A state commission decided today to allow a developer to amend its long-pending plan for turning 1,554 acres of Ewa farmland into a community called Hoopili with 11,750 homes.

The OK by the state Land Use Commission followed a nearly two-year halt in the case, and essentially allows the local Schuler Division of Texas-based developer D.R. Horton to present its case to the commission again.

There was some debate and testimony over whether Schuler should be allowed to proceed after adding project phasing to its petition.

In August 2009 the commission, in a 5-3 vote, deemed Schuler’s original petition deficient because it didn’t adequately split the project into phases.

LUC members voted 9-0 today to allow the case to resume.

The commission is expected to allow a more-or-less entirely new presentation of the case, with opportunities for public testimony and consideration of new elements added to the Hoopili master plan.