The flap over a plan to build 102 new homes in Waimanalo on Department of Hawaiian Home Lands property signals that future conflicts are sure to arise as the state increasingly weighs demands for housing against the desire to preserve key agricultural lands.

It also highlights the crucial need for a more comprehensive approach to planning and development, one that takes the long-term view to ensure all the puzzle pieces fit and moves us closer to the goal of creating a "sustainable" Hawai'i.

Viewed in isolation, the five-acre project between Kumuhau and Kaka'ina streets is entirely defensible. The site borders other affordable homes, with public utilities already in place. For an agency like DHHL, which is not exactly rolling in cash, it's important to take advantage of existing facilities where possible.

DHHL is under pressure to winnow the enormous backlog of applicants for Hawaiian homesteading leases, so it's understandable that it has seized this opportunity to make the most of its investment.

But some residents are concerned that the impulse to "keep the country country" and to support farming is being lost.

The department's regional plan for Waimanalo cites the city's Ko'olaupoko Sustainable Communities Plan, which calls for "maintaining agricultural land uses for flower growing, aquaculture, livestock production and other types of diversified agriculture, while placing limits on new housing."

Even after the Kumuhau /Kaka'ina areas were redesignated for housing, active farming continued on short-term leases. The housing project would rid the area of illegal dumping and other nuisance activity, tipping the balance toward housing as the best use of these particular parcels.

But, in fact, farming interest remains high. Those agricultural interests deserve encouragement in future plans.

For example, DHHL has eyed much larger areas deeper in the valley for future acquisitions, and their potential for agriculture should be given significant weight.

Hawai'i's leaders talk about re-energizing agriculture as part of a quest for "sustainability." All state agencies must work cooperatively to realize the state's larger dream of a healthy, diversified agricultural industry.