Posted on: Friday, June 21, 2002

Final vote today on Koa Ridge development

By Scott Ishikawa
Advertiser Central O'ahu Writer

The state Land Use Commission will take a final vote this morning on whether to approve a 3,600-unit Koa Ridge residential development just below Mililani.

The commission will also vote on an unprecedented concept in Hawai'i that requires schools in the proposed development to be built before the homeowners move into the housing units.

The commission added the school construction proposal after Central O'ahu residents brought up concerns over traffic and schools in the fast-developing area.

The 8:30 a.m. hearing will be in Room 405 of the the State Office Tower, 235 S. Beretania St..

The motion, if approved, would reclassify 761 acres at Koa Ridge Makai and Waiawa for residential developments and a medical arts center. The commission last week denied construction of an additional 485-acre parcel at Koa Ridge Mauka.

The commission voted 5-2 last week to attach the school construction amendment to the Koa Ridge proposal. The nine-member commission needs six votes today to pass the entire proposal, with one member already excluding himself because of a conflict of interest.

At Castle & Cooke Homes Hawai'i, president Harry Saunders said yesterday that the company was trying to reach an agreement on the school construction proposal with state education officials but did not wish to comment on the details.

"We're trying to craft a solution; we want adequate schools there as (much as) anyone else," Saunders said.

Department of Education officials yesterday said they support the concept that a developer should accommodate the community's education needs as part of basic infrastructure.

At the same time, the department does not believe that developers should shoulder the entire cost of building schools. DOE officials hope some compromise can be reached with the developer in "fast-tracking" construction of a planned elementary and middle school for the area. DOE officials last week welcomed the idea of having the developer pay up front for school construction, with the state later reimbursing the builder or leasing the campus.

The state needs to spend $2 billion on school construction in the next 10 years to keep pace with demand in developing parts of O'ahu and Maui. That would be about $200 million a year, but the Legislature the past several years has kept the annual budget at around $45 million — leaving the Department of Education and Department of Accounting and General Services far short.