The owner of Bay View Golf Park is proposing to redevelop half of the 18-hole Kane'ohe golf course with a mix of 300 affordable and market-priced homes and sports amenities including a bowling alley, batting range and lodging for visiting sports teams.

KBay LLC, the local investment partnership that owns the 118-acre property off Kane'ohe Bay Drive near Castle High School, made its first official presentation at a Kane'ohe Neighborhood Board meeting Thursday that drew a crowd estimated at more than 200 people who didn't raise their hands when asked if they supported the project.

Some area residents expressed shock at the plan because KBay, which includes local businessmen Greg Hong and Mike Nekoba, previously stated that it had no intention of developing homes when it bought Bay View in early 2006.

"We were all shocked," said Deanne Silva, a 20-year area resident whose backyard overlooks the No. 5 hole slated to become an affordable senior housing complex.

Kika Bukoski, a community relations consultant hired by the developer in March, said immediate neighbors of Bay View have understandable concerns, but his sense from private meetings with residents in recent months is that the broader community is supportive of the benefits the plan would bring to Kane'ohe.

"The net benefit to the community I think is positive," he said. "I've gotten a lot of broad support from the community as a whole. It's truly a community plan."

KBay's "Bayview Community Plan" proposes 150 affordable multi-family homes for seniors earning between 80 percent and 140 percent of O'ahu's median income, and 149 market-priced homes.

Also planned is a multipurpose senior community center, and amenities popular with seniors such as walking trails, a 40-lane bowling alley slated to replace a closed miniature golf course, and the remaining nine holes of golf.

A 60-unit lodge for sports teams is proposed near Bay View's two-story driving range, part of which would be converted to a baseball batting range. Bukoski said the dormitory would appeal to visiting youth sports teams. "The best way to describe it is a cross between a hotel and Camp Erdman," he said.

Other sports facilities such as ball fields, a gym and recreation center would be ideal for an adjacent city property housing a sewage treatment plant being taken out of use.

The developer said the city parcel, which also has been eyed for a dog park, will become publicly accessible by converting Bay View's back nine holes to housing because the only access road to the city parcel running through the back nine would no longer be a golf hazard for the public.

If the city property became a park, it would also expand public access to Waikalua Loko Fishpond, which KBay owns and seeks to transfer to the nonprofit Waikalua Loko Fishpond Preservation Society managing the pond.

Other ideas proposed as part of the Bayview Community Plan include a wedding chapel, a small complex next to the envisioned dog park that would include small pet-care businesses and a pet mausoleum.

Bukoski emphasized that the plan is in draft form, and will likely be modified based on public input. "We realize and understand that there are going to be some concerns," he said. "We intend to explore and come up with solutions."

KBay is preparing an environmental impact statement that will study and address traffic issues, water use, storm water runoff and flooding.

Though the Bay View land is primarily zoned for preservation, the developer is attempting to redevelop the land without a zoning change by dedicating at least half the homes to affordable housing under a state law that allows exceptions to zoning controls for affordable housing projects. Still, the project would face a City Council vote.

Bukoski, a former state legislator representing Upcountry Maui who was born and raised in Kane'ohe, said the entitlement process is expected to last 18 to 24 months.

KBay for close to two years has been brainstorming ways to confront financial challenges and keep as much of the golf course property in operation and open space, Bukoski said.

"Right now, they're struggling (financially)," he said. "I think every owner of the golf course has had a hard go of it."

Bay View was built in 1963 as a nine-hole short course designed by one of Hawai'i's golf legends, Jimmy Ukauka. The links, which became a Windward landmark, remained popular by charging the cheapest green fees on O'ahu for a private course.

In 1988, Japan-based Pacific Atlas (Hawaii) Inc. bought the property for about $23 million with a plan to extend Bay View into a championship course for private members.

But the City Council and community members opposed the plan partly out of concern over possible pesticide and herbicide runoff into Kane'ohe Bay and preservation of the fishpond.

The city agreed to a compromise, allowing expansion of Bay View into a short 18-hole course with expanded facilities that included miniature golf, lights for night play on 18 holes and a driving range with an automated ball delivery system.

The expanded course reopened in 1997, but Pacific Atlas failed to earn enough revenue from operations to cover debt service, taxes and maintenance. As a result, parts of the property fell into disrepair.

At one point, the city considered buying or foreclosing on the course because of unpaid property taxes, and the back nine holes were closed because of a lease default.

In 2003, local investors The Shidler Group, J.D. Watumull and Joe Leoni bought the distressed asset from Pacific Atlas for $3.4 million, and cured problems including a $1 million property tax delinquency that allowed play to resume on all 18 holes without major renovations.

In 2006, KBay bought the property for $11 million with a stated plan to gradually spruce up the course and concentrate on kama'aina play.

At the time, some observers speculated that KBay bought Bay View to pursue housing development, but Hong in an interview said there was no plan or opportunity to add homes on the property.

KBay on its Web site said its redevelopment plan was in response to a request from the Hawai'i Housing Finance & Development Corp. Kent Miyasaki, the agency's housing information officer, said the HHFDC about a year ago was looking for land with affordable housing development potential and spoke to KBay representatives, but that a deal didn't progress beyond the discussion stage.

KBay is soliciting comments on the project on its Web site, www.bayviewcommunityplan.com. A public meeting by a committee of the Kane'ohe Neighborhood Board focused on the Bay View plan is scheduled for Dec. 2 at the Kane'ohe Community Senior Center at 7 p.m.