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Aaron S.Y. Chung, Council Chair and Members of the County Council Page 4 All essential utilities and services are available to the property. Access to the subject property is from Kihalani Homestead Road, a County-owned and maintained roadway with a right-of-way width of 40 feet. Near the highway it is a two-lane road that drops down to a one-lane road with grass and dirt shoulders about half way between the highway and subject property. The pavement width varies from 11 to 22 feet, but is about 12 feet wide fronting the subject property. There are two existing driveways from Kihalani Homestead Road to each of the farm dwellings. No new driveways are proposed. The Subdivision Code indicates agricultural roads should have a minimum pavement width of 20 feet. It is unreasonable to require the applicants to widen the pavement of the entire length of the roadway and it is unlikely the County will ever widen the roadway. Although Kihalani Homestead Road is substandard and narrow, it is typical in character to other agricultural homestead roads along the Hamakua coast. The large grass shoulders provide ample space for vehicles to pull over in order to allow other vehicles to pass by and the addition of one new lot (with an existing dwelling) should not adversely affect traffic on the roadway. The minimum lot size for Agricultural zoning is five acres. The Planning Department would not encourage rezoning of nearby properties to a density below five acres because it would not establish a beneficial land use pattern due to the impact additional traffic from these new lots would have on the substandard roadway. However, in this case the surrounding properties are zoned A-20a and consist of non-conforming lots that were created prior to the Zoning Code, which range in size from 2 to 12 acres. County water is available to the property for the rezoning and subsequent subdivision. The applicants will be required to enter into an Elevation Agreement with the Department of Water Supply prior to final subdivision of the property due to one of the proposed lots being located at an elevation where the DWS cannot provide adequate water pressure. The existing residences and agricultural storage structure is currently served by cesspools approved by the State Department of Health. Solid waste will be disposed of at the nearby transfer station or Hilo.landfill and agricultural waste will be utilized onsite. There are no significant topographical constraints and the property is not located in a flood zone. However, the Planning Director agrees with the Department of Public Works recommendations that a drainage study should be completed and any necessary improvements constructed prior to construction of any new structure or driveway. All development generated runoff will be disposed of onsite. All other essential utilities and services are available to the site. The request is not contrary to Chapter 205A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, relating to Coastal Zone Management Area. The entire State of Hawai`i lies within the