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<br />LEEWARD PLANNING COMMISSION
<br />COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I
<br />
<br />HEARING TRANSCRIPT
<br />APRIL 19, 2012
<br />
<br />PLANNING DIRECTOR INITIATED AMENDMENT
<br />A regularly advertised hearing on the
<br />TO CHAPTER 25, RELATING TO AGRICULTURAL TOURISM
<br />was called to order at 11:50
<br />a.m. in the West Hawai‘i Civic Center, Community Center, Building G, 74-5044 Ane Keohokālole
<br />Highway, Kailua-Kona, Hawai‘i, with Chair Geraldine Giffin presiding.
<br />
<br />COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Geraldine Giffin, Brandi Beaudet, Lani Bowman,
<br />Thomas Hickcox, Richard Nelson and Thomas Whittemore
<br />
<br />ABSENT AND EXCUSED: Wayne Iokepa
<br />
<br />ALSO PRESENT: Ivan Torigoe (Deputy Corporation Counsel), BJ Leithead Todd (Planning
<br />Director), Daryn Arai (Planning Program Manager), Jeff Darrow (Planner) and Noriko Sauer
<br />(Commission Secretary)
<br />
<br />And three people from the public in attendance.
<br />
<br />APPLICANT: PLANNING DIRECTOR INITIATED
<br />
<br />Amendment to Chapter 25 (Zoning Code) of the Hawai‘i County Code 1983 (2005 Edition, as
<br />amended) relating to Agricultural Tourism. The proposed amendment will specifically amend
<br />Sections 25-1-5(b), 25-2-71, 25-2-75, 25-2-76 and 25-4-15 relating to definitions, plan approval
<br />requirements, and use regulations, respectively, as they are related to agricultural tourism.
<br />
<br />GIFFIN: Agenda Item No. 4, the applicant is the Planning Director and she has initiated an
<br />amendment to Chapter 25, the Zoning Code, for the Hawai‘i County Code relating to agricultural
<br />tourism. The proposed amendment will specifically amend Sections 25-1-5(b), 25-2-71, 25-2-75,
<br />25-2-76 and 25-4-15. Planning Director?
<br />
<br />LEITHEAD TODD: I was just going to say that this is something I’ve been working on for a while;
<br />it was in response to concerns from a number of farmers that we had received. Sometime ago the
<br />state legislature passed state law making it a permitted use to have agricultural tourism on lands that
<br />are classified Agriculture under the state land use classification system. But in order to effectuate
<br />agricultural tourism, it required the counties to pass an agricultural tourism ordinance. We are the
<br />only county that has done so. However, because there had been an amendment to plan approval,
<br />which put in a drainage study under plan approval, the requirement for plan approval under
<br />agricultural tourism triggers a drainage study, and for the farmers, that translates into a $5,000 or
<br />$6,000 cost. And so what we are trying to do is for the smaller operations, get rid of the plan
<br />approval, so they don’t have the expenditure, so that if they want to put up a sign and say “farm
<br />tours,” if they want to have more than just, you know, their coffee, they want to have coffee cups
<br />that they sell with the names of their farm on it at their farm and put a sign up, they can do that
<br />without having to go through a big expense. So what we have is some -. The current law allows
<br />you to have up to 30,000 visitors a year before you have to go get a special use permit. What I did
<br />is I took that and I tried to break it up into two different categories: minor tourism which would be
<br />up to 15,000 visitors a year, and major tourism which would be from 15,000 to 30,000. And then
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<br />EXHIBIT B
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