The state Land Use Commission approved D.R. Horton’s Hoopili project on Friday in an 8-1 vote. 

It’s a landmark decision for D.R. Horton, which has been trying for six years to advance its plans for a 12,000-home master-planned community on what is now agricultural land in Ewa. Watch a video of the final vote and the crowd’s reaction here.

Just yesterday, the LUC approved a similar reclassification of ag land to urban development land for the 5,000-home Koa Ridge project. 

As Civil Beat reported yesterday, the approval of Koa Ridge and Hoopili come at a time when the Honolulu rail project is in limbo, with two pending court cases and a mayoral race in which a top contender has vowed to kill the project. The public transportation project is intended to lessen the rate at which cars are added to the road. 

Hawaii was recently ranked as having the worst traffic in the country, beating out Los Angeles.  

Read our related Hoopili coverage: 

• Hoopili Symbolizes Direction of Oahu’s Future