Creation of a Second City in West Oahu has been going on for decades — and now, with extensive communities thriving west of Fort Weaver Road and venerable Waipahu to the right, the linkage to complete the controlled-growth vision emerges with the proposed $4.6 billion Ho‘opili project. A hefty price would be paid in the loss of high-quality farmland — but the early argument for Ho‘opili is persuasive.
Two years ago, the state Land Use Commission rejected D.R. Horton-Schuler Homes’ proposal to change the zoning at Ho‘opili from agricultural to urban because the developer didn’t adequately phase its 20-year development plan. The company now has resubmitted its petition, which this time includes 251 acres of "civic farms," "community gardens" and potential "residential steward farms" within the 1,554-acre project.
The rail transit planned between eastern Kapolei and Ala Moana would go through Ho‘opili, which is an important consideration. Two transit stations are planned within the property, and Horton-Schuler officials say these could easily be reached afoot from most of the 11,750 homes to be built over 20 years. The company also would give land to the state Department of Education for the building of five schools, beginning with a badly needed high school.
Still, the state Department of Transportation two years ago had unresolved concerns about the project. On a scale of A to F, the latter being gridlock, the department gave it only a "D" rating, even with the most optimistic rail projections. That potential has resulted in opposition by some residents of Makakilo, Kapolei and Ewa Beach who already are angry because of traffic congestion.
In refiling its petition, Ho‘opili’s developer expressed certainty that its traffic mitigation plans will satisfy the Transportation Department. Let’s hope this boldness is backed with true solutions for wary area commuters as hearings unfold before the commission in the next several months.
Indeed, opponents of Ho‘opili are already planning to argue that it would worsen the traffic bottleneck without rebuilding of the H-1/H-2 merge. Still, traffic congestion would be even worse if needed housing were to be shifted to other locations on the Ewa Plain, far away from planned rail transit stops.
The population of the extended Kapolei region is expected to reach 200,000 in the next 20 years and the number of Kapolei jobs is projected to number 63,680 by 2025. That will not be a Honolulu suburb for most families but a Second City, although many people are likely to commute in one direction or the other. Also emerging nearby are the long-awaited University of Hawaii West Oahu campus and more Department of Hawaiian Home Lands housing.
Opponents of Ho‘opili argue that it will shut down several farms, including the 1,100-acre Aloun Farms, the second-largest diversified fruit and vegetable farm in the state. It is prime agricultural land they would hate to see paved over, as several farmlands have been lost to the creation of Mililani, Waipio, Village Park and other communities on the Ewa Plain. If the state is as serious about food sustainability as it is about smart development, this must be addressed. Together with the developer, it needs to embark on a vigorous exploration for farm relocation tracts, rather than simple eviction.
For its part, Horton-Schuler has improved its project over the one from two years ago by alloting the 251 acres, or 16 percent of Ho‘opili, for farming. It’s even shrewdly brought aboard Nalo Farms’ Dean Okimoto as an agricultural consultant.
The state Constitution calls for promotion of diversified agriculture, but recognition of that importance should not dictate zoning policy in all cases. Despite the loss of this prime farmland, the growth-policy big picture affirms that Ho‘opili is the logical site of new housing needed over the next two decades, accommodating Oahu’s population growth along the rail line. Now comes the tough assurance that the many elements of that picture are focused well.
