HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0745.007 2010-2012 comments on Comm. 745 (Bill 266) re. agricultural tourism
for Hawai'i County Council Committee on Planning
11 AM Wednesday, July 18, 2012,West Hawai'i Civic Center
by Cory Harden, PO Box 10265, Hilo, Occupied Hawaii 96721 808-968-8965 mh @interpac.net
This bill may become a model for other counties, according to discussion at the Planning Commission on
April 5, so we need to take care.
The bill has a worthy goal--supporting farmers by easing regulations-- but there can be impacts:
• Noise from buses, tour guide microphones, music, and crowds.
• Traffic hazards from large buses and many pedestrians on rural roads
• Deterioration of roads not built for wide, heavy buses
• Sewage from scores of daily visitors.Will State Department of Health check to see if sewer
hookups are updated and new cesspools are dug?
Bill 266, SECTION 2: " `Agricultural tourism, major'...thirty thousand visitors annually"
• Trespassing on neighbors' land if visitors wander around
• Impacts if agriculture operations turn into commercial operations
• Degradation of the character of rural neighborhoods
For this bill,
• I urge you to hold evening hearings so working people can come. The Planning Department met
with the Hawai'i Agritourism Association for three years, but I don't know if they met with anyone
concerned about impacts. Planning Commission hearings were during the day.
Planning Department Revised Background and Recommendations, p. 2
• Approval should not be automatic after review time expires. Questionable projects could get
approved.
SECTION 5, section 25-2-76(e)
• Review should remain at 60 days, not be cut to 30. The Planning Department gets stretched too
thin.
SECTION 5, section 25-2-76(e)
• Review should still be required for minor projects, not cut out.
Planning Department Revised Background and Recommendations, p. 3
• Site inspection should continue to be required for major operations.
Planning Department Revised Background and Recommendations, p. 3
• We should keep the 1,000 square foot limit and annual 30,000-visitor limit for major operations.
Planning Department Revised Background and Recommendations, p. 3
SECTION 4, Section 25-2-75(4)
SECTION 6, Section 25-4-25 (d) (5)
Comm. No.
Ref.To:
Ref. Date JUL
• We should keep the requirement that agricultural tourism revenues not exceed agriculture
revenues. Growing food is sustainable—tourism is not.
SECTION 6, Section 25-4-15(d) (6)
"Visitor programs that take valuable space and resources away from agricultural
production...are unacceptable."[O`ahu Agritourism Guidebook, O'ahu Resource
Conservation& Development Council, 2011,
http://www.oahurcd.orq/upfoads/documents/Agritourism%20Guidebook.pdt]
• Botanical gardens should be included.
It's confusing that Planning Department recommendations, and the news, say people must follow the bill
"immediately", but the bill itself describes grace periods.
"...agricultural tourism operations shall conform immediately..."[Planning Department Revised
Background and Recommendation, 4-4-12, p. 3]
"...all agricultural tourism operations will be required to conform immediately..."[Agri-tourism
receives boost, Hawaii Tribune-Herald, 5-4-12]
See Bill 266, SECTION 6, Section 25-4-15(e)to (i)p. 7-8
Again, please hold hearings as a first step to address concerns about easing agritourism regulations.