A new, nine-member Nanakuli/Ma'ili Neighborhood Board No. 36 was created this week and will operate independently from the existing Wai'anae Coast Neighborhood Board.

While the idea of two boards came from area residents, the change is not supported by all in the community. One board member warned that the division will split the community while another area resident said the commission acted too quickly.

The new board could be in place by March following the city Neighborhood Commission's 6-1 vote on Monday to approve the split, said Neighborhood Commission executive director Joan Manke.

The vote also drastically alters what's left of the existing Wai'anae board, which previously had 15 members. Eight of its members, including former chairwoman Patty Teruya, find themselves without a seat after Monday's vote, while the seven remaining members will need to fill two vacancies to create a reconstituted nine-member board, Manke said.

The change was prompted by a petition by more than 400 people for the split.

Teruya, a Nanakuli resident, said a majority of the community wanted two boards. With community issues on the rise along the coast, "the workload really got much more heavier," she said, adding that meetings were getting lengthier.

Teruya, a member of the Wai'anae board since 1994, said she expects both boards to give representation to all segments of the Wai'anae Coast.

But Wai'anae resident Jo Jordan, one of the seven remaining members, said she worries about the impact of separate boards. "This is going to split our community," Jordan said. "It is not going to be positive."

Former Neighborhood Commission and neighborhood board member Gail Gomes, a Wai'anae resident, said the board acted too quickly, without thinking through the consequences. The split leaves the Nanakuli-Ma'ili area without neighborhood board representation for at least the next several months. Meanwhile, what remains of the Wai'anae board is left scrambling.

"The resolution could have been made to have the change take place the next election cycle (in spring 2009)," Gomes said.

Michelle Kidani, commission office executive assistant, said the petition by the commission sought a special election to take place as soon as possible.

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