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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0426.018 2004-2006 ,i Daviq~,. Maife : ; From: Noward R. Conant (howard~konarainforestcoffee.comj Sent: Monday., November 07, 2005 7;10 PM ' To: PHGFFMANN&(.,ico.hawaii.hi.us Cc: kapilago~co.hawaii.Hl.u~ Subject: RE Ag Tourism Bill 148 ~~,n ggTrur:! 0.%F420JS Jx Mona Pct=. Thanks fcr your ~esponse Hs 1 Ee^stifled before the Planning Commission, with the Director pregenq~ 1 am very much m favor of an Ag '"ourism Bill, Just not this Bill as it was presented. My cuucerns ire mostly about !9c orbitrary limits to square footage, gmss sales, number of vlSllorS, etc "hose values have nor. been determined in any scientific or credible way. They are numbers puked out of the air, completely arbitrary and without knowledge of, or regartl forthe basic costs required h)r ff!e operator io open ahe Juuis. Further, when it comes to vi~Ror numbers, who is gointr to count them, and ?he fans supposed to run out with a sign that says; "Sorry, no more aicitnrc +nnay, orr limit of 20 !or 10 or whatever) has been reached" G,nd wt~a+ tror.r~Y-> me is'1~-u' the State and County policy Is to favor agriculture, but time after time rule. are pcmulgatec to restrict enterprise rather than to encourage and nurture. Farmers in this ven~ trigh day envifOnrrrent need to be able to suppiemenl inwme with available resourcco (iGURISwI} tc zurvive! Ai~II development needs to be curbed to be certain that only appropriate us?r, ncr..ur on A7 lands so that neighbors rights are well considered. Thal is a balance that can orr"Jrw,thout ;;i:;cing arbitrary limits on farmers. ! ha'?e atkachad a copy of ry original testimony FYI. Thanks for your nterest, and yvu~ hard work. HOV~3 rU R. COr~i n! Kona RalnFo^ s r _ Coffee 100'ro certafed a~ganic anc graded Kona Coffee hllw ,Yri wv±-kon:a nin rorestc??1ec com Comm. No. 2~0 Ref, To: e~~, hate NOV 8 2005 ~i' :i=~"d o~y z6ss9as re:6e see~~aer1? Rsc+?niziny tnis +aralv.'h,eiming s:a~port of Agricultural Tourism leads us to the conclusion that this Bill m..5. oe pfOg re55l~'6 and lead to increasing opportun dies in agriculture on the Big Islantl. 3alow are spec:fi:: re:.rmmenda:icns. •~Fa:AMtiLE: rr arde~ croatc a Dili toot will accomplimh it's goals, a sprdt must be created that guides n >3rpretaticn a( the Blii Nell into the future, after it's drafters are no longer with us. The preamble should ate he mandates of the State Constitution and County Charter to preserve, favor and enhance a,Jot ~.il}u re as hart of ot, ~ lifestyle and unique Island Chafacter l'he Spirit of this BIII should be fucused on t:: p aitive and accommodative nature. while the regulatory details are clear bu[ not the primary purpose. r~ ;or:xr led that sh<,uld the :one and context of the Bill be ne0ative and highly regulatory, it could serf+3 a chailengE in the courts as being contrary to the State and County mandates to favor agriculture. 'D '~?I :~JSed jsrtion. ZS_.:.. ~5. ~~gpr;,,ll?UI SJ tourism. ;L){~;'hi:: par.:7raph ^ec:d~css a minimum of $10,000 verifiable gross sales of agricultural a or acts in :he previoP~,: year tr ;uali`, foe permitted Agriculture! tourism operations. The fixed amount c +t c.nh ~,s arbitrary, and will unnecessarily and unfairly limit the ~,gTOUrism potential of many farms. Why ;f s limit imposed % It +S ImposeC as a litmus test to make sure that all operations applying for 4 :,l ; ursm >C~'u~- are I fact bcr.: tide Farms. There is no dollar amourrt that would be fair to all dilp~lcants. vc:~sider '.•.e Esc z. fanner who plants an orchard ofjapoticaba, an exotic tropical fruit tree that dt»s . rol. bear relit for t-~' yews Is this farmer less qualified to engage in AgTourism than a lo-ttr c+a'arme= i~,ho b'4. ~s in hl_ st crop ;n six weeks? Should this farmer be precluded from AgTourism fcr 1 ~n years? I su~,tge;t th3', r+C dol ~r omit br. ~z.~~; Ir~siead the -ederal Tax ~chadul® "F" should be accepter) as proof t(at the- apl:Gcant +s a'~ana fide'rm. The horse (agriculture) should definitely precede the cart (tourism). E y reyrr,rinE a Scheaula ''F"from+'he applicant, it is Certain that the applicant has been farming for at lea: t approximately any year. {p){a) h r~nax~r~ ;m of 40,700 visitors annually is proposed. Why rs this limit imposetl~ In order to r,_,d Ice or e iminate ccr strudive nuisance to the neighbor properties, However number (4) requires that a I l.arlong, oadmp Inc unloadir.;, and tom-arounds shall be enilrely on site. Some have proposed Ihniii^g :he nur-rber to E:.000 visiY_rs per year, which is approximately 18 per day. Flow would any limit be ietermined or' enfr;rced7 C~~uld 16 visitors per day possibly support even one ®mployee where rroredica± insurar;ce and workers oompensntion coal:, are $7,100 pQr year! Should the AgTourism Cpe^zto~ be recurred t. close w':e.n the limit is reached? Who will Count visitors? I s~ .;gest that ro imd ~ e +mposz_, as the reason for the limltaticn has already been satlsfactorlly adaressed by requiri";S parking ~:nd Ceding/unloading on the farm site, However to match the traffic to tea nature of the site, z !