Backers of a proposed private high school near Thompson Corner in Waialua got a shock yesterday when they asked the city Planning Commission for a five-year extension on an soon-to-expire Special Use Permit to establish Aloha Ke Akua High School.

The commission nixed the five-year request. Instead, it handed over a 10-year extension to build the North Shore's first private secondary prep school.

Saying the idea has been well received by the community and that these things take time, board member Vicki Gaynor suggested doubling the extension period.

Board member Charles Rodgers then made a motion for 10 years, which Gaynor seconded and all seven members present unanimously approved.

Most agreed with Rodgers' contention that the commission would simply approve the extension if it came up again in five years. So, why bother.

Following the vote, Michael Magaoay, president the Aloha Ke Akua High School group, said he was startled, but pleased.

"Our mission has not changed," said Magaoay, a Democrat who represents the 46th District (Kahuku, North Shore, Schofield) in the state House. He still believes the school would be an excellent investment opportunity for the area, which has been in an economic slump since the Waialua Sugar Mill closed in 1997.

Magaoay said the idea started in 1995 with area parents who were rising early and making long commutes to carry their children to private high schools in Honolulu.

In 2000, the city Planning Commission unanimously granted Aloha Ke Akua a special use permit to build its campus on 15 acres of agricultural land leased from Dole Food Inc.

At the same time, the commission, and later the City Council, approved the planning group's request to have the parcel rezoned from Agriculture-1 to Agriculture-2, which would allow school use.

Members of the school group, who had expected to be further along by now, said they hope to re-establish momentum in a non-denominational private high school with a focus on Christian values.

Jeffrey Overton, a planning consultant who donates his expertise to the group, told the commission that the project stalled two years ago.

Overton said the original idea was to renovate the annex of the old Waialua Sugar Co. building for an interim nineth-grade class, while the actual school was being built on the 15-acre site the group leases from Dole.

But arson destroyed that 65-year-old building on July 29, 2003, Overton said, and "our interim plan went up in smoke, so to speak."

Magaoay said there is no location in Waialua right now that's suitable for the interim school. The new strategy will be to raise enough money to build an initial building on the 15-acre site and augment it with trailers while the fundraising continues.

"If we had had an existing building we could use that and in the meantime we could build," he said. "Unfortunately, in Waialua right now there's not much in sight besides the mill."

He said the old Waialua Sugar Mill site isn't an acceptable location because of safety concerns.

"Right now what we're trying to do is get funding for this project," Magaoay said. "The group needs a deeper participation from the North Shore community."

Overton said the group has raised around $200,000. Five years ago he said the group figured it needed $4 million to $5 million to begin construction, and around $8 million to complete the project.

Yesterday he said, because of rising costs, "We need to revisit those numbers."

Still, Overton agreed with Magaoay that the area shows exceptional growth potential, in part because of an influx of military families to the area.

"We look at it as a gem in the rough," he said.

Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.