Pa'auilo Final Enviromental Assessment

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PA`AUILO LANDS FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT 2.0 PROJECT DESCRIPTION 2.1 PROJECT GOALS AND OBJECTIVES The Hawaii County Department of Finance proposes to sell the subject properties at public auction. The goal and objective of the DOF will be to sell these lands in accordance with prior County Council action in January and June of 2002, authorizing the sale of these lands. The sale will allow these lands to be put back into productive agricultural use while the proceeds from the sale will provide additional funding for County programs. The revenues from the sale may also provide the County greater flexibility in budgeting additional funding for the acquisition of lands identified by the Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resource Preservation Commission. 2.2 NEED FOR THE PROJECT The County has owned the Pa`auilo Lands since 1994, when it was acquired from Hamakua Sugar Company in lieu of real property taxes owed. The County views that the sale of these lands will serve the greater public interest in that it will allow these lands to return to productive agricultural use while allowing the County to recoup previously unpaid real property taxes that it may use to fund existing or additional programs. The sale will also mean that these lands will revert to private ownership and will be subject to real property taxes that are currently not being paid under County ownership. Additionally, the proceeds from the sale and added real property tax revenue may provide greater flexibility for the County to allocate additional funding to the Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resource Preservation Fund for the purposes of acquiring lands targeted for acquisition by the Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resource Preservation Commission. 2.3 POTENTIAL USES While the lands are expected to remain in agriculture, the exact use and any associated impacts are unknown at this time. This EA, however, discusses potential impacts and mitigation measures for the possibility that the maximum possible farm dwellings are built. There are two (2) different scenarios from which to calculate the maximum possible farm dwellings: Scenario 1: Existing Lots of Record Based on the Consolidation/Re-Subdivision (SUB-05- 000130) approved on August 10, 2005 and the Subdivision (Sub-06-000427) approved on December 4, 2006: The project site comprises five (5) tax map key parcels. Within those five (5) tax map key parcels there will be a total of 17 saleable lots described as follows: • TMK 4-3-09:19 - Six (6) lots based on the, Consolidation/Re-Subdivision (SUB- 05-000130) approved on August 10, 2005; • TMK 4-3-09:24 - Four (4) lots based on the Consolidation/Re-Subdivision (SUB- 05-000130) approved on August 10, 2005); 11