The revised plan by Haseko to create a recreational lagoon rather than a marina along the makai border of its Ewa Beach property won a thumbs-up from the Honolulu Planning Commission last week.

The rezoning request now goes to the City Council for a final vote. A separate request for a special management area user permit and shoreline setback variance is being heard by the Department of Planning and Permitting at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Ewa Beach Public and School Library.

As expected, much of the discussion at Wednesday’s Planning Commission meeting focused on the company’s decision to now develop along the makai side of its property a recreational lagoon instead of a longplanned small boat marina.

The lagoon sits between Oneula Beach Park (popularly known as Hau Bush) and White Plains Beach, and makai of the Hoakalei Country Club and Golf Course. The change has drawn the ire of Ocean Pointe-Hoakalei residents who have sued Haseko. Meanwhile, an Ewa Beach cultural practioneer and longtime Haseko critic is continuing to raise concerns.

Before voting Wednesday, Planning Commission members added language assuring that Haseko provides public access and parking, which the developer has already agreed to do. A 150-stall public parking lot won’t be free; rates are to be comparable to municipal lots.

Haseko said the main purpose for charging for the parking is to ensure money is available to help the resort community association pay for maintenance of the lot. The stalls will be in addition to the off-street stalls Haseko and its business partners will need to provide for its resort, business and commercial functions.

The developer had also agreed previously to provide a public swimming cove adjacent to the lagoon. The swimming cove, public parking and walking paths around the lagoon are designed in a way to encourage the general public to visit the area and “hang out,” similar to visiting a shopping center, Haseko Vice President Sharene Saito Tam said after the meeting.

The lagoon itself, which will be about 20 feet deep, will feature passive water recreational activities such as stand-up paddleboarding and kayaking, she said. Access to those amenities will be limited to people who have permits, take lessons or rent equipment there, Saito Tam said.

A previous rezoning allows 950 visitor units that will be dispersed among three parcels, one of them along the ocean shoreline at one end of the lagoon.

The switch to a lagoon, first announced in November 2011, triggered a group of eight Ocean Pointe-Hoakalei homeowners to sue Haseko. They argue that the main physical attraction of the project when they purchased was a small, full-service boat harbor connecting with the ocean.

The homeowners say the switch to a lagoon will lower their property values and they’ve been paying association dues based on paying for upkeep of a marina.

Haseko cited a lack of demand for market-priced boat slips as the key reasons for its decision.

Michael Green, the homeowners’ attorney, said the city should hold off giving land use approvals for the project until the lawsuit with Haseko is resolved. The trial is expected to begin July 13.

The city Department of Planning and Permitting in 2012 declared that the marina wasn’t a condition for zoning under a unilateral agreement between the developer and the city.

Ewa beach resident Michael Lee, a Native Hawaiian practitioner, has raised a number of issues with Haseko’s plans over the years, several of which have involved litigation.

Lee told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser Friday that he has been denied access by Haseko to the area where his ancestors’ remains were reinterred in 2012. He said he also wants assurances from Haseko that storm runoff will be directed in a way that won’t harm the coastline.

Saito Tam said Lee has not contacted Haseko for an appointment to visit the site since 2012. As for the property’s drainage, there is no ocean outlet and runoff is designed to be kept within the Hoakalei Country Club golf course. During a major storm, extra water can be accepted at two lakes as well as the lagoon itself, she said.