Castle & Cooke housing project gains approval
By Scott Ishikawa
Advertiser Central O'ahu Writer
The state Land Use Commission yesterday approved a 3,600-home development near Mililani after easing a proposed requirement that schools be built before any homebuyers can move in.
Still, developer Castle & Cooke and commission members said the unprecedented school requirement will set the tone for future land-use decisions.
"We heard a litany of complaints from the community about overcrowding, multitrack scheduling, portable classrooms and promises that schools would be built on time," said commission member Stanley Roehrig, who inserted the school clause.
"That's why we did it."
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, pending county rezoning approvals and other legal hurdles.
But in approving the plan, the commission sent a strong message to developers of future projects that it will require new schools be built in a timely manner to prevent classroom crowding.
The commission's approval included a clause that no homes shall be occupied until "reasonable and adequate public school facility infrastructure has been constructed or has otherwise been provided."
Commissioners and officials for Castle & Cooke said the added phrase "or has otherwise been provided" gave the requirement some needed flexibility. It also did not specify who would be responsible for building the schools.
Castle & Cooke officials had questioned the original proposal, saying it would be economically unrealistic to have a school ready before the homes are occupied.
Roehrig said his amendment never intended to have the developer pay entirely for new schools.
Roehrig would not say whether the commission would place similar school requirements on every new development, but replied, "the commission is beginning to recognize that in the congested parts of the state, we have to provide appropriate public education."
In approving the amended measure, the commission appeared satisfied with a Castle & Cooke proposal agreed to this week by the state Department of Education to have the developer help design and build the needed campuses. The state would in turn reimburse the developer in full or in increments, or lease the campus.
Harry Saunders, Castle & Cooke Homes Hawai'i president, said the company is committed to getting the schools built in a timely manner to prevent school capacity problems such as in Mililani Mauka.
The vote ended a yearlong public hearing process before the commission. At one point, the proposed development was 1,250 acres and consisted of 6,200 housing units, but the commission last week deleted the 485-acre Koa Ridge Mauka portion of the project.
"I think we came out better than we originally hoped," said Mililani board member Bill Bass, who believed the commission ruling would set a precedent for Central O'ahu development. "I think more progress was made in the past week between Castle & Cooke and the DOE on the school issue than in the previous months."
Anthony Ching, Land Use Commission executive officer, said after the hearing that the commission usually makes a broad ruling to allow the involved parties to work out the details.
"Since this is the first step, the commission doesn't want to bog the DOE down with too many detailed requirements," Ching said. "We want to give them the flexibility on how they feel is the best way to handle things."
DOE assistant superintendent Al Suga said the department supports the idea of having the developer build the schools, which would shave three to four years off the time it takes the state to do it. Kamali'i Elementary on Maui was built in 1 1/2 years by developer Everett Dowling, Suga said. Because of limited money, it would have taken the state 4 1/2 years to build a similar campus, with one annual budget phase for planning and design, and two more phases for construction.
According to the latest development plan, the Castle & Cooke development would provide a minimum of 30 acres for schools, enough for an elementary and middle school campuses. DOE officials have yet to decide whether a high school will be built on the Castle & Cooke site or an approved 1,100-acre Waiawa by Gentry development nearby.
But state officials also stressed that developers should not have to shoulder the entire cost of building new schools.
"If we can put astronauts on the moon, we can certainly build adequate school facilities," Roehrig said.
