Developers of a proposed 50-acre industrial park wedged between Ewa Villages and the Honouliuli Wastewater Treatment Plant are poised to go before the land-use approval process. The plan has received mixed community reviews, with concerns raised about its impact on traffic in a booming region already grappling with peak-hour congestion.

Gary Bautista, an 'Ewa Neighborhood Board member who lives in Ewa Villages, said he has heard from neighbors worried about traffic and noise from the proposed industrial park.

Bautista said he questions the wisdom of an industrial park next to a residential neighborhood.

"They say they're going to be bringing businesses over there, but I don't think that should be an industrial area," Bautista said. "It's too close to too many homes for it to be an industrial park."

Despite Bautista's comments, however, the Ewa Villages Homeowners Association has worked out its concerns with the developer and now supports the project.

Representatives of Ewa Industrial Park LLC said they intend to make traffic improvements. What's more, they said, the project will actually ease traffic in the area by providing 'Ewa residents job opportunities that will take their vehicles off Fort Weaver Road and other congested thoroughfares.

Currently the home of farm buildings, metal shipping containers, farm equipment, kiawe and livestock, the project calls for light industrial uses such as manufacturing, warehousing and distribution. There also is expected to be a small amount of retail space to accommodate a convenience store or similar service.

Project representative Ron Ogomori stressed to neighborhood board members at a recent meeting that it does not intend to develop a project on the scale of Campbell Industrial Park, the massive industrial hub several miles to the west.

The landowner is establishing rules that would limit the types of uses allowed on the site. Petroleum processing, explosive and chemical manufacturing plants as well as salvage, composting and recycling yards would be banned, Ogomori said. To minimize noise, the park would be closed from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. except for emergencies, he said.

A first phase slated to be done by 2009 would include 437,000 square feet of industrial space spread across 10 buildings, Ogomori said.

To ease local traffic concerns, the developer plans to widen Geiger Road, between Kapolei Parkway and the wastewater facility, from two to four lanes at a cost of $16 million to be shared with Gentry Homes Ltd. The developer also is agreeing to not open an access onto Renton Road until the city widens it and makes other improvements along the main artery in and out of Ewa Villages.

A recent census study showed 84 percent of 'Ewa Beach residents drive to work, Ogomori said.

"This project will provide job opportunities for yourself and your loved ones," Ogomori said. "Instead of getting up before the crack of dawn to avoid traffic, you're able to have breakfast in your own home and enjoy that breakfast."

Neighborhood board member Scott Belford said he liked what he heard from Ogomori and wants to see more information about the project before condemning it as some of his colleagues have. He noted the need for jobs in the region.

"This is the precise type of development we need here," Belford said. "Without economic development in our neighborhood, we will always be commuters."

Neighborhood board member Jeff Alexander said the project is overbuilt.

"It's going to add congestion down there," Alexander said. "Yes, we need more businesses in this area. But they're jamming everything they can onto every square inch."

He suggested the developer consider putting up only half the project.

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com.