Opposition, dismay and resignation. That was largely the sentiment of North Shore residents responding to the first public presentation of a plan to carve up the historic 2,700-acre Dillingham Ranch into a subdivision for 106 homes tenuously connected with fruit orchard, horse and cattle uses.

The owner of the ranch in Mokuleia, Beverly Hills, Calif.-based real estate investment and development firm Kennedy Wilson Inc., hosted a special North Shore Neighborhood Board meeting Monday evening under a big white tent lit by chandeliers on the rear lawn of the old ranch house.

Kennedy Wilson representatives Dave Eadie and Cliff Smith said their plan, which was first disclosed in a draft environmental assessment filed with the state Office of Environmental Quality Control in December, is an economically feasible way to revive ranching activities that have deteriorated on the land in recent decades. They describe their project as a diverse agricultural subdivision.

“Our objective is to diversify the ranch to function as a sustainable agricultural community designed to preserve and expand Oahu’s agricultural resources,” Eadie said. “The whole idea is to have an engine that allows more ag activities to be developed.”

The crowd of more than 100 people, however, didn’t welcome the plan. They expressed often passionate concerns that the subdivision would turn the ranch, which dates to the 1800s and is on land zoned for agriculture, into a community of mansions with little in the way of commercial farming.

“We all know these are going to become gentlemen’s ranches,” Celma Aoki said. “We all know we’re not going to eat from there. Keep the land the way it is.”

Besides the anticipated loss of a big part of what makes Mokuleia a rural community, other concerns raised included traffic, water runoff and access to a heiau and other Native Hawaiian cultural sites.

The resounding criticism and concern along with questions and comments from neighborhood board members during the three-hour meeting were capped by a 12-0 board vote recommending that the city Department of Planning and Permitting reject an impending subdivision application for the project.

Yet there was also resignation that DPP will approve the application. The DPP has to approve the plan if it complies with subdivision rules on land zoned for agriculture that permit “farm dwellings” as an accessory to agricultural operations even though there is no verification or enforcement that any revenue-producing farm activities take place.

DPP also approved a previous, less dense version of Kennedy Wilson’s plan for the ranch about seven years ago.

“This is a done deal, no matter what,” said Earl Dahlin, a resident born and raised on the North Shore.

Big-wave surfer Garrett McNamara asked in frustration how many petition signatures it would take to stop the project and what effect the board’s vote would have.

DPP will take into account the board’s position. But agency director George Atta, who participated in Monday’s meeting, explained that considering a subdivision application is a ministerial process in which approval cannot be withheld if the project meets all subdivision rule criteria.

“Ministerial permits are not a democratic process,” he said. “If it meets the standards, we have to approve it.”

Atta explained that in the eyes of DPP, there is no difference between a farmer who wants to subdivide a family farm in five pieces for five children and a developer who wants to subdivide agricultural land for profit.

Smith noted that roughly 500 house lots could be permitted on the ranch based on how much land is suitable for such use and minimum lot sizes of 5 acres allowed under zoning.

As proposed, Kennedy Wilson’s plan for Dillingham Ranch would be the biggest agricultural subdivision development on Oahu intended for house lot sales.

The planN calls for creating 106 home sites covering about half the property, including 13 lots with nonirrigated land for cattle grazing, 46 lots with irrigated pastures, 37 lots with orchard trees and 15 homes clustered on a 125-acre parcel designated for orchard trees.

Envisioned orchard crops include mango, avocado and lime. A homeowners association is expected to manage fruit cultivation. Kennedy Wilson estimates that about $1 million in annual revenue could come from fruit trees after they mature.

The ranch’s cattle herd, which dwindled to 66 head and generated $17,200 in 2013, would be expanded to between 220 and 250 head under the plan. In 2005 the ranch had about 400 cattle.

The plan also includes 136 acres of pasture for equestrian uses, a 22-acre artificial lake and 15 acres surrounding the Dillingham house that would continue to be rented out for events and lodging.

