2006-04-21 Tgp-amendment - Laserfiche WebLink

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I am Vice President, General Manager for Greenwell Farms and the youngest great-grandson in the family that has farmed our ranch lands since the mid-1850s. I am here today to ask your consideration to remove the IAL designation from the portion of our lands below the 1,000 foot corridor on TMKs: 8-1-04 parcel 1, 54, 74 & 75, as the Director has proposed for the lands . other than family farms to the north of usMy great-grandfather, Henry Nicholas Greenwell, began farming soon after he acquired these lands beginning in 1852. He grew oranges for export to California. Dry conditions and blight forced an end to that venture by the 1870s. Prior to the 1850s other crops were tried on makai portions of these lands including sugar cane and pineapple. These were discontinued due to the lack of adequate and consistent rainfall. Since the 1870s, these lands have, to my knowledge, only been used for cattle grazing, when there was enough rainfall. We presently grow coffee, mac nuts, avocados and bananas on about 50 acres, as well as cattle grazing on the balance of our land. The productive portions of these lands is closer to the highway, where the soil is deeper and the rainfall more consistent. Our primary crop, coffee, needs an average of from 60 to 80 inches of rainfall per year to thrive. The other crops we grow need varying amounts of water but all require consistent moisture throughout the year. As you can see from the soil and rainfall maps attached as exhibits, rainfall below the 1000 foot elevation is significantly lower than our water requirements. Further, the annual rainfall pattern in the lower areas tend to be very seasonal and typically large parts of the year can be extremely dry. We have never seriously planned for any other agricultural use below the 1,000-foot elevation other than seasonal grazing of cattle because productive farming below that elevation would require irrigation. The County Department of Water Supply system provides our farm with sufficient water for housing, processing and retail operations, but not for irrigation purposes. As there are only intermediate streams in the area, and those we have subject primarily to flash flooding, providing irrigation would necessitate the drilling of wells, building of reservoirs or tanks and a pipeline distribution system. I submit to you that the economics of Ag in Kona cannot support such a substantial investment. Ours is not a hobby farm or a tax shelter, but the primary source of our familys income. Besides my immediate family, the farm supports my retired mother, brother, 2 sisters, all of whom are actively involved in the farm operations. Coffee prices are very good right now and expanding our fields is a priority for our family. We can grow into about 100 acres, down to about the 1000 foot elevation, for intensive style coffee and mac nut production. The lands below the l000 foot corridor can only sustain periodic grazing. I ask for your favorableconsiderationtoexpandtheDirectorsrequestE-6,7&8furthersouth,atleastthroughour lands, if not further than Napoopoo Road. The rationale used in the Directors request and as detailed aboveforourfarm,appliesequallytotheselands.Weareframersandsupportthedesignationof protection of Important Agricultural lands, but feel the designation should be based on realities of Agriculture,consistentlyappliedacrosssimilarlands.Werespectfullyrequestyourfavorable consideration of this request. Thank you for this opportunity to provide testimony on amendments to the GeneralPlan. EXHIBIT D 8