Vote on Koa Ridge project likely
By Scott Ishikawa
Advertiser Central O'ahu Writer
After a year of hearing public testimony on a proposed 6,200-unit Castle & Cooke development just below Mililani, the state Land Use Commission is expected to vote next month on whether to reclassify 1,250 acres of agricultural land for the project.
The commission will meet June 12 or 13 to decide whether to vote June 21 on a request by Castle & Cooke to change the usage classification from agriculture to urban. Koa Ridge, between Waipio-Gentry and Mililani, would consist of a variety of homes — including senior care facilities — neighborhood shopping, jogging trails and a medical care complex operated by Wahiawa General Hospital.
The terms of two members on the nine-person commission expire at the end of June, and the panel's executive officer, Anthony Ching, would like to see a vote before they leave.
Another commission member, P. Roy Catalani, has excused himself from the vote because of a conflict of interest from previous business with Castle & Cooke.
Ching said the commission needs at least six members to take a vote.
"Since the two outgoing members have been part of the year-long process from the beginning, I think it's important they are part of the final decision-making," Ching said.
The public hearing process for the project closed in April. All sides were allowed to enter final arguments in support of or opposition to the project at a May 3 meeting.
The project would be built on former pineapple land in three segments — Koa Ridge Makai, Koa Ridge Mauka and Waiawa. The Koa Ridge Makai parcel, across from the Waipio Costco, would be developed first and include a medical park if approved, with the first medical facilities ready by 2004.
The number of housing units for the entire development would be between 6,200 and 7,500, depending on how the land is later rezoned by the city. The Sierra Club has testified against the whole project, saying the land should remain open space and for agricultural use, and citing concerns over adequate water supply for the Central O'ahu area.
The Mililani Neighborhood Board has said it would support the Koa Ridge Makai/Waiawa portion of the project only if developers meet certain conditions to alleviate traffic and other infrastructure concerns.
One condition by the board is having the developer share costs for a new road connecting Ka Uka Boulevard in Waipio-Gentry to Paiwa Street in Waipahu.
"It would provide residents another road out of the area aside from the H-2 and Kamehameha Highway," said Mililani Neighborhood Board chairman Richard Poirier. "Unless we build more freeway lanes on the H-1 and H-2, the roads won't be able to handle the increased traffic."
The Mililani board also wants a transportation study done to show the effects on commuter traffic of adding 25,000 homes to Central O'ahu by 2025. (About 14,000 of the 25,000 proposed housing units already have been approved, according to the city development plan for the region.)
Ching said many residents have sent postcards and other testimony to the commission expressing concerns about the size of the Koa Ridge project.
Castle & Cooke Homes Hawaii Inc. president Harry Saunders said he hopes the whole project will be approved, but said, "realistically, based on some of the commission members' comments, we're hoping at least some of it will be approved."
Saunders said the project will create 4,500 jobs, many of them in the health-service and commercial sectors. Wahiawa General Hospital, which has lost money in recent years, would also benefit from the expansion into the area.
"We feel this opportunity would benefit the community by providing area jobs, lessening the amount of drivers commuting into town," Saunders said.
Reach Scott Ishikawa at 535-2429 or sishikawa@honoluluadvertiser.com.
