PD Background Report Ching (PL-REZ-2023-044)

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B. County General Plan The County General Plan Land Use Pattern Allocation Guide ("LUPAG") map designates the site Extensive Agriculture. While the LUPAG is not designed to be specifically measurable, the Extensive Agriculture designation was confirmed when the subject site was rezoned in 2006. The General Plan has not been amended since that determination. According to the General Plan, lands designated Extensive Agriculture include lands "that are not capable of producing sustained, high agricultural yields without the intensive application of modern farming methods and technologies due to certain physical constraints such as soil composition, slope, machine tillability, and climate." Based on the requested A-5a designation, the project would be consistent with the General Plan LUPAG map, and no amendment to the map is needed. The project is also consistent with and implements the pertinent policies of the General Plan. This will be covered in Chapter IX — Regulatory Analysis. C. Hamakua Community Development Plan Adopted in 2018, the Hamakua Community Development Plan ("CDP") was developed with a 20-year time horizon with a planning area that included the subject property and the judicial districts of Hamakua and North Hilo, and a portion of the South Hilo district commonly referred to as Rural South Hilo. The HCDP did not recommend land use policies specific to the Waiko'eko'e section of Hamakua, where the subject property is situated. The project's relationship with the CDP will be covered in more detail in Chapter IX— Regulatory Analysis. D. County Zoning The County zoning of the subject property is FA-3a. However, because the zoning was subject to a rezoning action with conditions (Ordinance No. 06 81), with time sensitive and performance conditions not having been met, its validity is questionable. Regardless of the legitimacy of the subject site's FA-3a zoning, from a technical perspective, the A-5a zoning request would be tantamount to a "downzoning". 4