|
District. The Director in his recommendation has recommended that these uses, the honey, the
<br />bread making and the butter processing, be permitted by Special Permit, and what they say is,
<br />“Therefore, for the sake of process and to seek assurance of compliance with \[applicable\] land use
<br />regulations \[regulatory requirements\], this amendment to the Special permit is the proper
<br />regulatory vehicle to consider the proposed uses.” And so, frankly, I have difficulty understanding
<br />that. You know, the applicant believes that these uses are permitted uses in the Agricultural
<br />District, and I’ll read the statutes as to why, and I don’t understand why for the sake of process
<br />they should be put into a permitting context. The point of permitted uses is you can do them
<br />without process, you know, without having to go through process. And we’ve been through a lot
<br />of process here, and we don’t see process as an end to itself, okay.
<br />
<br />So specifically, we feel that, let’s start with the honey, honey is pretty straight forward because,
<br />under the Zoning Code, “agricultural products processing, minor” is a permitted use in the County
<br />zoning district, and that includes “activities used for crop production, …, which involve a variety
<br />of operations on crops after harvest to prepare them for market, or further processing or \[and\]
<br />packaging at a distance from the agricultural area. Included activities are cleaning, milling,
<br />pulping, drying, roasting, hulling, storing, packing,” here we go, “honey processing, poi-making,
<br />selling and other similar activities. Also included are the facilities or buildings related to such
<br />activities.” So, under the Zoning Code honey processing is a specifically permitted use in the
<br />County zoning district.
<br />
<br />So, interestingly, the County is not relying on the Zoning Code; they are relying on the State Land
<br />Use Law. And they are saying the State Land Use Law is why we should have County processing.
<br />But the State Land Use Law, and they didn’t cite this section interestingly, but specifically the
<br />State Land Use Law in talking about permitted uses in the Agricultural District, and I’m referring
<br />to Section 205-2(b), I’m sorry, (d)(7), says, “Bona fide agricultural services and uses that support
<br />the agricultural activities of the fee or leasehold owner,” remember, they also tried to distinguish
<br />saying that Mr. Edney was not the owner of the butter and honey uses, but, “regardless of whether
<br />conducted on the same premises as the agricultural activities to which they are accessory,” in other
<br />words, so processing activities, which are conducted by the fee or leasehold owner regardless of
<br />whether they are on the same property where the crop is grown, are permitted and include, you
<br />know, mills, storage facilities and processing facilities. So that’s Chapter 205-2. The section they
<br />cite really dealt with retail activities, and that was also pretty clear, and it says that retail activities
<br />are permitted in the Agricultural District in a structure owned or operated by a producer “for the
<br />display and sale of agricultural products grown in Hawai‘i, value-added products that were
<br />produced using agricultural products grown in Hawai‘i, logo items related to the producer’s
<br />agricultural operations ….” So we feel that, you know, the retail component that we are talking
<br />about is a specifically permitted activity in the State Agricultural District. If you look at HRS
<br />205-4.5 Section (4), (a)(4), permitted uses include “farm buildings, or activities or uses related to
<br />farming and animal husbandry.” When it gets more specific at 205-4.5(a)(10), it says, “Buildings
<br />and uses, including mills, storage, and processing facilities ….” And so the, you know, the intent
<br />of the Land Use Law and the intent of the recent amendments to Chapter 205 are to broaden the
<br />definition of what’s considered agricultural use. And the reason for that is to allow small farmers
<br />to not only grow crops but to process them, to allow them to add them to other products to change
<br />the nature of the product to add value post-harvest to increase the revenue to farmers so that they
<br />can support their farming operation. It’s so happens that at Lalamilo Farms, you know, because of
<br />5
<br />EXHIBIT F
<br />
<br />
|