COM 0451.000 2010-2012 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The Honorable Dominic Yagong, Chairman and Members of the County Council Page 2 the portion south of the flood zone being a 3.747 -acre lot where a new dwelling will be constructed. The applicants intend to utilize the area of the property with the best soils for farming by constructing a new home on the larger lot and renting the existing home on the one -acre lot. In order to consider an area for any type of zoning designation, the applicable goals, policies and standards of the General Plan must be adequately addressed. It is only through such a comprehensive policy analysis approach that evaluations and decisions can be made to better time and stage developments to achieve growth determined by the General Plan and related planning documents. The implications of these evaluations and decisions must also be considered as they may have an impact on similar areas in the County. The change of zone request from an Agricultural — 3 acre (A -3a) to a Family Agricultural (FA-1a) zoning district conforms to applicable goals, policies and standards of the General Plan. The FA zoning district is intended for lands within the State Land Use Agricultural District, where public services and infrastructure are appropriate to support the very low density residential needs of a rural community and where a substantial number of parcels are less than five acres in size, and where a mix of uses will not conflict with or be detrimental to existing agricultural uses in the surrounding area. The Land Use Pattern Allocation Guide ( LUPAG) Map component of the General Plan is a representation of the document's goals and policies to guide the coordinated growth and development of the County. It reflects a graphic depiction of the physical relationship among the various land uses. The LUPAG Map establishes the basic urban and non -urban form for areas within the County. The proposed request conforms to the LUPAG Map, which designates the property as Important Agricultural Land. Important agricultural lands are those lands with better potential for sustained high agricultural yields because of soil type, climate, topography, or other factors. The Land Study Bureau's Detailed Land Classification System identifies soils on the northern portion of the property as "C" or "Fair" and the southern portion as "D" or "Poor" for agricultural productivity. The middle portion of the property (this is the area not covered by pahoehoe lava from the 1881 flow) is classified as Prime Agricultural Land by the ALISH System. A major concern in allowing a rezoning of agricultural land that creates smaller lot sizes is that this will reduce the potential use of the land for commercial agriculture by fragmenting the land into areas too small to be farmed on a commercial scale. While a