A months-old proposal to raise parking fees is back in the news today, with residents complaining that the hike would hit them hard in the wallet and would limit access to public parks.

There’s been no movement on the proposal since it was unanimously sent back to committee last June, but it’s back on the Honolulu Star-Advertiser front page this morning.

The story reports that Bill 30 could be on the agenda the next time the Budget Committee meets on Feb. 8. But Budget Chair Ann Kobayashi doesn’t sound too optimistic about the bill’s prospects.

“If we do put it on (the agenda), that doesn’t mean it’ll pass that day, because the issues are so complicated,” Koba­ya­shi said. “There’s so much controversy about it, but we are going to open up the discussion again. We want to do what’s fair for the greatest number of people.”

The story also has some interesting nuggets about a new city parking system to be installed soon “that has the ambitious goals of cutting down on parking tickets, moving cars out of spaces faster and helping Chinatown businesses — all without costing the city any additional money.”

Read the story here: City eyes parking meter fee hike (subscription required)

(Photo by Flickr user taberandrew)