The action came as the state Land Use Commission, meeting on Molokai for a second day of hearings, was about to vote on member Ruben Wong's motion to reject the EIS. No vote was taken and a ranch attorney said a revised environmental impact statement will be submitted later.

Some Molokai residents criticized the study, saying it failed to adequately assess preservation of water resources and fell short on other issues involving the 1,113-acre site for the lots.

Alton Arakaki, an extension agent with the University of Hawaii's College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, testified Thursday that Molokai Ranch has underestimated how much water the project will use.

The ranch, which owns one-third of the 166,400-acre island, proposes supplying Laau with 1 million gallons a day using an existing but contested water allocation from the Kualapuu Aquifer and a mountain water system.

Glenn Teves, a Molokai homesteader who works for the College of Tropical Agriculture, said the EIS didn't account for future water needs, such as planned affordable housing development and growth in Hawaiian homestead communities.

"Where will this water come from?" he asked. "The numbers don't add up, and are estimated to sell the project. For (Molokai Ranch), water is money. For Molokai, water is life. Which is more important?"

Molokai Ranch's plan also calls for conveying 50,000 acres to a community island trust. Half would be owned by the trust, which would own an easement covering the other half, thus controlling use of all the land. The trust would be set up to protect the land from development.

The ranch says that part of its proposal is worth a total of $75 million.

Stacy Helm Crivello, board president of Molokai Enterprise Community, said it is a good trade-off.

"In the long run, this is our only hope," said Helm Crivello, whose nonprofit volunteer organization worked for two year spearheading the community compromise effort with Molokai Ranch.

"We become the largest landowner," she said. "This is our dangling carrot."

Edwin "Oboy" Pedro, a lifetime Molokai resident who raises cattle, told the commission that he found the plan "fair and feasible."

But many island residents oppose the project.

"They are just asking too much," Hawaiian homesteader Walter Ritte Jr. said. "You cannot go (develop) a pristine area that has no infrastructure. It's the heart of who we are — the icebox (for subsistence fishing) we use to feed our families. We cannot give that up. There's some good stuff in the plan, but not so good to give up your heart."

Tracy Lishman, a fifth-generation Molokai resident and Hawaiian homesteader, also opposed the creation of the house lots.