2024-03-11 Minutes APPROVED - Laserfiche WebLink

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The folks from around Hawai'i spoke about the hours and hours of volunteer work that Gail and Clarence Baber have done to support other farmers and launch statewide initiatives to further agriculture. So it's not just these 20 acres where it's happening—these landowners, from this North Kohala farm, are impacting the state, and that is worth supporting. And as one testifier mentioned at that meeting, I'm going to quote, "They haven't just grown food, they've helped to grow agriculture in Hawai'i." And then second, a couple weeks ago,the USDA came out with a survey highlighting the real loss and the dire need for food security. We've had over 80,000 acres of farmland lost, and over 750 farms over the last five years. Agricultural easements can be an important part of reversing this trend. In addition,there is an urgent threat of development and urban sprawl in this area.The general plan is looking at urban development and pushing the boundary within a few hundred meters of this farm. GAIL BYRNE BABER spoke in support and wanted to add that 77%of those farm losses per the recent USDA Hawai'i farm census was on our island. And the reasons for that are varied, of course, but she worked with the Kohala Center, I guess it was about eight years ago now, looking specifically at these agricultural easements as a strategy for helping retaining agricultural lands in farmers hands. It has been used very successfully in many other places. I think we can address some of the concerns that are really important to address, probably a little bit deeper on that, but they are absolutely successful in helping to retain farmers and keep farms farming. I think it was in the PONC application. It's just a map on the right, shows a bunch of dots around our farm and those are homes that have been built over the last 24 years, but they're not being used in any agriculture around our property, which is fine. I mean, people buy homes and live on ag land for many reasons, but then the proposed urban growth boundary will be about 90 feet from our farm, so there are pressures there for sure. A discussion ensued between commission members and clarified details about the farm, including that the easement is over the entire farm, the timing of the MRCS funding for the farm, the impervious surface requirements of the MRCS (no more than 2%of the farm area), the history of agricultural easements in the U.S. began in the 1970s to keep family farms farming in the face of corporations buying up large tracts of farm land, clarification that 85% of the funding is secured and PONC would provide 15%, who would hold the easement (MOKU and County if PONC funding granted), the baseline and annual monitoring of the farm that is required by MRCS, questions about the public benefit of ag easements (A: primary benefit is in perpetuity protection of ag land that zoning can't provide, along with protecting endangered species, pollinator habitat, regenerating soil, etc.), what happens if the landowners sell or pass away (A: any future owner of the farm must abide by the restrictions placed on it by the easement), questions about the maintenance fund being used for a farm (A: applicant hadn't thought about that, but only those activities that are required by the easement that are above and beyond farming such as protecting or enhancing habitat, etc. should likely be eligible.), if gulches were part of easement, and need for Commissioners to reflect on precedent of this application. Lunch: 12:36 p.m. Minutes of March 11, 2024 Page 9