KAWAILOA — A plan to subdivide more than six acres of land near Waimea Bay has raised concerns, and a public meeting on the issue will be held this month.

The Burger family wants to break up their land into 23 parcels, keeping one section to renovate or rebuild a family home that belonged to their late grandmother, Lorna Hau'olilani Awai Burger.

The land is zoned R5, which means it can be split into 5,000 square-foot residential lots. It will be subdivided into lots from 7,500 square feet to 10,000 square feet, said D.G. "Andy" Anderson, an adviser to the family. An earlier plan had called for 25 lots but the owners are combining lots 23, 24 and 25 for their own use, Anderson said.

"It's really just an old Hawaiian family trying to utilize their land," he said.

New subdivisions are rare on the North Shore mostly because there are few R5 properties available. The last subdivision developed was Sunset Beach Colony at Velzyland surf beach, which received its Special Management Area Use permit for 29 lots in 2001. Homes are still being constructed there.

"I think the community as a whole really needs to look at all the options to see if this would be a favorable thing for the community," said Renee Webb, a real estate agent. "We may discover that it is, in light of the fact that we're short on homes."

Anderson said he knows of only one neighbor who opposes the project because it would increase the density of the neighborhood.

Mineko Zeidlhack, who owns 3/4 of an acre next to the Burgers, said she purchased her property to get away from close neighbors and the Burger plan will put a home right up against her property.

She cited traffic concerns, safety issues, potential environmental pollution and threats to archaeological sites.

Bumper to bumper traffic has become normal for the North Shore in recent years and this subdivision could add 50 more cars to the traffic, increasing safety concerns, Zeidlhack said. She is also concerned about runoff to nearby Waimea Bay and the heiau and petroglyphs nearby, she said.

"It's such a big impact on such a small area," Zeidlhack said.

Warren Scoville, who represents the area on the North Shore Neighborhood Board, said he is concerned that the public hearing will be held in the middle of the day when most people are working.

"I'm not against development," Scoville said. "I sure would like to see half as many lots as they're proposing. I think 99 percent of the people who know about this project would like to see 10 or 12 lots."

He said not much can be done to stop the project, but he would like to see deceleration and turning lanes for the subdivision and he wondered if the new homes would have a central wastewater system.

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.