COM 0523.000 2014-2016 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Dru Kanuha, Council Chair and Members of the County Council Page 6 2. Rural Clusters. The adoption of the new program will encourage clustering of development on agricultural lands in exchange for the perpetual protection of contiguous blocks of lands for crop production. The program will also provide an opportunity to create affordable housing in rural areas. See Policy LU-3.3." Based on these polices it seems that any agricultural lands outside the Kona urban area should be,but are not necessarily required to be, developed according to the Clustered Rural Subdivision Guidelines. The intent of these guidelines is to promote a more compact form of development by clustering smaller residential lots in order to preserve the balance of the subdivided property as rural open space for the protection of significant ecological, cultural, scenic or agricultural resources in perpetuity. What is very clear is that the CDP recognizes that in order to preserve important agricultural land for viable commercial agriculture and the rural character of Kona from urban and suburban sprawl, the land use policies and practices of the past must change. Land Use Policy LU-3.8 allows for rezoning of agricultural lands outside of the urban and rural TOD's, which correspond to the existing villages, if it is to create only a small number of additional lots, consistent in scale with the transfer of lots to family members. The change of zone request is consistent with this policy of the Kona CDP in that the applicant proposes to rezone the property in order to create a 3-lot subdivision and convey the lots to family members. A condition of approval will encourage the use of the Clustered Rural Subdivision Guidelines when designing the subdivision so that the rural character of the property and surrounding area will be maintained. All essential utilities and services are available to the property. Access to the property is from Old Government Road, which is a one lane County road fronting the property. It has an approximately 10-foot wide traveled way pavement(in fair to good condition), with narrow shoulders, within a variable right-of-way. The tax plat map indicates the right-of-way width is about 50 feet fronting the property. According to the Department of Public Works (DPW), the road is substandard with regard to width and roadside hazard clearances and could benefit from a paved pullout along the subject property frontage. The DPW requires that any encroachments or obstructions within the County right-of-way be removed. Currently, there is an approximately 12-foot wide