The Honolulu Planning Commission voted 6-0 Wednesday to recommend that the City Council approve the 11,750-unit Hoopili project in the Ewa plains.

The Council will likely begin deliberations on the large-scale project in January, a city official said.

The project has been contentious since it was first conceived years ago, and more than half of those who gave oral testimony before the commission at its meeting Wednesday in Kapolei said they oppose it.

The key concerns raised are that the project sits on 1,289 acres of farmland identified as prime agricultural land, and the potential traffic burden being placed between Waipahu, Ewa and Kapolei.

Supporters of the project say it will act to increase the woefully inadequate housing inventory as well as construction and trade jobs.

An appeal of a state Land Use Commission approval of the project brought by the Sierra Club Oahu Chapter is pending before the Hawaii Supreme Court.