HAWAI'I KAI — More than 200 people jammed a school cafeteria last night, most in opposition to a developer's plan to build vacation cabins along one of the last remaining undeveloped stretches of O'ahu coastline.

In its first public presentation, QRM and Westwood Development Group said the proposed projects near the Hawai'i Kai Golf Course are designed to provide recreational opportunities and vacation cabins for East Ho-nolulu residents.

The firm first announced its plans Saturday in a press statement, said Aaron Eberhardt, director of development for Westwood Development.

The standing-room-only crowd last night voiced its opposition during Eberhardt's presentation to a Hawai'i Kai Neighborhood Board meeting at Haha'ione Elementary School. The board voted unanimously to oppose the firm's plans for 180 vacation cabins and recreation facilities.

The board also will submit a request to the city asking that an evening public hearing be held in the community on the company's request for a conditional use permit.

"The purpose of tonight is to present to the community a preliminary conceptual program for these two sites that we have control over," Eberhardt said. "Prior to creating anything hard-set and getting too far down the line, we wanted to come before the neighborhood board and make a presentation."

The development firm is proposing to build vacation cabins on two parcels of land — one above the Hawai'i Kai Golf Course and another mauka of the Ka Iwi shoreline. The cabins would be a secondary use to recreational activities, and that is allowed under city zoning laws.

The projects are called Ma'auwai and Queen's Rise. Ma'auwai would be accessed from Mokuhanu Street in Kalama Valley, and Queen's Rise would be accessed from Kalaniana'ole Highway.

"This is a resort development that is turning the land-use designation on its ear," said Hawai'i Kai resident Phil Estermann, one of the key organizers of a movement in the late 1980s that blocked a housing development across from Sandy Beach. "It's an insult to the community to propose this kind of development."

Estermann vowed to reactivate the Save Sandy Beach Coalition in an effort to keep any development out of the area. A community meeting will be called in a few weeks to educate the community on the development, Estermann said.

QRM's plans call for two full-service outdoor recreational activity centers, cabins of about 800 square feet — the size of a typical one-bedroom condominium — with entry gardens and covered lanai and "unobstructed ocean and mountain views," according to the company's prepared statement.

"It's still in the conceptual stage," Eberhardt said. "The details are not finalized yet."

The development is on land with a preservation zoning. Under city land-use laws, vacation cabins are allowed on preservation-zoned land but must be a secondary use to recreation.

The company plans to build hiking and mountain biking trails, rock climbing areas, and swimming, tennis and volleyball facilities.The cabins will take up only about 3 percent of the two pieces of land that total about 181 acres, the company said.

"I think you are taking us for a ride with this eco-tourism kind of thing," said Greg Knudsen, a Hawai'i Kai Neighborhood Board member. "I can't make any distinction between this development and some kind of resort hotel.

"It's a pristine, serene environment and it would be totally lost with this kind of development."

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com.