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homestead areas with agricultural lots sized less than twenty acres despite their Ag -20 zoning. <br />These preexisting lots have created a challenging land use scenario because in practice, the majority <br />of these areas are "de facto" rural subdivisions within a State and County land use system that <br />historically underutilized the State Land Use Rural District and Rural LUPAG designations. <br />This policy is intended to set appropriate criteria for when the Rural designation can be used and <br />recommended. Note, the General Plan's LUPAG description for Rural describes the category as <br />including existing subdivisions in the State Land Agricultural and Rural districts that have a significant <br />residential component. While rural lot sizes can vary from 9,000 -square feet to five acres, new <br />recommended Rural designations in the Hamakua CDP have corresponding County zoning densities <br />of a maximum of 1 unit per 1 acre. As noted in the General Plan, the allowable uses within these <br />areas (with appropriate zoning) may include commercial facilities that serve the residential and <br />agricultural uses in the area, and community and public facilities. The Rural designation does not <br />necessarily mean that these areas should be further subdivided to smaller lots as most lack the <br />infrastructure necessary to allow further subdivision. <br />The General Plan describes rural development this way: <br />"Rural -style residential -agricultural developments may include either new small-scale rural <br />communities or extensions of existing rural communities. Such development provides <br />opportunities for a mix of residential and small-scale agricultural activities. However, the <br />primary intent of these developments would be to provide an added range to housing <br />opportunities. Along with this housing, the large lots of these rural areas will provide <br />opportunities for part-time agriculture, gardening activities and the raising of livestock on a <br />small scale. By providing opportunities to satisfy the demand for a rural lifestyle on marginal <br />agricultural land, the pressures to develop important agricultural land for these purposes would <br />be decreased." (General Plan 14.2.1) <br />This General Plan description of rural -style residential -agriculture developments presents some <br />ambiguity, particularly about what constitutes "marginal agricultural lands" that are appropriate for <br />this style of rural residential development. For the purposes of the Hamakua CDP, the intent of <br />recommending LUPAG Rural designations in some areas is to accommodate existing land uses, to <br />create a transition area of small farm/residential land uses between the urban LDU and the larger <br />lot agricultural areas (often zoned Ag -20), and to accommodate a flexibility in housing options to <br />provide an incentive to develop rural parcels closer to residential communities with adequate <br />infrastructure instead of developing rural -residential uses on large, potentially productive <br />agricultural lands. See also Factor 3, from Policy 1. <br />For more information on homestead and rural settlements, see pages 174-176 of Appendix V413. <br />Policy 5 <br />In the CDP Land Use Guide Map, the Urban Growth Boundary between developed areas (designated <br />"Low/Medium Density Urban") and lands designated as Agricultural or Rural are intended to direct <br />growth in the Hamakua CDP planning area. Areas that are clearly beyond designated Urban Growth <br />Boundaries shall be preserved as rural or agricultural lands to maintain open space, scenic view <br />planes, and natural beauty areas. <br />APPENDIX v5: HAMAKUA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN I Section 3: Policy Rationale — <br />Preferred Settlement Patterns & Land Use <br />