KAILUA — A proposal to build a new high school on the slopes of Mount Olomana has drawn mixed reaction from the surrounding communities, including a prediction that residents will fight to stop the project.

Chris and Kimberly Dey, under the company Sound Investments, want to build a $70 million high school on 97 acres they own on Mount Olomana on Old Kalaniana'ole Road in exchange for the Kailua High School property in the Pohakupu subdivision.

Initial reaction from the state was positive, but officials said studies would have to be done before a decision is made.

Neighbors of the two sites weighed in on the project Friday, some casting doubt about it, others praising the idea and some wanting more information.

Faith Evans, an Olomana subdivision resident, said she believed that her board would oppose the project because it would add more traffic to the neighboring Pohakupu subdivision and negate decades of efforts to preserve the slopes of Mount Olomana. The Kailua Neighborhood Board member wondered why the Deys didn't develop their own property.

"Right now I'm telling you there will be a fight against the project in the community," Evans said.

Chris Dey said he thought it was natural for people to question the project, but the next step is for the state Board of Education to study the possibility. The 97 acres is not zoned residential and that is why the company can't build there, Dey said.

Kailua would get a new school with all the high-tech tools that students need to succeed and more housing would be built, Dey said.

"It's an opportunity to build a brand-new school in an existing school district that can service and offer all these kids all of those things for years to come," Dey said.

People have opposed development on Mount Olomana since the late 1960s when the Save Mount Olomana Association was formed to protect the distinct peak that can be seen from Waimanalo, Kailua and the Pali. In the 1980s and again in the 1990s, the organization mobilized to battle development.

Eventually the upper levels were declared a state monument and development above the 200-foot level prohibited.

Andrew Yanoviak, past president of the Save Mount Olomana Association, said the Old Kalaniana'ole Road marks the 200-foot level and the Deys want to build the new school above that.

"Those lands are sacrosanct," he said. State zoning for the land is conservation and city zoning is preservation, according to Yanoviak.

Rather than demolishing the high school and dumping all that rubble into a landfill, the state should be thinking more about the environmental impact of new construction versus recycling, he said.

"We should take more of the European approach where we get in and learn how to recycle, restore and rehabilitate buildings," Yanoviak said. Besides, he said, the land on Mount Olomana isn't suitable for a school campus and would require extensive grading.

Harvey Teves, a Norfolk Pines resident, said he liked the idea of getting a new school for free even though it would mean more traffic and activities in the area.

"It would take away from the historical and the preservation but, on the other hand, for the state to get a brand-new facility funded by somebody else — that could be more than a fair tradeoff," Teves said.

But Steve Baker, also a Norfolk resident, said he doubts anything could be built on the Olomana land because of the steep slopes and the elevation. "I'd be extremely surprised if they can put anything of that magnitude up on that elevation on the side of the hill," Baker said.

Pohakupu resident Mike Heh said, "We're already a cut-through from Waimanalo to Kailua. If we put a high school over there, are we going to be a cut-through once again?"

Heh said a study would have to answer all the questions including whether the automobiles from the new homes would create a worse traffic situation in Pohakupu. Heh and other residents have been lobbying the state for decades to open a new access to the school and the state is now planning the new road to come off Kalaniana'ole Highway near the Women's Community Correctional Center.

"I think (the swap) could be good, but we certainly need to look at all the impacts and study the feeder areas," he said.

But neighbor Warren Nakano said he would not like the school to move. Home construction would mean noise and more dust that is already coating his carpet and home, Nakano said. Rather than building a school, he would like the state to improve the roads and build sidewalks to make the area safe for the students, he said.

"When the school's not in session, it's peaceful," Nakano said.

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.