COM 1470.000 2006-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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tourism which has influenced land use and development patterns over the last several decades. LAND USE State land use districts, County of Hawaii Land Use Pattern Allocation Guide (LUPAG) and the County of Hawaii Zoning Code set forth policies and standards to guide the location, type, and intensity of different land uses in particular areas and regions. The Land Use Pattern Allocation Guide (LUPAG) of the County is a graphic expression of the General Plan, particularly those elements of the General Plan relating to land use. However, the LUPAG is not the entire General Plan. It is not a zoning map; rather the LUPAG estimates the future acreage allocation for a particular land use and is meant to serve as a land use guide for the County. Generally, future developments must be consistent with the LUPAG map. Approximately two-thirds of the land in the district is designated as Important Agricultural Land (IAL) or Extensive Agricultural land by the LUPAG. The General Plan defines Important Agricultural Lands as those lands with better potential for sustained high agricultural yields because of soil type, climate, topography, or other factors. IAL was determined by including lands identified as "Intensive Agriculture" on the 1989 General Plan LUPAG map, lands identified by the Agricultural Lands of Importance to the State of Hawaii Study as "Prime" or "Unique," lands identified by the Land Study Bureau's Soil Survey Report as Class B "Good" soils and lands classified as "fair" for two or more crops, on an irrigated basis by the USDA NRCS study of suitability for various crops. The General Plan defines Extensive Agriculture lands as lands that are not capable of producing sustained, high agricultural yields without the intensive application of modem farming methods and technologies due to certain physical constraints such as soil composition, slope, machine tillability and climate. Other agricultural uses such as grazing and pasture maybe included in the Extensive Agricultural category. South Kohala also has the highest acreage allocation for open area lands with 14,074, the highest acreage for Urban Expansion with 12,264, and the second highest allocation of IAL with 51,000 acres. The Hamakua District has the' highest allocation of IAL with 78,023 acres. The LUPAG has12,264 acres for urban expansion in South Kohala. The majority of the lands slated for future urban expansion are located near the resort areas, Waikoloa Village, and the Kawaihae area. A smaller acreage of land is designated for urban expansion in the Waimea area. Of the total 29,142 acres designated by the County for urban expansion across the Big Island, 42% of those acres are in South Kohala. Important planning implications related to Soufh Kohala's land use include: The majority of the district is designated as agriculture by State and County -The majority of the land in the district is designated as agriculture. However, the majority of these agricultural lands are designated as "extensive agriculture" by the County rather than IAL. Future development pressures will inevitably impact these "extensive agricultural" lands to be developed for other uses besides agriculture. These "extensive agriculture" lands, although not