Equestrian activities would be expanded by adding training facilities, paddocks and pastures, according to the environmental assessment, which said the ranch earned $205,800 in 2013 from stabling about 75 horses.

About half the ranch property, or 1,440 acres, is mountainous and would be conserved as it is.

Kennedy Wilson estimated in its environmental report that it will cost $30 million to develop the subdivision, which includes building roads, utility lines and wastewater treatment facilities.

Smith said the company has no idea how much the house lots could sell for. “I’m troubled by guessing what those lots will sell for,” he said. Smith’s contention drew disbelief from many at the meeting.

Robert Robinson predicted that farmers won’t be Dillingham Ranch lot buyers. “I know farmers, but I don’t know any farmers here who could think they could afford these farm lots,” he said.

Added Dahlin, the North Shore native, “This is not for our community. It’s all about the guys who have a heck of a lot of money. It’s about the millionaires.”

Neighborhood board member Kanani Oury questioned whether lot buyers will follow Kennedy Wilson’s farm plan, given that other agricultural subdivisions — such as Poamoho Estates, one in Pupukea and along Crozier Drive in Mokuleia — seem to lack bona fide farm operations.

“Let me tell you, they’re not farming anything but grass,” Oury said.

The only requirement regarding farming in an ag subdivision is that the developer submit a plan that shows producing revenue from crops is feasible. The state Department of Agriculture has to accept the plan. Whether lot buyers follow the plan is basically up to them.

Oury asked Eadie and Smith to implement something that ensures future homeowners will execute the farm plan and maintain commercial food production.

Smith was receptive to the idea.

Of the nearly 50 community members who spoke at the meeting, only one, Stew Ring, endorsed the subdivision plan. Ring represents the Mokuleia Community Association, a group of homeowners whose water supply is from a private utility owned by Kennedy Wilson.

“We drove two companies out of business who owned Dillingham Ranch,” Ring said, referring to a lender and a Japanese firm that tried to develop the property with resort uses. Ring said Kennedy Wilson’s proposal focuses much more on agriculture and suggested it would be better than what a billionaire might do if the property changes hands again.

Perhaps ironically, it was one of Hawaii’s biggest builders who made the ranch into a family estate.

More than a century ago, the ranch was part of a 10,000-acre parcel known as Kawailoa Ranch which supported 2,000 head of cattle and more than 100 horses and mules, according to the environmental assessment.

Benjamin Franklin Dillingham, founder of Oahu Railway & Land Co., acquired Kawailoa Ranch in 1897 and later sold pieces of the property.

Dillingham’s son, Walter, who formed Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co. in 1902 to dredge Honolulu Harbor, later established Dillingham Ranch with the family home, horses, a polo field and pastures. The ranch stretched from the mountaintops to the sea.

The Dillingham family sold the property to a Milwaukee insurance firm in 1979.

In 1987 Japanese-based Sankyo Tsusho Co. bought the ranch for $15 million and tried to build a hotel and two golf courses. The plan failed in the face of staunch community opposition.

Another redevelopment proposal came from Washington state-based Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities Co., which bought most of the ranch in 2002 and pursued plans to rezone the land around a common theme such as a private club or an equestrian-based community. Metropolitan filed for bankruptcy in 2004 and put the ranch up for sale.

Kennedy Wilson bought its piece of the ranch in 2006 for $26 million, while other investors bought 10 oceanfront lots that were previously part of the ranch.

In 2008 Kennedy Wilson proposed a plan to develop 77 house lots over about 400 acres and use most of the balance of the land plus portions of the 5-acre house lots to graze the ranch’s cattle herd. That plan was tentatively approved by DPP but was called off amid the recession.

Once Kennedy Wilson finalizes its environmental assessment, it plans to seek subdivision approval from DPP. Developing the subdivision is projected to take five to seven years to complete.

ENLARGE PHOTO.