Land Use Commission Gives 5,000-home Koa Ridge the Green Light
Our Landblog reports:
The 5,000-home master-planned community slated for a tract of land between Waipio and Mililani was opposed by the Hawaii Sierra Club and has been held up in state and court proceedings since 2002.
Robert Harris, executive director of the Sierra Club, said that a decision has not been made on whether the group will challenge the ruling in court. The state Land Use Commission still has to vote on a final decision and order in the case which will include a list of conditions that the developer must comply with.
If the ruling is challenged, it will be the third time that the Koa Ridge project ends up in court. In 2002, the Sierra Club successfully challenged LUC approval of the project, arguing that the developer needed to conduct an environmental impact statement before gaining state approvals. And last year, a court ruled in its favor, saying that a 2010 approval by the Land Use Commission was invalid because one of the commissioner’s terms had expired when he case his vote.
The ruling comes a day before the state Land Use Commission is set to rule on the 11,000 home master-planned community of Hoopili. Both projects have attracted heated opposition from environmental organizations and other community groups, including Save Oahu Farmlands and KAHEA.
“Essentially, in a 24-hour period there are two decisions being reached, that other than rail, are probably the most significant decisions affecting Oahu’s future, maybe in this decade,” said Harris. The group is also opposing Hoopili in proceedings before the Land Use Commission.
Controversy has swirled around the impacts of the developments, including the displacement of agricultural land and locally-grown food, the perpetuation of urban sprawl and impacts on traffic.
The approval of Koa Ridge, and the upcoming vote on Hoopili, come at a time when the Honolulu rail project is in limbo, with two pending court cases and a mayoral race in which a top contender has vowed to kill the project. The public transportation project is intended to lessen the rate at which cars are added to the road.
Hawaii was recently ranked as having the worst traffic in the country, beating out Los Angeles.
