Big Beach visitors now have a direct explanation from the state about toll booths, pay stations, and access at Makena State Park. They also have the 2023 public record showing DLNR discussing a reservation system and fencing at the park, a history that still lingers over today’s debate.
When BOH first reported that Makena’s permit filing included toll booths and pay stations that never appeared in the state’s public announcement, one of the biggest questions was simple: what exactly are they for?
Now there is an answer, at least from the state’s perspective. In interviews with Hawaii News Now and Civil Beat, Division of State Parks Administrator Alan Carpenter said the toll booths are not tied to any planned reservation system, new access restrictions, or Haena (Kauai) style visitor controls. Instead, he described them as infrastructure supporting functions already taking place at the park.
That answers some of the questions raised by the original filing. It does not, however, erase another part of the public record. Three years ago, DLNR Chair Dawn Chang told state lawmakers the department was considering a reservation system at Makena and planning a fence designed to help regulate access and discourage street parking. Both statements exist, both came from DLNR, and visitors following the future of Big Beach now have to weigh them together.
The state has now publicly responded.
Carpenter’s most direct comments came in a June 7 interview with Hawaii News Now. Addressing concerns raised after the permit language became public, he said, “The most important thing is that, you know, there are no planned changes to existing access or management.” He also pushed back against claims that the toll booths signaled a future reservation system or broader visitor restrictions.
According to Carpenter, the toll booths are intended to support staff already collecting fees at Makena. Describing the structures themselves, he said they exist “simply so that the on-site staff can have a place to be, house while they’re on site continuing the job they’ve always been doing.”
The administrator also addressed concerns about parking expansion. “We’re simply taking gravel areas at the margin of the lots and creating a little more formality to the existing parking. So, no additional parking, just a little more paving on the margins.”
Carpenter’s broader message was consistent across interviews. The project, as he describes it, upgrades facilities visitors have long complained about while leaving access rules largely unchanged. As he told Hawaii News Now, “We’re not developers. We’re preservers of open space, nature, culture, all those things.”
Civil Beat reported a similar position in late May. Asked about comparisons to Haena State Park, Carpenter said, “I don’t think we were envisioning reservation systems when this plan was going through.”
What the DLNR Chair told lawmakers in 2023.
The reason some Maui residents remain skeptical is that another set of statements also exists in the public record. According to Civil Beat’s 2023 reporting, DLNR Chair Dawn Chang told state lawmakers that the department was considering implementing a reservation system at Makena State Park. The discussion took place as lawmakers examined crowding, parking, and visitor impacts at one of Maui’s most heavily used beach parks.
Chang also said the department planned to install a fence around the park to “restrict the people who access from outside the park boundary and to further ensure that capacity is regulated” by discouraging street parking. Those statements have become a focal point in the current debate because they differ markedly from Carpenter’s 2026 description of the project.
In 2023, reservation systems and access controls were part of the conversation at DLNR. In 2026, Carpenter says they are not part of the proposal currently moving through the approval process.
A leadership transition adds one more variable.
The 2023 testimony came from DLNR Chair Dawn Chang, who has been on medical leave since December 2025. Governor Josh Green announced this week that she will retire July 1.
Ryan Kanakaole, who has been serving as acting chair during the Makena debate, will become permanent chair on the same date. The Planning Commission hearing identified by opponents of the proposal is scheduled just days before the transition becomes official.
The leadership change does not answer questions about Makena, but it does provide useful context for visitors seeking to understand who led the department when the 2023 testimony occurred and who leads it today.
The $2.1 million project and the after-the-fact permits.
Another detail that emerged through Civil Beat reporting involves the nature of the permit application itself. The project has previously been estimated at roughly $2.1 million. Civil Beat also reported that part of the proposal involves securing permits for existing pay stations and toll booths in the park.
That aligns with language BOH highlighted in the April 10 permit filing, which described “two after-the-fact parking lot toll booths and three pay stations at the North and South entrance of Makena State Park.”
The phrase “after-the-fact” drew attention because it suggested the structures already existed and that permitting was occurring retroactively. Carpenter’s recent explanations fit that interpretation more closely than many readers initially assumed after seeing the filing language.
At the same time, the permit filing and the May 22 DLNR announcement still describe the same project in different ways. The press release focused on bathrooms, showers, accessibility improvements, and parking upgrades. The filing included toll booths and pay stations that never appeared in the public announcement. That gap remains part of the story even after the state has clarified its position.
Resident opinion is genuinely split.
Maui residents are not lining up on a single side. Some strongly support replacing the current facilities and improving conditions at Makena. Others point to Haena on Kauai as an example of a management system that reduced parking chaos and improved conditions for residents.
Others remain concerned about access-control infrastructure appearing in the project and about the historical record showing reservation systems and fencing were being discussed by DLNR only a few years ago. The Save Big Beach group continues to organize opposition and encourage testimony. At the same time, public discussion across news coverage, hearings, and community forums shows there is no single Maui consensus about what the future of Big Beach should look like.
The June hearing and what visitors should watch.
The Save Big Beach group lists June 23, 2026, as the Planning Commission hearing date for the proposal. We have not confirmed that date through Maui Planning Department records before publication.
The hearing arrives at an unusual moment. Visitors now have a state explanation for the toll booths and pay stations, a public record showing that broader access controls were discussed in 2023, and a DLNR leadership transition that arrived days later. For visitors planning future trips to Big Beach, the project looks less mysterious than it did a week ago, but also more complicated.
Readers who saw BOH’s original Big Beach article, does the state’s clarification change how you see the proposal? Visitors who have been to Makena recently, what does access look like today? And for readers familiar with the Haena reservation system on Kauai, does Carpenter’s assurance that no similar system is planned at Makena put your concerns to rest?
Photo Credit: © Beat of Hawaii at Big Beach, Maui (2025).
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I live on Kauai and people forget how bad things got at Haena before the reservation system. Cars everywhere, roads blocked, emergency access issues. I don’t know whether Makena needs the same treatment, but I understand why some residents support at least having that conversation.
We’ve visited Big Beach almost every Maui trip since the late 1990s. What I love about it is that it still feels wide open and different from places that require reservations, timed entry windows, apps, QR codes, and planning. I hope whatever happens can preserve that feeling.
I think DLNR helped itself by finally explaining what the toll booths are for. The mistake was not explaining that from the start. When people saw the toll booth idea, they’re left to fill in the blanks themselves.
As someone who supports the Haena system, I don’t understand why discussing reservations in 2023 automatically means reservations are coming now. Governments consider lots of things that never materialize. The bathrooms and showers are badly needed and I hope they don’t get lost in this controversy.
The biggest thing I learned from this is that there are really two separate issues. One is whether the current project changes access. The other is whether DLNR has considered changing access in the past. Those are not the same thing, although they’re related.
I appreciate the follow-up. Carpenter’s explanation makes more sense than some of the rumors that were flying around, but the 2023 testimony is still sitting there in black and white. That’s why people aren’t simply moving on from this story.