An additional environmental impact statement won't be necessary for a major expansion planned for Turtle Bay now that a lawsuit pushing for the study was dismissed yesterday in O'ahu Circuit Court.

Keep the North Shore Country, a residents' group, and the Sierra Club's Hawai'i chapter filed suit in May seeking an update to an environmental analysis that was performed 20 years ago.

The groups sued the city, the city's director of the Department of Planning and Permitting, and the developer, Kuilima Resort Co.

Circuit Judge Sabrina McKenna yesterday dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning it cannot be filed again, said Nathan Hokama, a development spokesman.

Jeff Mikulina, director of the Sierra Club's Hawai'i chapter, said there were a "number of areas" of concern for McKenna, including not making the case that enough has changed on the North Shore to warrant the new environmental review. The conclusion is one Mikulina said "we totally disagree with."

"Clearly, there have been substantial changes in the past 20 years," he said. "Anyone that's been around that long knows the character, the traffic, the environment, has changed."

Mikulina said an appeal is being considered.

"Obviously, we're disappointed," he said. "We think (McKenna) made an incorrect decision, but we'll be exploring the options, perhaps looking at an appeal. We'll have 30 days to make that decision."

But he also said legal costs are an issue.

"We're just a community group up there and the Sierra Club," he said.

Nicola Jones, chief executive officer of Kuilima Resort Co., issued a statement saying, "We are very pleased that this lawsuit has been dismissed because we can now devote all of our attention to meeting with the members of the community to obtain their input on the proposed development."

Under a previous agreement, the developer is allowed up to four hotels and a condominium development on the North Shore with a maximum of 3,500 units, Hokama said.

The existing resort has one hotel with fewer than 500 units and two golf courses.

The expansion, based on an agreement reached in 1986 by developers, the city, the state and members of the North Shore community, has the potential to change the face of the North Shore by adding considerable hotel growth.

The promise of 3,500 jobs and a boost to the economy has some eager for the plan to go through.

But the plaintiffs in the lawsuit said the project would have significant impacts that would include traffic, more visitors, increased water demand, more wastewater and an impact on the aesthetic appeal of the North Shore — some of which weren't considered in the previous environmental analysis.

Hokama, the development spokesman, said there are no definitive plans yet for the development, which would occupy up to 336 acres. Another 524 acres of a total of 860 acres would be left as open space, he said.

The city has given tentative approval to an expansion, with Kuilima required to submit development plans by the end of the year.

Mikulina said for some reason, Kuilima started moving on the development plan in the past year or so in seeking the permits.

"But this has been part of the concern all along — a developer has plans, they get certain approval and then they sit on it for decades," he said. "We'd kind of like to see a use-it-or-lose-it approach with some of the permitting."

Part of the concern, too, is that Kuilima may be seeking the permits to sell the development to another owner, Mikulina said.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.