A Windward Oahu cemetery says it is working on updated plans to expand on conservation land after a City Council committee put its contentious request on hold earlier this month.

Hawaiian Memorial Park Cemetery is again proposing to expand on about 50 acres of its Kaneohe property, which is on state conservation land and is zoned preservation. The cemetery had proposed an amendment to the Koolaupoko Sustainable Communities Plan (Bill 57) that would extend the community growth boundary to include its proposed expansion area. But Council members agreed at a Feb. 1 meeting to advance the bill without Hawaiian Memorial’s amendment until the cemetery can come up with an updated plan to present to residents. The bill passed second reading Wednesday.

Jay Morford, president of Hawaiian Memorial Life Plan Ltd., which owns Hawaiian Memorial Park, said plans have changed since the company tried several years ago to get approval for the expansion.

Morford had said the cemetery is 91 percent sold out of burial plots and would likely reach capacity in about 10 years. Cemetery officials have not determined yet when they will bring plans to the community.

“Oahu faces a shortage of cemetery capacity so it is important to move forward on this project,” Morford said in a statement. “At the same time, we recognize that concerns remain from the original proposal made several years ago. We are committed to working with the community to advance a significantly scaled back plan that balances their needs with the broader issue of adding cemetery capacity to serve the entire island.”

Hawaiian Memorial had tried to get approval for its expansion by asking the state Land Use Commission to reclassify the 50 acres from conservation to urban. That request was denied in 2009, in part because it was inconsistent with the Koolaupoko Sustainable Communities Plan. The city Department of Planning and Permitting had opposed the request then partly because the expansion area was not within the growth boundary.

A year later Hawaiian Memorial asked the city to amend the Koolaupoko plan to clarify that cemeteries are a permitted use on preservation land. That change was included in the plan.

The cemetery would still need to go back to the Land Use Commission for approval even if the Council amendment is included in the final draft of the bill. But DPP would likely support the request if Hawaiian Memorial’s expansion area is within the growth boundary, said Kathy Sokugawa, the department’s acting director.

Hawaiian Memorial’s latest effort drew opposition at a packed Feb. 1 Council Transportation and Planning Committee meeting at the Pali Golf Course, where several residents said they were concerned about impacts to adjacent neighborhoods, increased traffic and flooding issues. Others expressed frustration that the cemetery’s expansion plans have been a point of contention in the community for so many years.

Grant Yoshimori of SaveKaneohe.org said he had gathered hundreds of signatures opposing the expansion during the cemetery’s previous efforts.

“There has been huge community opposition to this measure,” Yoshimori said. “HMP is wasting the city’s effort and time by submitting it once again. Hawaiian Memorial has stated that their plans have changed, but as of yet we have not seen those plans.”

State Sen. Jill Tokuda (D, Kailua-Kaneohe) and state Rep. Ken Ito (D, Kaneohe-Maunawili-Kailua) also opposed the expansion. Tokuda said that “unfortunately, government’s not going to be responsible for everyone’s sustainable business model. When they bought that property with the zoning as it was, they knew exactly what they were purchasing when they bought conservation and preservation land.”

But others, including Hawaiian Memorial employees, reiterated that the expansion is needed.

“We need a place to bury our family,” said Alicia Maluafiti, an Ewa Beach resident whose family is buried at Hawaiian Memorial. “I’m just asking you to really consider those of us who have nowhere right now and want to be with our families. And our resting place right now is in Kaneohe.”

Committee Chairman Ikaika Anderson recused himself from the vote to advance the bill and asked Vice Chairwoman Kymberly Pine to conduct the decision-making portion of the meeting. According to a disclosure of interest statement Anderson filed, his family’s florist business contracts with Hawaiian Memorial, and a member of his family works for the cemetery.

Pine said at the meeting that the cemetery needed to come back with a revised expansion plan before the Council considers the amendment.

“What concerns me the most right now … is the fact that none of you have seen the new plan and the other Council members haven’t seen the plan,” Pine said. “Whenever there’s new growth, you have to see everything.”