Pearl Harbor has been all but dismissed as the next home for the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, whose destination is expected to be announced in April or May.

But U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Defense subcommittee, recently said there are other carriers that could be moved to Hawai'i. And new ones are being built.

His staff noted that a Hawai'i basing plan could involve a carrierlike amphibious assault ship with Marines, Harrier jump jets and helicopters.

Hawai'i would "be a natural" for a new aircraft carrier, Inouye said. Strategically, a flattop could get to potential hot-spots like the Taiwan Strait faster from Pearl Harbor than the West Coast.

Hawai'i's senior senator also maintains that the Navy should retain land at Kalaeloa for the possibility of an air wing.

The Navy should have discussions regarding the transfer of land at the former naval air station, "but the airfield must be available for the carrier air wing — if you are going to have a carrier based here," Inouye said. "Right now, that's the major air base that's available. Kane'ohe is another, Kona is another."

A plan advocated in the past by Inouye was to parcel out a carrier's 85 or so aircraft at various airfields to reduce noise and impact.

A possible amphibious assault ship relocation would be years off, and it would be even longer for the movement of an existing or new carrier.

KALAELOA PLAN IN LIMBO

Inouye's suggestion for Kalaeloa, meanwhile, adds another wrinkle and possible delay to the already long-stalled redevelopment of the shuttered Barbers Point Naval Air Station.

"It doesn't shock me as much as it's just the unknown part," said Mike Golojuch, vice chairman for the Makakilo/Kapolei /Honokai Hale neighborhood board. "The longer we have to wait (for Navy plans), the less people know what uses can or can't be done on certain aspects of that property."

The state agency guiding redevelopment at Kalaeloa, the Hawai'i Community Development Authority, in March adopted a revised master plan that envisions repopulating the 3,709-acre base with 6,350 homes, a 7,000-job business district, new schools, parks, roads and mass-transit depot.

Few major revisions were made to a draft plan presented to the community last year. Gov. Linda Lingle approved the plan in August.

A GHOST TOWN IN NEED

Since its closure in 1999, large portions of the base have become a militaristic ghost town in need of costly infrastructure repairs that present a major roadblock to redevelopment.

The new 20-year plan hinges on attracting private investment to help pay for colossal infrastructure upgrades to the old base.

An estimated $3.35 billion is needed to realize the plan, including $550 million to improve roads, water utilities, electrical systems and other infrastructure.

The Navy retained approximately 1,055 acres at Kalaeloa. Of that, 424 acres have beach cabins, a golf course and other uses. Another 132 acres with housing have been sold.

The latest Defense Authorization Act includes a requirement for the Navy to sell or lease 499 acres in the mauka portion of Kalaeloa by Sept. 30, 2008.

The base closure identified 2,654 acres to be conveyed, and 1,535 acres of that have been turned over to a variety of governmental entities. A total of 1,119 acres are pending disposal, the Navy said. The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, for example, is set to receive about 277 acres under the dispersal.

The possible need to accommodate an aircraft carrier air wing was one of the issues the Navy needed to resolve before it could continue with the land conveyances, said Stanton Enomoto, director of planning and development for Kalaeloa.

The redevelopment plan for Kalaeloa took into account the possibility of an air wing, and Enomoto said the two can co-exist, with some caveats.

"The sort of caveats on that statement are the kinds of aircraft and the size or availability of land the Navy needs to retain at Kalaeloa to support its operations," he said.

PLUSES AND MINUSES

Golojuch said there are pluses and minuses to having part of a carrier air wing at Kalaeloa.

"People always complain about noise," he said. "But truthfully, I lived there when the (Navy's propeller-driven P-3 Orions) were flying in and out, and I know an air wing is a little different, but I don't think too many people were concerned about that because most of the time they took off to sea."

The active airport, used by the Coast Guard among others, has three runways.

Enomoto said Inouye's latest carrier comments were news to him, but he said flexibility has been the planning watchword.

In the meantime, development continues to encroach on the former air base.

If there is some Navy re-use, the service "is going to need to be cognizant of not only what HCDA's plans are, but what's happening in the surrounding region and integrate that into the distribution of an air wing," Enomoto said.

"Everyone's curious," he added. "But until there is some official decision made (about the Navy's use), I think people are still a little cautious about wanting to get in."

NO COMMENT FROM NAVY

The Navy said it could not comment on Inouye's desire to keep the air wing option at Kalaeloa.

State officials had been looking at the possibility that the nuclear-powered carrier USS Carl Vinson, formerly based in Bremerton, Wash., might be based at Pearl Harbor after a reactor refueling and overhaul are completed in late 2008.

Inouye, however, has said the cost for basing a carrier in Hawai'i currently is too prohibitive. One estimate placed the price at $2.2 billion.

"Right now, Bremerton, I would say from my standpoint, is in the lead (for the USS Vinson) because our funds are limited," Inouye said. "The war in Iraq is costing us a bundle every day, and at this rate, we have no plan to resolve this — I don't know how long we're going to be there, and then we're concerned about North Korea and Iran."

Of the five carriers in the Pacific, two are based in San Diego, and one each is in Bremerton and Everett, Wash. Another is in Yokosuka, Japan.

The Navy in February said it intended to keep at least six aircraft carriers in the Pacific over the next two decades under a defense road map called the Quadrennial Defense Review. The Carl Vinson will be the sixth.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.