PUPUKEA — Success is at hand in a long-standing effort to save more than 1,000 acres of open land that overlooks some of the world's most famous surf beaches.

By early next year, groups and residents who have fought since the late 1980s against development at Pupukea-Paumalu can expect to see that land — 1,129 acres — in the hands of state and city parks departments.

A purchase contract for almost $8 million has been signed, and the state and the city are taking up zoning changes that are a condition of the deal. Once the zoning changes are complete, the sale will go forward.

"It's been a roller-coaster ride," said Blake McElheny, chairman of the North Shore Community Land Trust, which raised about $1 million for the land purchase and, with The Trust for Public Land, helped spearhead the effort. "It's been a long journey. All the pieces are lined up and everyone is working together."

It wasn't always that way.

Japanese development company Obayashi Corp. purchased the Pupukea land, situated above Sunset Beach Elementary School, in 1974 for $7 million.

In the late 1980s, the company unveiled a plan for the Lihi Lani subdivision, which included 315 one- to three-acre lots, 50 affordable housing units, stables, a campground and an 80-unit elderly housing site.

Despite community protest, the City Council approved the company's plan, with conditions, in 1995.

But then the Save Sunset Beach Coalition and Life of the Land sued to block Lihi Lani. A state judge rejected their challenge in 1998, and the Hawai'i Supreme Court agreed in 2003 that the city had properly applied the law. Meanwhile, the company put the land up for sale in 2002, asking $12 million.

After spending millions to develop a plan and fight the lawsuits, the company had decided against moving ahead, said Al Itamoto, executive vice president for Obayashi Hawaii. By 2002, the company realized it had to re-engineer its plan, construction costs were on the rise, sales were uncertain and more approvals would have to be sought.

"The board of directors of the company just felt it was too risky to put more money into that project," Itamoto said.

BUYING THE LAND

The decision generated concern in the community and resulted in the formation of the North Shore Community Land Trust to try to buy the land.

Little did members know that The Trust for Public Land had already gotten involved and may have contributed to Obayashi's decision to put the land up for sale, McElheny said. The North Shore Community Land Trust contacted The Trust for Public Land and the groups began the process of finding money to finance a purchase, he said.

The Trust for Public Land worked with community groups and state, city and federal government agencies to obtain the funding and negotiate a purchase contract that was signed last summer.

Several people said singer Jack Johnson's visit to the corporate office in Japan in the summer of 2005 turned the tide on the negotiations, but Johnson said it was a community effort.

Johnson, who grew up in Pupukea and still lives on the North Shore, said McElheny should get the credit for finalizing the effort. It was McElheny who asked Johnson to visit Obayashi in Japan when he was on tour.

"Blake deserves all the credit," Johnson said. "He's the unsung hero on this thing."

ANOTHER VICTORY

The saving of Pupukea will mark another big win for the North Shore. This year, residents, government and local and state agencies negotiated the purchase of the 1,875-acre Waimea Falls Park for $14 million after six years of trying.

Meanwhile, another controversial proposed development in Pupukea — the $17 million Pupukea Village shopping complex across from Sharks Cove — has died.

Tom Applegate, president of project developer Honu Group, said the company will not proceed with its plan to build a 53-store center with underground parking.

The plan generated widespread opposition in the community when it was unveiled in 2004.

"Typically we're fairly well received in the community but when there's so many differences of opinions and so many things going on, we just go somewhere else," Applegate said.

Concerns remain, however, over a proposed Turtle Bay expansion. Kuilima Resort Co. recently obtained tentative subdivision approval and won a court case that upheld its right to move forward without updating an environmental analysis.

Residents fear that the expansion, which could add as many as five new hotels to the area, will bring traffic and other environmental problems. But supporters believe more jobs in the community will help the area prosper.

Specific plans for the Pupukea-Paumalu land have not been finalized. The state will obtain most of the land mauka of the school, and the city will get about 25 to 28 acres adjacent to the park near the school.

LOOKING FOR PARTNER

The North Shore Community Land Trust wants to partner with the city and state to get the community onto the property and to steward the land, said McElheny, chairman of the trust. On the higher elevations, the property abuts the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts camp, and the trust thinks the school and the Scouts could benefit right away from the use of those lands, he said.

"Those are real natural fits right off the bat. To be working with the schools and the Scouts makes it really exciting for a lot of people to know that young people will be able to access the property," he said.

Other proposals for the land include native plant restoration and cultural interpretation, he said.

The contracted price for the land is $7.95 million and the total collected is nearly $8.67 million, some of which will be used for stewardship of the land, said Lea Hong, Hawaiian Island Program director for The Trust for Public Land.

After nearly 20 years, the community accomplished what looked to be an impossible goal, Hong said.

"Persistence can pay off when the community and the landowner and public agencies work together," she said.

"Our community will be ever grateful to Obayashi once the deal closes for their willingness to take on such an important initiative that benefits so many people," McElheny said. "What a great landowner. What a great legacy they're leaving."

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.