Posted on: Wednesday, July 24, 2002

Sierra Club challenges development approval

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

The Sierra Club is appealing the state Land Use Commission's approval to allow a 3,600-home development near Mililani, claiming that the approval was granted without an environmental assessment on the project.

The lawsuit filed in Circuit Court yesterday said under state law the environmental assessment is required, and without it any approvals granted for this project are void.

The environmental assessment would have required an evaluation of the project's impact to determine if a more detailed environmental impact statement should be prepared, according to the suit.

The suit is against the state Land Use Commission, vice chairman of the commission Lawrence N.C. Ing, Castle & Cooke Homes Hawai'i, Inc., Pacific Health Community, Inc., the state Office of Planning, the city's Department of Planning and Permitting and the Mililani/Waipio/Melemanu Neighborhood Board.

On June 21, the state Land Use Commission approved the home development project after easing a proposed requirement that schools be built before any homebuyers can move in.

The commission voted 6-1 to reclassify 761 acres of agricultural land to urban use for Castle & Cooke's Koa Ridge Makai and Waiawa developments.

A total of 3,600 homes and a medical arts center are planned for the 571-acre Koa Ridge Makai and 190-acre Waiawa parcels. Home construction could begin in 2008.

Officials for the land use commission and Castle & Cooke could not be reached for comment yesterday.

The Sierra Club is a national conservation organization comprised of approximately 700,000 members, the lawsuit said. The Sierra Club's Hawai'i chapter represents more than 4,000 members who live in Hawai'i, the lawsuit said.