The plan was presented to the community in 2000 by Kamval LLC. The land was sold last year for $7.5 million and is now owned by Paradise Memorial Park, a group of local of investors that includes former City Councilman John Henry Felix.

In its first phase, Paradise Memorial Park will pave the mile-long, two-lane access road behind the homes, install street lights and an information kiosk, and landscape and prepare the land for 12,000 burials, a chapel and mortuary. These improvements will take about five to seven years to complete, construction manager Alexander Causey told Mariner's Cove residents gathered last week to hear what the new owners planned for the cemetery.

Residents expressed concerns over traffic and construction noise, as well as the two-story black dust screens that have been up for several months. The developer had put them up in anticipation of being able to begin work, but the city has been slow to issue the necessary permits, Causey said.

Immediately, residents will notice about 1,700 truckloads of soil being taken to the property from two developments in the area, Causey said.

"Our need for soil is greater than what we have access to," Causey said. "The ground is rocky and of adobe clay."

The owners — Bagel Pipe, Royal Contracting, Michael John Moroney and Felix — plan to terrace the land and build a rock-based channel to divert rain water, a concern of many residents. During the 1988 New Year's Eve storm, farmers had to be ferried out of the valley by boat because of flooding, and any time there are sustained downpours, the roads flood, said Gary Weller, a farmer who attended the meeting.

But Causey said that with the landscaping, grass and the channel there will be less rain water flowing into Hawai'i Kai Marina and the farm lots.

When completely built, the cemetery will hold about 60,000 burials, up from the 44,000 burials planned four years ago.

There also will be a mortuary, a caretaker's house and a waterfall. The developer could build a crematorium, Causey said, but doesn't plan to as there are no gas lines into the valley and it would be too expensive to bring one in.