Recomended Hāmākua CDP Policy Rationale

Home

3.1 Settlement Patterns & Land Use This section of the CDP guides future land use development and permitting to be consistent with CDP objectives and policies. Specifically, to reduce rural sprawl and infrastructure costs, it focuses future residential development in existing villages and towns and seeks to preserve large productive agricultural lands for agriculture by accommodating rural -residential development close to these urban centers. It directs new residential development away from coastal areas and encourages the clustering of developments to leave natural buffer areas. It plans urban areas with appropriately -scaled densities that complement the rural character of the area. It provides guidance to the Planning Department on change of zone and variance priorities, and stipulates the types of areas and regulatory processes that are appropriate for industrial development. It also directs the County to engage communities interested in town -level planning. 3.1.4 Land Use Policy Policy 1 With the adoption of the Hamakua CDP, Figures 2-13 (pages 41-52) are adopted as the Land Use Guide Map for the Hamakua CDP Planning Area. Future land use decisions in the Hamakua CDP planning area shall be consistent with the Land Use Guide Map, unless the CDP and the General Plan are in direct conflict, in which case the General Plan shall be controlling. As with the General Plan Land Use Pattern Allocation Guide (LUPAG) map, the CDP Land Use Guide Map designates preferred future development patterns by indicating the general location of various land uses in relation to each other. To maintain consistency, the land use category definitions used in the CDP Land Use Guide Map are identical to those currently used in the 2005 General Plan LUPAG map. See Policy 6 for guidance on changes of zone in the LUPAG LDU designation. See Policy 12 for how this Land Use Guide Map will be incorporated into the General Plan. Policy 12 is necessary because the CDP Land Use Guide Map does not automatically amend the General Plan. Rationale: The County of Hawai'i General Plan (2005) uses a Land Use Pattern Allocation Guide (LUPAG) map as a broad, flexible land use tool intended to guide the direction and quality of future developments in a coordinated and rational manner. It indicates the general preferred location of various land uses in relation to each other. State land use boundary amendments, changes in zone, project districts, subdivisions, planned unit developments, use permits, variances, and plan approval must be consistent with the General Plan and the LUPAG map. Projects or applications that are not consistent with the LUPAG map require an amendment to the General Plan, which requires an Environmental Assessment and approval of the County Council. The land use categories used in the CDP Land Use Guide Map correspond with the categories used in the General Plan LUPAG map. However, the CDP land use factors that support the preferred future settlement pattern for Hamakua and related Community Objectives differ in some ways from the land use pattern designated in the current 2005 General Plan LUPAG map. Therefore, in order to fully implement the Hamakua CDP, the LUPAG map 111 Page