+fnitatiur ,r th a type of tour vehioles should be imposed. It is not desirable to f~a~ a three axle f at sizr:d buses =ring visitors to farms that are ;ocated on small, rural roads. To avoltl t•ra yp? of tratf~ ; over burden °c Tura; roads and nuisance to neighbors, I suggest the following sta•rdards: Visitor verrles shoul~~ be limited to two axles and 1.2 times the wltlth of the paved access eta i :o the farm '-or ti ~ ample.. if Rho f:avement is 20 feet wide. 4?ccluding shoulders, tYten the maximum I:~n t:h of the. tou~ van c ~ would n 24 reef. Wider roads would ocrmit proportionately larger vehicles. b);~; ~r~f.~ser- .a lirrlt to eae total area of spaces, Inrluding covered decks, lanais, tents or c;arooies and g~azebas, whether ne•Nly constructed or within existing structures, to be utilized principally I .r i'~e agrs;,altura! tore^sm actn+ ,shall not exceed (500) to 1000 square feet." Here Is another example r{~ je,r+d L6959ZE TO ~69 S09L/88/iT of •art>itrory limitation that is unner_assary and undesirable, as the value is sure to be wrong and ttu-ciensome for the ma~ohty of reparations. How will "principally" be defined9 Consider the case of a cc-tfee farmer who has a drying d=ck of 250D square fe®t. The deck may be used about fiv r six runtt s a year. But visitors may gather on U1e deck for "Coffee Talk° every day. la this deck "principally" ~s~'d for drying coffee ar talking to visitors? Who shall decides What is the purpose of such an artificial init~t,on^, vvncn tra~',c problems. are solved elsewhere, authenticity of th® farm operation is guaranteed r,~ c:her reou:rements, ar.d gross "eceipts have been capped at 50%? J>firn ~g del .a• ar~ci Sq'•' are *ootag~ minima and maxima is ~errdniscent of Soviet era central planning. We u~n~.v :hat govem'rtental interferecce with free market forces does not work, and leads to economic stagnation and ub'imate failure F;esDu'ation, not strangulation, i5 needed, V:y purpose :n acvar: ~ g these s ggestions is to help further the viability of agriculture on the Big Island, 't ccc:uzing tha~: rughe antl val!,~, a:ri taxes are creating less c~nom~c viability for the farmer- In order rto ba valuable, t7~s 8il' must be'mritter for long term durability, avoiding arbitrary or unenforceable s .u s H=. V~ashao for ecnsfd~rin~ ~.hese p^'~ts at view. hov~ard R. Conan: K;~r'a RainFa~est Farr--:. 3 -35-'"~ Jay L69S9JE `9~6© 9Bf~JlBB~'Z r~~ CS'/lt'>! (~a~`P~S'~ 70000/a ecrti~ado,~.avc ~ana Ca~~rr. ~~aded ~vr ~.r~e~lurce 4pri ~.0; 2005 ra Vaidones, C•harnnan '12w. oil „punty Plannfr;a Comrnisa~.n 251.upuni Street H to Hawaii aE'~0 N k:: HiU to Amend Cheviot 25 Agricultural Tourism, draft 2 a of , Chairman .;aiac~.es and +~"Femb-rs of the Planning Commssion, I :o ra before you to Praise the efforts of the Planning Department to improve the Zoning Code, to testify it F.+-or of legs6arfon z~ validate a_iicultural tourism and to advance some specific ideas for inclusion in tt*e ?ill. I an ar~ organic coffee 'armor ~ c:outh Kona My farm rs remote antl on a four wheel dnve road, so P gr:u;tural Toursm ~robabPa n;t part of our future. However, we offer this testimony in the hope that It ~ iii ";E, perceroed as ~c. self-son :ng, t;ut constructive to our industry Agriculture on H3wsii Island Is d~csperate to achieve : glue addex gains for survival, as land values, property taxes, and fuel costs rise. hl ,r 1;3. In6:..i a!'icf:rnc workers ~.nmpensation for our single full time employee run $7,100.00 per year P e. ~ v s ,are eli a+a-a e, t- ~ ±,,ourty :.'Harter and the State Cons±itut~on include mandates to favor agriculture. F ar several yeare, U^ 'as sponSs)red AgToursini workshops, indicating the $tatc'c support of value a~ltled concepts . r. a~~°` culture. ( ur:::ounty Denartm&~ t of Research antl Development has written: "The Department of Research and Cer•f:: ecment serves fc- sustainable economic development to enhance the quality of life in the County of h"•cllv;2il Tne departme't's respon,ibiirties Include tourism. agriculture, new industry and industry e e:~alaament, energy, h!m as w+-,~' as Information, research and statistics." (Underscore added) l'he~ -ia:^ra;, alanw F "amic D.~ -top^ent Board has compiled a free AgTourism Map that has been crt-kruted °o t~ o~san o` vis~b^ tg the Big Island, along with colorful brochures about Flowers, \'ere~tables Gr'cllarc aps. an_f _:vestock- Please see attached five pages. t~l' G ~ ~~r. r ^"hf~ ~ '^lW c~ N'. ~YID$d# rl,oRG B' .q'Vy'C`~JaMPelq?C~ueR4,' [uW Y>4Nwmv~.MaiMprlF%.aW'w'.a.~, .exi~Y~ *4ti.:. .StlK xw.,?AWpYiWAiNm~A^~~'~~~HM+M r t~fe .bead o~ data Ca~ej c ~o„xt~ ~~,L' (pct Jot; (:"ryotw~r ; "r~~; r/awm%;~~? 96704 AA f" f~0~8'f3.~8-1941 k~WW, F44a/`0I /2S'Ci'i~q 6dX t8 ~E-d OU~i L69S9ZE i©~69 S09Z/88/~i