Planning

Many years of thought and effort have gone into planning Koa Ridge.  The resulting land use map for Koa Ridge sets a path to create a mixed-use community with a unique sense of place, where residents can live, work, and play in proximity to retail, services, health care, and community amenities.  Koa Ridge will feature generous landscaping and open space.  The new community will be one that is safe, modern, walkable, and bicycle-friendly, where residents can live, work, and recreate in a vibrant and healthy master-planned, sustainable community encompassing principles consistent with “smart growth.”

Vision

The values and principles shaping the project design grew out of a community visioning process that began in 2003 and included representatives of 53 community organizations and constituencies in Central O‘ahu.  In translating the values and principles to a tangible land use plan, we sought to provide a variety of housing types, elevate the place of pedestrians and bicyclists, create on-site employment opportunities, and employ development practices that minimize adverse environmental impacts.

Concept

The Koa Ridge Makai development encompasses 575 acres and will consist of 3,500 residential units, a mixed use higher density Village Center, a 28-acre medical center complex, commercial and light industrial uses, an elementary school, churches and community centers, and neighborhood and community parks.

Koa Ridge Makai will offer a range of housing styles and densities to accommodate residents of all ages and life stages.  Locating neighborhood parks, recreation centers, and pedestrian-oriented shopping and entertainment centers within easy walking distances of higher densities of residential populations will reduce dependence on automobile use.  The project will include bike lanes on major streets, pedestrian paths linking residential areas with community and commercial facilities, and streets designed to accommodate City buses—all features that will encourage alternative transportation modes for shorter trips within the community and promote active lifestyles.  The proposed medical complex, commercial, and light industrial areas provide substantial opportunities for on-site employment that offset the need for some residents to commute to metro Honolulu for work or health care.

Access

There will be three primary access ways to the Koa Ridge Makai project site:  Ka Uka Boulevard (two points of ingress/egress), a new Koa Ridge Interchange at the mauka end of the site at the Pineapple Road bridge, and a full service intersection at Kamehameha Highway on the south side of the property across from the CORP.  The main road through the project site is the Koa Ridge Parkway, which will extend through the site and connect Ka Uka Boulevard with the Koa Ridge Interchange at the mauka end of the site.  The Koa Ridge Medical Center will have frontage on the Parkway and the connector road to Kamehameha Highway, with an emergency vehicle access also anticipated from Ka Uka Boulevard.

Village Center

The focus of activity in Koa Ridge Makai will be the Village Center, which supports higher density housing developments and mixed-use buildings.  The Village Center is envisioned to be the social heart of the community providing day-to-day shopping, dining, entertainment, recreation, and learning within a unique, enhanced pedestrian environment.  The Village Green will be an open landscaped area extending through the Village Center, providing a place for gathering and community activities.  The Village Center may also include a church, community center, and a 150-room extended-stay hotel.  An on-site bus transit station will provide convenient access to bus lines and the future rail system.

Building heights in the Village Center are expected to be four stories or up to 60 feet high with the height stepping down to the surrounding residential neighborhoods and the community retail uses.   The medical center complex is expected to have the tallest buildings with a possible height of four to five stories or up to 75 feet.  The existing 138 kilovolt (kV) power lines that now cross the site will be relocated through the Village Center and then along the east side of the site along the H-2 Freeway.

Housing densities transition from greater intensity in the Village Center area to lower density, single family homes to the north.  A significant open space and pedestrian/bicycle trail network provides a wide variety of recreational opportunities for residents and other members of the Central O‘ahu community.  A network of “green streets” (i.e., wider rights-of-way to accommodate pedestrians and bicyclists, wider sidewalks, and enhanced landscaping) and a continuous bicycle and pedestrian system (portions of which will pass along the edge of Kīpapa Gulch) will link the neighborhoods and activity areas.  Near the proposed Koa Ridge Interchange, a small area of commercial use will be integrated with a mixed use development to serve the residential community at the mauka end of the site.

Land Use Allocation

The general land use allocation illustrated on the Master Land Use Plan is described below:

Low Density Residential (LDR)

These are primarily single family detached homes on varying lot sizes.  Densities range from six to nine dwelling units per acre.  These areas will also include neighborhood parks and private common area parks that serve as focal points and activity centers of the community.

Medium Density Residential (MDR)

Planned to be adjacent to the Village Center and other retail and commercial uses, these medium density districts would include townhouses, row houses, stacked flats, and live-work residential units.  Densities could range from 14 to 25 dwelling units per acre.

Mixed Use & High Density Residential (HDR)

Mixed Use and High Density Residential uses are planned within the Village Center.  Mixed Use districts could include commercial and retail uses with office or residential uses above ground floor businesses.  High Density Residential areas include elevator served multi-family buildings of up to four stories.  Residential densities could range from 25 to 45 dwelling units per acre.

Commercial and Light Industrial (CI)

Retail, commercial, and light industrial districts are included to serve the neighborhoods and surrounding communities and to provide a variety of employment opportunities within Koa Ridge Makai.  These Retail and Commercial uses are located to be conveniently accessed from the regional transportation corridors.

Community (C)

Community amenities, such as community centers and churches, will be included within Koa Ridge Makai to help fulfill the core values of creating gathering places and providing for a multi-generational community.

Medical Center (M)

The Koa Ridge Medical Center Complex is intended to provide comprehensive primary and secondary care medical services to residents of Central O‘ahu and North Shore.  It could also incorporate and build upon the acute care services at Wahiawa General Hospital at a site that is accessible to regional transportation corridors, population, and employment centers.

The planning horizon for the health services component is 2015 for initial opening, with continued growth and development planned through 2025 and beyond.  Long range forecasts indicate a need for the Koa Ridge Medical Center complex to maintain capacity for future growth as the health services mature and its service population continues to grow and age.

The programs listed below represent a comprehensive range of Koa Ridge Medical Center services that are supported by health services demand forecasts.  Although all of the services and facilities listed may not ultimately be developed at Koa Ridge, they are described here and addressed in this EIS to disclose the maximum potential impacts of the medical center complex.  Some of the uses are subject to a State Certificate of Need approval.

• 100-bed acute care hospital, with site capacity to expand to 120+ beds to accommodate future growth through 2025.
• Inpatient and outpatient ambulatory care services which can include emergency services, diagnostic imaging, inpatient and ambulatory surgery, endoscopy and minor procedures, and other diagnostic and treatment services required for a full service hospital, including lab, rehabilitation, pulmonary function, cardiac testing, etc.
• Medical office building to house 40-60 physicians, with the site capacity to expand as demand grows.
• Skilled nursing facility with 100 to 150 beds.

Parks (P)

A Community Park of approximately 19 acres is located on the eastern edge of Koa Ridge Makai and will include active ball fields, play courts, comfort station, and parking areas.  The Community Park site will be dedicated to the City and County of Honolulu.  Integral to the establishment and identity of neighborhoods, a variety of smaller parks of approximately 1/2 to 1-1/2 acres in size are planned (not depicted in Figure 2-1).  A neighborhood park will be located within walking distance of most residents.

School (S)

A site for a 12-acre elementary school is centrally located within Koa Ridge Makai.

Open Spaces / Buffers (OS)

A variety of open space areas are planned along the edges of the site, both along the H-2 Freeway and the western property boundary.  Pedestrian and bikeways will connect these open spaces--which also provide a buffer to the freeway--with the surrounding neighborhoods.