Ho’opili ag conviction falls flat

Proponents of a large housing development between Kapolei and Waipahu are coming up short on assurances that "urban agriculture" would be an integral, vibrant element of the project. That’s a black mark against gaining approval from the state Land Use Commission and in overcoming opposition based partly on agricultural concerns, partly on the project’s symbiotic relationship with rail transit plans between urban Honolulu and Oahu’s "Second City."

The conversion of farmland is flaring anew as a point of major contention. Ho’opili’s developer, the local Schuler Division of Texas-based D.R. Horton, has retooled its proposal to tout "urban agriculture" as a new and unique component of its 11,750-home community. The plan calls for 159 acres throughout the community for lease to commercial farmers, another 84 acres for growing food in the yards of single-family homes, and eight acres for community gardens.

BUT IN a recent Land Use Commission hearing, the developer failed to make a convincing case that the concept goes beyond mere hopes and green belts colored on a meticulous master plan.

Commission member Ron Heller questioned whether commercial farming would be suitable in areas designated as drainage areas, and whether 84 acres would actually end up being farmed on home sites. Tim Van Meter, Schuler’s expert from an urban design firm in Colorado, was less than reassuring. He said execution of the agriculture plan was less than certain and added that other Schuler representatives would at some later point comment more on those issues.

Although the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation backs Ho’opili, opponents contend that the very land to be turned into neighborhoods is the most fertile on Oahu. If the development proceeds as planned, land being farmed in the area would reduce from today’s 1,500 acres to 1,300 acres in 2015, 698 acres in 2020 and, finally, 251 acres.

AS FOR traffic issues: Without rail, the wisdom of the ambitious $4.6 billion Ho’opili development — about the size of Mililani or Hawaii Kai — becomes more concerning. Ho’opili detractors have expressed worries about worsening traffic, which certainly would be true in the absence of the rail line. With rail envisioned between Kapolei and Ala Moana, development of the Ewa plain, as mapped by government planners years ago, makes sense.

Not surprisingly, the Makakilo-Kapolei-Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board voted unanimously in support of Ho’opili, as did leaders of two other nearby neighborhood boards of areas to benefit from Second City plans. Other support comes from sponsors of nearby projects in the Kapolei area, such as the University of Hawaii, Salvation Army and Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.

Ho’opili opponents include Friends of Makakilo, an organization led by longtime rail opponent Kioni Dudley, and the Sierra Club-Hawaii.

The commission put a stop to the Ho’opili plan in 2009 over a phasing issue, then agreed this July to re-examine the case. With the project retooled and hearings under way, the Schuler team needs to clarify agricultural components of the project, providing further persuasive reason that the loss of farmland involved is well worth the major element of the Second City.