Koa Ridge

From dKosopedia

Koa Ridge is a master-planned residential community in central Oahu by Hawaii's 11th-wealthiest landowner, Castle & Cooke. Still in it's planning stages, Koa Ridge is opposed by the Sierra Club Hawaii Chapter and the Mililani Neighborhood Board. Koa Ridge's effect on the local aquifer, on freeway traffic into Honolulu and the loss of agricultural land on which the development would sit are not high priorty for Castle & Cooke or the state and county planning agencies that were eager to approve the plans, opponents say.

The 6,000-to-7,500-home Central O‘ahu development consists of three subdivisions:

Koa Ridge Makai on 572 acres, 1,247 homes.
Waiawa on 191 acres, 1,100 homes.
Koa Ridge Mauka on 486 acres, 3,000 homes.

In 2002, the Land Use Commission approved the zoning change from agricutural to urban designation for the Koa Ridge Makai and Waiawa areas. These two parcels encompass 763 acres and are expected to have approximately 3,000-4,500 units. The 486-acre Mauka parcel sits outside the Urban Growth Boundary, the line on the map broadly identifying areas that are either safe from or subject to potential development. Koa Ridge Mauka did not recieve LUC approval for a zoning change.

In September 2003, Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Hifo ruled that the Land Use Commission erred by reclassifying the Koa Ridge site from agriculture to urban before the developer had completed a formal environmental review.