PD Recommendation Report Leese (PL-REZ-2023-055)

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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 property is designated Important Agricultural Land, which are lands with better potential for sustained high agricultural yields because of soil type, climate, topography, or other factors. However, the subject property is primarily native forest and therefore it is preferable to maintain the forest than to convert the property to agricultural uses. The proposed Change of Zone will conform to, among others, the following goals, and policies of the Natural Resources Element of the General Plan: ■ Protect rare or endangered species and habitats native to Hawaii. ■ Within the Kona high rainfall/fog-drip belt, ground disturbing activities such as excessive soil compaction and excessive removal of vegetative cover should be minimized and mitigated consistent with management strategies that encourage the retention of existing forested and pasture areas, reforestation, minimal coverage by impervious surfaces and other strategies that encourage effective infiltration to groundwater. ■ Implement Council Resolution Nos. 330-96 and 58-97 in land use approvals. ■ Create incentives for landowners to retain and re-establish forest cover in upland watershed areas with emphasis on native forest species. Among the most significant of the island's natural resources are upland forests that provide the essential groundwater recharge areas. All groundwater sources in North and South Kona ultimately depend upon recharge that primarily occurs in a band between the 1,500 and 5,500-foot elevations. In the lower part of this band, rainfall dominates from approximately the 1,500 to 3,000-foot elevation. In the upper part of this band, above the 3,000-foot elevation, fog that collects on trees and drips to the ground is a major contributor to the aquifer. In recognition of the importance of the mauka Kona area for watershed and other environmental values, the County Council established a policy in Resolution No. 330-96 (1996)that no lands in North or South Kona above 2,500 feet in elevation (except in the existing Kaloko Mauka Subdivision) should be -2-