COM 0887.000 2014-2016 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Dru Kanuha, Council Chair and Members of the County Council Page 2 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 be also considered as they may have an impact on similar areas in the County. The proposed Change of Zone from an Agricultural (A-5a)to a Family Agricultural(FA-2a)zoned district will conform to,among others, the following goals, policies and standards of the Land Use and Economic General Plan Elements and the General Plan LUPAG Map: 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 Extensive Agriculture. Extensive Agriculture are lands not classified as Important Agricultural Land and includes 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 less intensive agricultural uses such as grazing and pasture may be included in the Extensive Agriculture category. Soils within the property are identified as Punaluu extremely rocky peat, 6 to 20 percent slopes(rPYD). The Land Study Bureau's Detailed Land Classification System identifies soils on the property as "C"or"Fair" for agricultural productivity. The property is unclassified under the ALISH System. A 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 few crops can be intensively cultivated on very small acreage, usually these crops have a very limited market. Reducing the size of the lots can reduce the range of potential agricultural uses and the range of market opportunities for those crops. In this particular situation, the applicants intend to construct a dwelling for themselves on one lot and reserve the other lot for their family. The newly created lots will still have the potential to be used for farming or agricultural purposes.