbor have had a difficult time finding parking there.”

“With round-the-clock attendance provided by Diamond, parking availability for permit-holders will be much more reliable, and in the evening, on weekends and holidays, the unused parking stalls will still generate revenue,” said Underwood.

The parking plan is very similar in nature to the parking plans instituted at Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor on Oahu and Maalaea Small Boat Harbor on Maui.

Ala Wai’s parking concession generates, on average, $62,500 in fees per month. Maalaea’s parking plan is generating approximately $3,100 in fees per month.

Approval to implement a revocable permit for a parking vendor at Lahaina was approved by the Board of Land and Natural Resources in its meeting on May 13, 2016.

Proceeds from all parking concessions are deposited into the Boating Special Fund that supports operation of DLNR’s system of recreational small boat harbors across the state.