HAMAKUA CDP MEMO v4 - redacted - Laserfiche WebLink

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*County: Lands classified by the Land Study Bureau's Soil Survey Report as Class B "Good" soils. (There are no Class A lands on the island of Hawaii) *compare State: HRS 205-44 c-2: Land with soil qualities... that support agricultural production *County: Lands classified as at least "fair" for two or more crops, on an irrigated basis, by the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service's study of suitability for various crops. *State: HRS 205-44 c-3: Land identified under agricultural production rating systems *Also the County General Plan 14.2.4 states "prevent non-agricultural uses that COULD interfere with POTENTIAL or existing agricultural activities on important AGRICULTURAL IMPORTANT LANDS (which is a policy that goes beyond the current agricultural zoning) *ISSUE 3 COMMENTS: *Both the CDP and GP are regulating State IAL when it does not yet exist pending the submittal of parcels to the LUC *To the extent that the County is defining State IAL the County does not have the power to regulate State matters; and there is no IAL land at this point in time. *There is nothing wrong with the County adopting the same or similar State criteria to express lands that have superior farm potential. But the General Plan should not refer to Important Agricultural Lands or IAL when doing so. *It appears from the text at page 14-8 in the General Plan that the County has made a parcel - by -parcel "determination" of parcels that are Important Agricultural Lands. Is there a document that shows these parcels and how each parcel was "determined" to be "Important Agricultural Lands "? *ISSUE 4: The State IAL process of obtaining IAL lists from the Counties will begin soon since both Kauai and Oahu have already conducted in-depth studies to identify State IAL prior to the submittal of lists of IAL to the LUC. *ISSUE 4 COMMENTS: The public should be advised about the IAL process: including timeline and the consequences of being a State IAL parcel. See also the Issue 2 Comments. *ISSUE 5: The parcels included currently in the CDP as LUPAG IAL will be first tier candidates to be included in the list the County is required to submit to the LUC to designate Hawaii County IAL and parcels for inclusion as State IAL. Planning stated at the 5-25-16 meeting that it is not clear how or when Hawaii County will decide about the IRL list. Hawaii County appears to have an option of just submitting maps (see LURF powerpoint "The Road Ahead", 27