'AINA HAINA — At the entrance to a small dead-end street, a homeowner is turning his home into an eight-bed adult residential care facility — the only one between 'Aina Haina and Hawai'i Kai.

Work is under way that will turn owner Dan Izawa's three-bedroom home into a nine-bedroom facility with handicapped-accessible bathrooms and wide hallways to accommodate wheelchairs, requirements under the law for an eight-bed residential care facility.

Initially, neighbors didn't see a problem with the idea, but now they worry about how the home will affect the neighborhood.

"When we first found out about it, we were very nonchalant," said Limu Place resident Susan Killeen. "We assumed it would be a small enterprise of three or four residents.

"Then we saw the construction and got concerned."

She added: "We're afraid that the character of the neighborhood will change. We're all long-term residents here, (and) this is similar to transient accommodations, like bed and breakfasts. We don't have a problem if it was a smaller kind of facility."

Izawa said he has followed the letter of the law and that the home is needed.

"I want to work with the neighborhood," he said. "I want to be a good neighbor."

When 'Aina Haina residents took their concerns to the Kuli'ou'ou/Kalani Iki Neighborhood Board last month, the board voted unanimously in opposition to the project because of concerns for traffic and limited street parking for residents or visitors to the home.

Tonight, the board again will hear residents' concerns.

In East Honolulu, there are eight residential care facilities in homes and one large facility, the Lunalilo Home, a 42-bed retirement home for elderly Hawaiians tucked away off Lunalilo Home Road.

Two types of residential care facilities are allowed in neighborhoods under state and city laws, and neither requires public notification. All that's needed is a permit from the state Department of Health and city building permits.

Izawa defended his plan, saying the residential care home will be run just like someone's home. The population in Hawai'i is aging, he said. Nearly 20 percent of the population in Hawai'i was 60 years old or older, according to the 2000 Census, and by 2020 that number is projected to rise to 26 percent.

Izawa said he's building the facility because of the need and he doesn't think that his home will result in additional traffic in the neighborhood.

"The sad truth is that family members rarely come to visit," Izawa said.

Izawa has yet to apply for a state Department of Health permit, but plans to as soon as construction is nearly complete.

Terri Byers, chief of the state Health Department office of healthcare assurance, said finding enough space for Hawai'i's elderly is becoming difficult.

"Due to the changing demographics and aging of the baby boomers, our infrastructure will need to expand significantly," Byers said.

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com.