Three state agencies threw their weight behind the proposed Koa Ridge housing development in Central Oahu at a state Land Use Commission hearing Thursday.
The state Department of Agriculture, Office of Planning and Department of Transportation expressed support for the estimated $2.2 billion project calling for 5,000 homes, a hospital and commercial center on 768 acres of farmland between Mililani and Waipio.
But three project opponents — the Sierra Club Hawaii Chapter, state Sen. Clayton Hee and Mililani/ Waipio/Melemanu Neighborhood Board Chairman Richard Poirier — worked to persuade LUC members to reject the plan by developer Castle & Cooke.
Thursday’s hearing completed a phase of expert testimony in the case that began in February primarily with presentations by Castle & Cooke officials and consultants.
Koa Ridge is one of two huge housing projects pending at the LUC and proposed on actively farmed and highly productive land on Oahu. Ho‘opili, an 11,750-home project by developer D.R. Horton’s Schuler Division in Ewa, is the other.
Many of the issues — loss of prime farmland, impacts on already bad traffic congestion, job creation and housing production — are similar in both cases and present a difficult decision for the commission, which determines whether urban use of farmland should be allowed.
Unlike Ho‘opili, Koa Ridge was previously approved by the LUC, which OK’d the project in 2010. However, the Sierra Club got that decision overturned in court on grounds that one commissioner was ineligible to vote.
At Thursday’s hearing Castle & Cooke received new state support that it lacked two years ago.
The Department of Agriculture formerly opposed Koa Ridge. But Russell Kokubun, the agency’s new director under Gov. Neil Abercrombie, told commissioners Thursday that Castle & Cooke will sufficiently mitigate farmland loss by leasing 335 acres near Wahiawa to Aloun Farms, plus an option for an additional 333 acres.
Kokubun, a former farmer and state legislator who is a longtime advocate for agriculture, said he is convinced that plenty of good farmland exists to satisfy a state goal to increase food self-sufficiency.
"In my opinion, there is much land to be used for agriculture," he said.
Eric Seitz, an attorney representing the Sierra Club and Hee, questioned whether Aloun, which leases 446 acres at the Koa Ridge site, will be able to farm the replacement land, because it needs infrastructure to deliver irrigation water from Tanada Reservoir.
Kokubun didn’t know how much the infrastructure might cost, but said Aloun and Castle & Cooke are working out an agreement.
Another swing of support came from the Office of Planning, which previously recommended that Castle & Cooke protect 546 acres of prime farmland elsewhere on Oahu with a permanent easement restricting the land to agricultural use forever.
On Thursday the agency’s director, Jesse Souki, recommended approval of Koa Ridge, in part because of the Aloun commitments. Souki also noted that the project is between existing urban communities of Waipio and Mililani, is within the city’s urban growth boundary designed to preserve farmland elsewhere, and would deliver 30 percent of its houses, or 1,500 homes, at affordable prices under city guidelines.
The Department of Transportation previously had unresolved concerns over negative effects on traffic by Koa Ridge. But on Thursday, Alvin Takeshita, the agency’s highway division administrator, said he’s confident that Castle & Cooke will sufficiently resolve concerns with road improvements and payments being negotiated and intended to be part of a written agreement.
"I feel we are very close to reaching some agreement and consensus," he said.
Castle & Cooke has committed to widening Ka Uka Boulevard and expanding ramps connecting it to the H-2 freeway at a cost of $150 million to $200 million, according to Pete Pascua of engineering firm Wilson Okamoto Corp.
The developer also is negotiating how much it will pay the state for regional traffic impacts from an estimated 2,000 cars traveling to and from Koa Ridge, including the impact on the already overburdened H-1 freeway.
Takeshita said planned H-1 work — which includes improvements to the westbound Waipahu offramp, use of an afternoon contra-flow lane and the addition of a lane in each direction between Punahou and Middle streets — should reduce congestion all along H-1, even to the badly congested merge with H-2.
Seitz suggested that the Department of Transportation doesn’t have a history of being able to keep traffic from worsening over the last 40 years.
Peter Flachsbart, a professor at the University of Hawaii’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning, told the commission that it shouldn’t count on reduced congestion even with major road improvements. He said added capacity will entice more freeway use by people who avoid peak congestion in ways that include driving to work at 4:30 a.m.
"There is so much latent demand," he said. "If you double-deck H-1, you simply allow people to sleep in later. The traffic will return."
Poirier, the neighborhood board chairman, also questioned some of the state’s expectations about traffic mitigation. He wants the commission to reject Koa Ridge unless traffic problems, including commute times to downtown Honolulu, are improved.
Poirier was scheduled to testify Thursday but wasn’t ready with a PowerPoint presentation, so he relinquished his opportunity to testify.
Hee, who is disturbed by the demise of agriculture in Hawaii, told the commission that Koa Ridge isn’t necessary to satisfy Oahu’s housing needs.
The senator, who helped confirm most of the commission’s nine members, criticized the LUC and other state leaders for placing economics over sustainability.
Hee quoted from former Gov. George Ariyoshi’s book, "Hawaii: The Past Fifty Years, the Next Fifty Years" in which Ariyoshi reflected on the commission’s makeup.
"Originally the job of the land use commissioners was to serve the broad public interest," Hee quoted. "Today the intent and functioning of the Land Use Law has been extensively subverted. The commission membership prominently includes a realtor, a development lawyer and a corporate lawyer. Members with large constituencies are similarly tied to development (such as electrical contractors and the carpenters’ union). The commission’s executive director previously headed the Land Use Research Foundation, a lobbying group for developers and large landowners."
Hee challenged commissioners to uphold principles embedded in Hawaii’s Constitution to preserve farmland instead of approving Koa Ridge.
The commission is expected to make a decision on the project later this year.
