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421 Lama St Mauna Kea Banana HII°, HI 96720 ~r""•,77 ~nC' Fax99810075fi Cell 960 1057 November 7, 2005 County Council Committee of Planning Co Chairs: Pete Hoffman K. Angel Pilago Councilmen; Re: County Council Bill 148 pertaining to Ag tourism rezoning: I am against the proposed bill because it is so restrictive that it will be difficult to profitably conduct ag tourism on our farm. This bill may work for those types of ag products that have high value and/or have long shelf life, such as coffee, vanilla, cocoa, tea, etc. But, it does not work for farmers who grow real food that is typically low value and short shelf life. Last year, we had a meeting with Norwegian Cruise Lines to out line our proposal for an ag tour along the Hamakua Coast. Norwegian Cruise Line expected 30% percent of the tour cost and after adding the cost of renting the van and driver there was no proft left for the farm, let alone trying to get a few farmers together so that the tour would be interesting. In order for ag tourism to work, the farmer must be able to sell the tourists something so that it is worth his time. At the minimum, the farmer needs to be able to sell hot and cold drinks, microwaveable food, various souvenirs not being restricted just to farm specific topics. There is only so much bananas and tomatoes that the visitors will buy There is a reason that ag tours is hardly done. One cannot make any money at it. Under the present proposal, the farmer would rather farm than waste time escorting people around for nothing. The Hilo Farmers Market is made up of a lot of vendors. But, most of the vendors do not grow all the products they sell. This is because farmers cannot afford to sit there all day hoping to make a hundred dollars or so from products that they actually grow. We tried it several years ago and it was not worth it. Instead we now sell our #2 bananas and #2 tomatoes to vendors who trade with each other for warabi, bamboo shoots, etc., to get the product mix that make economic sense. This is the same reason that farmers hardly do ag tours. If they cannot make money they won't do it. This bill restricts the dollar amount of business that can be done to 50% of revenue from the primary and adjacent parcel. But, farmers sometimes farm on parcels in different locations. They should not be penalized because they are not adjacent.. This bill restricts the ag tourism area to 1,000 SF. This is too small. Recently, we rented a 20 X 40 tent for Chef Alan Wong to do a cooking demo for his staff and ours. It was barely adequate. In East Hawaii, we need rain protection for the visitors. What if one wanted to have the visitors meet at a site that was at a different location from the primary ag tourism area and then transport them. All of that would count toward the 1,000 SF.