Three projects designed to bring 6,500 homes and 7,420 jobs to West Kapolei breezed through a preliminary approval of the City Council Zoning Committee on Tuesday, but not before a lively discussion on whether the city's $3.7 billion rail project is critical for their viability.

Moving out of the Zoning Committee were the 4,100-home Makaiwa Hills project, the 2,400-unit townhome Kapolei West and the 345-acre Kapolei Harborside light industrial and business park.

The three rezoning bills now go back to the full council in the coming weeks for the second of three votes.

Officials with Kapolei Property Development Co., a subsidiary of the James Campbell Co., stressed that their three projects will bring more jobs than housing units.

That means more jobs for West O'ahu residents and less of a need for people to commute between Honolulu and Kapolei, said David Rae, Kapolei Property Development senior vice president.

About 22 percent of Kapolei residents work in Kapolei and 78 percent of those who don't would like to, Rae said.

Rae said Kapolei Property Development and the Campbell Co. has always backed mass transit "as part of the entire (development) picture."

A 16-acre site in downtown Kapolei is to be handed over to the city and is being eyed as a transit center, Rae said.

Steve Kelly, Kapolei Property Development's director of development, said the traffic analysis assumed that the three projects' traffic situation was acceptable without any consideration to a mass transit project.

Councilman Todd Apo, who represents the Kapolei region, said he buys that theory.

"In these zonings there are more jobs being created than residential units," Apo said after the meeting. "I don't think we've ever seen a major proposed residential zoning that's had that type of situation. While mass transit remains important to Kapolei being a true second city, for these rezonings, I think you're dealing with transportation in an entirely different way."

During the meeting, however, Councilman Gary Okino was more skeptical.

"I really think that mass transit is absolutely essential for your project," said Okino, who, like Apo, has been a strong proponent of the city's rail project.

Historically, a secondary urban center can employ only about 25 percent of its residents, requiring the rest to go elsewhere, Okino said.

"As you continue to build your community, you're going to have gridlock going both ways," he said. "To me, mass transit is really essential. I'm really concerned that if we don't have mass transit, we're going to have a massive problem."

David Tanoue, the city's deputy director of planning and permitting, said the Hannemann administration supports the three projects because they are the "next step" of development for Kapolei.

As for what happens to the future growth of Kapolei if the city does not move forward with a mass transit project, Tanoue said "we'll have to cross that bridge when we get to it."

A number of labor officials and neighborhood board members testified in favor of the project.