Land use concern flares over Koa Ridge
By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer
A lawyer for the Sierra Club Hawai'i Chapter told a Circuit Court judge yesterday the state Land Use Commission should never have reclassified hundreds of acres of land in Central O'ahu on which Castle & Cooke hopes to build 3,600 homes without requiring an environmental assessment.
Sierra Club attorney Isaac Hall cited a section of state law that says an environmental study should be done "as soon as practicable" when a developer submits a proposal to a public agency for review and approval.
But attorneys for the developer and the Land Use Commission argued that an environmental study is not required at this point. They told Circuit Judge Elizabeth Hifo that while the commission reclassified 761 acres from agricultural to urban use in June 2002, it did not approve the project itself.
Castle & Cooke attorney Bruce Lamon said it makes more sense for an environmental assessment or even a more detailed environmental impact study to be prepared and submitted as part of the developer's request to the Honolulu City Council for a development plan amendment or change in zoning on the property.
But Hall told Hifo that the need for an environmental assessment was "triggered" under a portion of a state law that says such a study must be done whenever state lands are involved in a development proposal.
Hall said state highways will be used to carry traffic to the proposed development and that sewer and water lines and other utilities needed to serve the homes will be installed under state-owned roads.
Lamon, however, questioned the Sierra Club's right to challenge the matter, saying it is primarily a California-based organization and that none of its Hawai'i chapter members has been shown to live adjacent to or in the vicinity of the proposed housing project.
Lamon said that while the Land Use Commission did not require preparation of an environmental assessment, the application Castle & Cooke submitted was just as thorough, if not more so.
Hifo took the matter under advisement but did not indicate how soon she expects to issue a ruling.
The Land Use Commission voted 6-1 to reclassify 761 acres of agricultural land to urban use sought by Castle & Cooke for its Koa Ridge Makai and Waiawa developments.
The commission voted in favor of the land use change after backing away from a proposal that the developer be made to have schools in place before any of the homebuyers would be allowed to move in.
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. Construction could begin in 2008.
Jeff Mikulina, Sierra Club Hawai'i Chapter director, said the decision by Land Use Commission members should have been made based on a "full and accurate disclosure of environmental impacts."
During the commission's review of the proposal, residents of Mililani and other communities expressed concerns about the proposed projects' effects on traffic, ground water availability, loss of agricultural land and open space and poor planning.
