City planners view it as suburban in-fill, a smart-growth concept, but 26 planned "cluster" homes in East Honolulu are drawing complaints from neighbors.

The city Department of Planning and Permitting approved a cluster housing permit last week for 26 homes at the foot of Kalama Valley on a strip of land once reserved for an extension of Hawaii Kai Drive.

As designed, the cluster homes would be roughly 1,600 to 1,900 square feet constructed in one duplex and six four-plex buildings up to 24 feet high. A recreational facility including a pool would occupy a half-acre piece of the property zoned for preservation.

The project borders nine or so homes that for more than 30 years have had views of Hawaii Kai Golf Course over the undeveloped strip and a drainage ditch. But some homeowners said their opposition, which included a petition submitted to the city, was given little merit.

"I guess developers are running out of room on this island — they’re trying to build on every little place," said Jimmy Arakaki, who moved into his home on Waikapu Loop next to the envisioned road easement in 1974 as one of the first residents of Kalama Valley.

The cluster home project is proposed by Pololei Partners LLC, a company formed in 2007 and managed by James McWhorter of Orem, Utah. McWhorter did not return a call seeking comment.

The 2.9-acre strip of land is owned by Plate Lunch Properties LLC, a company managed by local developer Bob Gerell and local attorney Bill McCorriston. According to property records, a company led by Gerell bought the property in 2008 for $56,113. Gerell and McCorriston did not respond to a request for comment.

Gerell is a veteran Hawaii developer who has been involved with projects including Aloha Tower Marketplace, Enchanted Lake Center and Maunakea Marketplace.

In recent years much of Gerell’s work has been in Hawaii Kai, sometimes acquiring land and obtaining entitlements then selling the project to another developer for completion. The 60-home Kaluanui subdivision and 35 homes across from Safeway in Hawaii Kai were built this way.

Gerell, along with McCorriston, was also involved with a now-stalled plan for a Hawaii Kai cemetery, and a derailed plan to build 180 vacation cabins and recreational facilities on the hills above Hawaii Kai Golf Course and Kalama Valley.

The site slated for the cluster home project was once envisioned as an extension of Hawaii Kai Drive running to the Queen’s Beach area where a hotel, golf course and condominiums were to be development by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser.

Community opposition to the resort plan erupted in the 1980s, and led to the preservation of Queen’s Beach and the Ka Iwi Coast, which made the road extension unnecessary.

Zoning for the road extension land is primarily residential.

Another section of the road path abutting the Kalamakuu condominium complex and a small retail center has been considered for residential development.

Under a covenant, Kalamakuu homeowners must turn over the undeveloped parcel to Maunalua Associates, a successor to Kaiser’s development firm, upon request.

Maunalua Associates could not be reached.

Kristina Santiago, who lives next to the 2.9-acre property slated for development by Pololei Partners, is worried about construction disturbances, increased traffic and obstructed views.

Santiago would also lose an informal park setting that she and her neighbor created by landscaping part of the undeveloped site.

Given the city’s cluster housing permit approval, Santiago isn’t sure what can be done to stop the project, though her next-door neighbor, Xanya Weiss, has threatened legal action.

"We’re hoping it could be stopped," Santiago said.

The city Department of Planning and Permitting branch that reviews development plans expressed no concern over the cluster homes, which it regards as in-fill development encouraged by the city’s East Honolulu Sustainable Communities Plan.

The city in its approval subjected the project to several conditions, including increasing the space between buildings to better maintain the character of the neighborhood and provide more mauka-makai views.