COM 0042.061 2004-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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human resources of imagination, determination and hard work; and government can provide an environment that supports their efforts. In addition to the agricultural land uses relating to the growing of the products, agricultural land uses also include those relating to the packing, processing and manufacturing of the products, that may be more industrial in character, but are nevertheless agricultural. The agricultural industry may also need a variety of such industrial type uses that are dependent upon the specific processing requirements of the product. ]n light of the changes faced by commercial agriculture, the land use regulatory system must be examined to determine the adjustments required to allow the agricultural industry to make the change. [n agriculturally designated areas, both the State and County have established goals, objectives and policies that reflect a desire to promote agricultural activities as well as preserve and protect agricultural land. The County and State governments continue to explore possible changes to their respective land use regulatory system in response to the continuous changes occurring within the State's socio-economic climate. As agriculture's contribution to the State's economy since the days of sugar has declined, there has been a concurrent rise by tourism as the State's major source of income. The demise of the sugar industry on this island has resulted in thousands of acres of land being removed from productive agricultural use. At the same time, growth in the island's population has contributed towards increasing land costs. Agricultural land values have risen beyond their value for agricultural purposes. The high cost of agricultural land reflects non-agricultural uses and values rather than the value that maybe attributed to land if it were used as a resource for food and fiber production. Although there are many legitimate reasons for allowing zoning and use conversions of agricultural land, the increasing land values is one of the major problems that needs to be addressed to facilitate the expansion of agriculture. One of the key factors in adjusting to the changing socio-economic conditions is the restructuring of our land use regulatory system to distinguish between important agricultural land and other agricultural land. These distinctions should be made in the evaluative criteria for considering zone changes, permitted uses, minimum lot size requirements, and subdivision development standards. Rural-style residential-agricultural developments may include either new small-scale rural communities or extensions of existing rural communities. Such development provides opportunities for a mix of residential and small-scale agricultural activities. However, the primary intent of these developments would be to provide an added range to housing opportunities. Along with this housing, the large lots of these rural areas will provide opportunities for part-time agriculture, gardening activities and the raising of livestock on a small scale. By providing opportunities to satisfy the demand for a rural lifestyle on marginal agricultural land, the pressures to develop important agricultural land for these purposes would be decreased.