COM 1051.000 2022-2024 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Heather Kimball, Council Chair and Members of the County Council County of Hawaii September 09, 2024 Page 3 ground are not suitable for commercial scale agriculture. Soils within the property are identified as Puuikaaka-Lava flows complex, 10 to 20 percent slopes; permeability is rapid and runoff is very high. This soil type is not suitable for cultivation. The Land Study Bureaus Detailed Land Classification System identifies soils of the property as "E" or "Very Poor" soil for agricultural productivity. Lastly, soils in within the subject property as identified as "Other Important Agricultural Land", which include lands other than Prime or Unique Agricultural Land that is also of statewide or local importance for agricultural use. In this instance, the applicant seeks a zoning change to subdivide the property into four lots for transfer to family members. This transfer can be beneficial as it allows the land to remain within the family and family members may be more likely to engage in cooperative farming practices or small-scale agricultural uses that align with their interests and capabilities, preserving some level of agricultural activity on the land. Additionally, this approach can provide housing opportunities for family members, supporting multi - generational living arrangements that can enhance family support and community stability. The Kona Community Development Plan (CDP) also identifies the property as partially in the urban area and partially within the rural area. The CDP has distinct land use policies for each of these areas but for both, the overarching policy is to concentrate new development within existing villages. This approach aims to prevent the historical trend of rural and urban sprawl resulting from subdividing agricultural lands into smaller parcels. In the urban areas, the policies of the CDP strongly encourage new development within compact villages along proposed primary transit routes known as Transit Oriented Developments (TOD's), or as Traditional Neighborhood Developments (TND's) along secondary transit routes. Infill developments, which are new developments adjacent to existing urban properties, are also encouraged. Rezoning of lands that do not qualify as Infill or TOD/TND developments are considered "greenfield" developments, which require an amendment of the CDP before they can be approved (see Policy LU-2.8). In the rural areas, the CDP policies promote new development within the existing rural areas of Holualoa, Honalo, Kainaliu, Kealakekua, Captain Cook, Honaunau, Napo`opo`o, Kealia and Miloli`i. While Kalaoa is not included as a rural village in the CDP, possibly due to the lack of a clear commercial center or because the Kalaoa mauka area is viewed as an extension of the Kona urban area rather than a distinct village and is identified as a general location of a TOD. The land use polices for rural areas in the CDP are less clear than those for urban area and in some cases policies directly conflict one another or do not clearly indicate whether they are suggestions or requirements. For example, the following sections of the Kona CDP support a rural clustered land use pattern for all lands outside the rural villages (emphasis added):