Castle & Cooke Homes Hawaii has shifted gears on its long-stalled Koa Ridge project and is proceeding first with a plan to develop up to 1,500 homes on 191 acres in Waiawa on Ka Uka Boulevard mauka of H-2 Freeway, only a third of its original plan.

The state Land Use Commission yesterday agreed to be the reviewing authority for an environmental impact statement that is being prepared by Castle & Cooke. The document needs to be completed before the agency can formally begin hearing a petition reclassifying the property now known as Castle & Cooke Waiawa from agricultural to urban use, a process that could take from 18 months to two years.

Carleton Ching, Castle & Cooke vice president of community and government relations, said the company hopes to gain its approvals by fall 2009 and begin construction shortly thereafter, with the first homes ready for delivery in 2011.

Envisioned as a master-planned community on the scale of Mililani, also a Castle & Cooke development, Koa Ridge has been beset by myriad issues that have pushed back a timeline that originally called for the first homes to be occupied this year. The hurdles have also forced the developer to work on its project incrementally.

The original Koa Ridge plan consisted of three segments totaling 1,248 acres and up to 7,500 homes. In 2002, the commission actually approved two of the three segments, allowing for development of up to 763 acres and 3,200 homes.

But that approval was thrown out following a lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club Hawai'i Chapter that went all the way to the Hawai'i Supreme Court in 2006. Meanwhile, Castle & Cooke became entangled in a lawsuit with its partner, Pacific Health Community.

Ching said the lawsuit with Pacific Health is the only reason why the developer is not now going forward with the 574-acre segment known as Koa Ridge Makai. But Castle & Cooke still wants to resolve its differences with Pacific Health amicably and soon and proceed with the development of that segment, he said.

"We still are hopeful for a medical component at Koa Ridge Makai and we are working real closely with (Wahiawa hospital administrator) Don Olden," Ching said. "Because we don't have that deal set up yet, we can't process Koa Ridge Makai."

Ching said he expects the developer to return to the LUC with a separate application just for Koa Ridge Makai sometime in the near future. "We would have preferred to have done it all one time but the circumstances are such that we've got to separate them to move them along."

REVISED PLAN

Castle & Cooke is expected to soon begin making the rounds of city neighborhood boards with presentations of its revised plan.

Ching said a key reason why Castle & Cooke is moving quickly on its Waiawa piece is because at its southern and eastern borders, the neighboring Waiawa Ridge Development is about to commence work on roads and other infrastructure for its 1,700-acre, 5,000 home first phase of Waiawa Ridge.

Waiawa Ridge Development is a joint venture formed last year between homebuilder Gentry Investment Properties and Alexander and Baldwin Inc.

Both Castle & Cooke and Waiawa Ridge Development are expected to participate in building a $25 million "land bridge" over Panakauahi Gulch, the proposed gateway to both housing developments, as well as share in the cost of other infrastructure, Ching said.

PROJECTS MONITORED

Longtime Mililani neighbors, who have long raised questions about how the two projects will affect traffic, area schools and other concerns, are monitoring the developments closely.

Dick Poirier, chairman of the Mililani/Waipi'o/Melemanu Neighborhood Board, said that regardless of how the Koa Ridge project proceeds, "there's still more (development) than the infrastructure can handle."

Melissa Graffigna, a member of the Mililani Mauka Neighborhood Board and its former chairwoman, said she supports the projects so long as they deal with the impacts they have on the community.

"We can reduce the impacts by planning smartly, and with all the agencies working together," Graffigna said. "Of course there's going to be impact, but if they sit down and plan it properly, the impact is going to be a lot smaller."

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com.