HALE'IWA — A tiny rural neighborhood could be in for dramatic change as adjoining agricultural landowners consider development options that may bring hundreds of new neighbors traveling down their narrow road.

Homeowners on Kilioe Place, across the highway from the North Shore Marketplace, say they do not oppose new homes in their midst. But they are worried about the possibility of increased traffic on their 15-home cul de sac that has been a dead-end road for more than 30 years.

Kilioe Place residents were shocked last month when they returned home from work one Friday to find that without notice, a bulldozer had plowed through the curb of their dead-end street and created a gravel road into an adjoining 3.5-acre property.

"We bought our homes under the assumption that we were living on a cul de sac," said Mary Chun, a 30-year Kilioe resident. "They made it into a through street."

After frantic calls, a series of meetings and complaints to the city, residents learned that Castle & Cooke was preparing the 3.5-acre parcel for sale and that access from Kilioe Place was necessary.

The city cited Castle & Cooke for working without a permit.

Castle & Cooke spokesman Carleton Ching said the land-owner has a prospective buyer who is interested in developing housing. The land would be sold as agricultural, and the new owner would have to seek rezoning if it planned on a nonagricultural use.

Pockets of development have raised the ire of North Shore residents for decades as the area wrestles with growth while trying to maintain its rural lifestyle.

The small group of homeowners aren't trying to stop new housing. They just want to maintain their quiet dead-end street, said Deanna Smith, a 25-year resident there. The residents already face traffic problems, but the land sale could make things worse, she said, suggesting that the solution is to use nearby Achiu Lane.

"In the wintertime, during surf season, it's almost impossible to get out of our street," Smith said.

Castle & Cooke owns about 7 acres of ag land off Kilioe, including the 3.5 acres for sale. The potential for housing development is great, Smith said.

"We're trying to fight ... all the guys with big, deep pockets of money, and we're 15 little homeowners," Smith said. " ... I don't think anybody has thought through the traffic issue. We're going to have another Kapolei and 'Ewa Beach, where there's one road in and one road out."

Achiu Lane is a private road owned by the Kamehameha Schools. Kamehameha has said it plans to develop about 360 residential units, including townhomes and single-family houses, on some of its Achiu Lane property.

Achiu Lane is a substandard road and would have to be improved before it can become a public road, said Kekoa Paulsen, a Kamehameha spokesman, but he added that the school would be open to talks and plans to meet with community groups before building.

"We're not pushing (the homes) hard," he said. "We have other priorities. Residential and commercial in (Hale'iwa) town are slated for five, 10 years out."

Historically, people have used Achiu Lane to get to the 3.5-acre parcel. But legally, the Castle & Cooke property must have access from a public road, Ching said. However, the new owner could pursue access through Achiu, he said.