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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0964.179 2004-2006 P.O. Box 248, 81-6581 Mamalahoa Highway, Keatakelcua, Hawaii 96750 8W323-2862 IF: 808-323-2584 www.grccnwe11farms.com FARMS SINCE 1850 M- Mr. Stacey Higa Chairman, Hawaii County Council Hilo, Hawaii November 24, 2006 Subject: General plan amendments for Important Agricultural lands Aloha and good evening. My name is Tom Greenwell and I reside at 81-6581 Mamalahoa Highway in Kealakekua. I am Vice President and General Manager for Greenwell Farms, Inc. and the youngest great-grandson in the family that has farmed and ranched our lands since the mid-1850's. I am here today to ask your consideration to remove the IAL designation from the portion of our lands below the 1000 foot contour on TMKs: 8-1-04:01,54, 74 & 75, as the Director has proposed for the lands of other family farms to the north of us. My Great-Grandfather, Henry Nicholas Greenwell, began farming soon after he acquired these lands in the mid 1850's. He grew oranges for export to California. Dry conditions and a blight forced an end to that venture in about 1867. The makai portions of these lands have to my knowledge only ever been used for periodic cattle grazing, when there was enough rain. We presently grow coffee, mac nuts, avocados and bananas on about 50 acres, as well as graze cattle on the balance of these lands. The productive portion of the lands is closer to the highway, where the soil is deeper and the rainfall more consistent. Coffee needs about 60 inches of rainfall to thrive, mac nuts about 50, Avocados 40 and bananas 60. The soil and rainfall maps show the 50" rainfall is at about the 1000' elevation. Productive farming below that elevation would require irrigation. The County DWS system provides our farm with sufficient water for housing, processing and retail operations, but not for irrigation. Comm. No. ` Ref. To: Ref. Date ~Y u V As there are only intermittent streams in the area, and those we have are subject primarily to flash flooding, providing irrigation would necessitate the drilling of wells, building reservoirs or tanks and a pipeline distribution system. I submit to you that the economics of Ag in Kona cannot support such a substantial investment. Ours is not a hobby farm or a tax shelter, but the primary source of our family's income. Besides my immediate family, the farm supports my retired mother, brother and 2 sisters, all of whom are actively involved in the farm operations. Coffee prices are very good right now and expanding our fields is a priority for our family run farm. We can grow into about 100 acres, down to about that 1000' elevation, for intensive style coffee and mac nut production. The lands below the 1000' contour can only sustain periodic grazing. I ask for your favorable consideration to expand the Directors request E-6, 7 & 8 farther south, at least through our lands in Onouli 2nd, if not farther to Napoopoo Road. The rationale used in the Director's request and as detailed above for our farm, applies equally to these lands. We are framers and support the designation and protection of Important Agricultural lands, but feel the designation should be based on the realities of Agriculture, consistently applied across similar lands. We respectfully request your favorable consideration of this request. Thank you for this opportunity to provide testimony on amendments to the General Plan. Sincerely, Thomas F. Greenwell Vice President and General Manager Greenwell Farms, Inc.