Castle & Cooke Homes’ large-scale and controversial Koa Ridge project between Waipio and Mililani will be the subject of a special meeting of the City Council Zoning and Planning Committee on Thursday night.
The meeting will be at 6 p.m. at the Leeward Community College Campus Center Student Lounge in Pearl City.
Committee Chairman Ikaika Anderson said he is responding to requests that the major rezoning issue be given a public hearing in the area that would be affected by the project.
Bill 48 would rezone 576 acres of former agricultural land just north of Ka Uka Boulevard and the Waipio Costco, allowing for up to 3,500 residential units.
The project is the largest housing development to come before the Council since the 1,700-acre, 4,100-unit Makaiwa Hills project in Makakilo, which won zoning approval in 2008.
Planned for Koa Ridge besides a mix of homes are a new medical facility, a commercial center, an elementary school, parks and possibly a hotel.
About $100 million in traffic improvements is expected, including construction of a new H-2 freeway interchange at Pineapple Road.
The project has drawn heavy opposition from the Sierra Club Oahu Group and others who argue the development would bring urban sprawl to one of the last green belts between Honolulu and Mililani on what is fertile agricultural land.
Opponents also question the impact a project the size of Koa Ridge would have on the commutes of Central Oahu residents when the city’s $5.26 billion rail project’s nearest station is miles from it.
The city Planning Commission gave preliminary approval to rezone the property from agriculture to mixed urban use in July.
Koa Ridge won land reclassification from agricultural to urban use from the state Land Use Commission in June 2012.
A second phase of Koa Ridge, not included in this rezoning request but part of the LUC approval, calls for 1,500 more homes and an elementary school.
