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Technical Methodology for General Plan Land Use (2020-2024)
County of Hawaiʻi General Plan
Prepared by:
Amy DeBay
Focused Planning Solutfons LLC
August 8, 2024
Introduction
Beginning in 2015, the County of Hawaiʻi Planning Department has been working to update to the
General Plan document adopted in 2005. This update has included reviewing and revising the General
Plan Land Use map which guides the intended future use of land within the County. This document is
intended to provide details on the methodology used to determine appropriate future uses for existfng
urban, rural, agricultural, and open space areas of the County.
General Plan Land Use
The General Plan is a policy document with a future horizon of 20 years. To help guide growth and
development, the General Plan includes a map of intended future use of land throughout Hawaiʻi
County. In the adopted 2005 General Plan, this map is referred to as the Land Use Pattern Allocatfon
Guide (LUPAG). As the County works to adopt the updated plan, the map of proposed future use is being
referred to as the General Plan Land Use (GPLU) map to better tfe to the General Plan document. GPLU is
not the same as the zoning code, also refered to as Chapter 25 of the Hawaiʻi County Code. The intent of
the GPLU is to guide decisions about potentfal uses of land in a comprehensive way to meet the needs of
a growing populatfon in the coming decades. Decisions about zoning and development should be
informed by the GPLU and be consistent with the intended uses designated in the GPLU.
2019 Proposed Land Use Map and Revisions
Development of the GPLU for the update began with work in 2015. At that tfme, the County did
extensive analysis to identffy existfng development, examined the future capacity for development in the
County, explored a number of projected growth scenarios, and compared potentfal outcomes of
different growth patterns. This analysis was shared with the public in a series of workshops in 2016 and
2017 to explore community choices of how growth occurs and how County services support different
growth scenarios.
The outcomes of that work shaped the policy guidance for establishing a future land use plan designed
to encourage growth in urban centers where services are existfng or planned. In 2019, a version of the
land use map1 was shared with the public for review and comment. This document provides details on
the methodology used to review public comments and revise the 2019 map resultfng in the current
proposed GPLU map as part of the General Plan 2045 under public review from September 18, 2023
through April 1, 2024.
1 Future Land Use System Technical Report, Ian Varley, City Explained, Inc., March 10, 2020.
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Beginning in the summer 2020, the County and Focused Planning Solutfons LLC reviewed the comments
to the 2019 proposed future land use map and recommended several revisions to the map at that tfme.
Additfonally, new sources of data were explored to help guide proposed revisions. From the review,
several consideratfons were identffied to be explored and addressed.
Consideration: The 2019 future land use designatfons removed Urban Expansion as a designatfon.
Within Urban Growth Boundaries (UGB), LUPAG Urban Expansion areas were defaulted to urban uses,
predominantly Low Density Urban. An unintended consequence of this method was some large shifts to
urban uses in areas of the County with no planned development in the plan horizon and no existfng or
planned infrastructure to support such development.
Actfon: Review all LUPAG Urban Expansion designated areas to determine the criteria for proposed
change in future land use. Propertfes designated as a specific change due to CDP guidance or other area
plans were accepted as intended. Propertfes that were assigned the default urban uses were reviewed
for consistency with State Land Use, CDP use, zoning, proposed conservatfon areas, or other potentfal
plans. In CDPs with future centers identffied, urban uses were assigned based on proximity to centers.
The criteria used for determining appropriate land use designatfons:
• Assigned future land use is from an existfng plan document.
• Earlier versions of LUPAG show a specific land use, not Urban Expansion.
• Comments from public review propose land uses and County concurs with consistency.
• Area is within a TOD or Center from CDPs.
• Property is under public ownership with intended future use
• Privately owned property has a known area plan
• Where no plan is identffied, use existfng data for agriculture use, SLUD, access to infrastructure,
and/or zoning district to determine appropriate designatfons.
Following these steps, a determinatfon was made for UE parcels.
Consideration: The 2019 future land use map introduced the Natural Areas designatfon as a broad
category of open space with no intended agricultural use. LUPAG designatfons of Open and Extensive
Agriculture were considered as appropriate candidates to transitfon to Natural Areas. About 25% of
LUPAG is currently classified as Extensive Agriculture. In the 2019 plan, 45% of that land area changed to
the Pastoral land use designatfon based on 2015 UH-Hilo agriculture study of pasture lands and 47% of
LUPAG Extensive Agriculture was re-designated to Natural Areas. In current LUPAG, only about 1.4 % of
the County is designated Open. About 36% of that land area was re-designated to Natural Areas. Some
of these resultfng Natural Areas were identffied during the review as not consistent with existfng or
intended property use.
Actfon: Areas of the LUPAG map currently designated Extensive Agriculture that were proposed to
transitfon to Natural Areas in the 2019 proposed land use plan were reviewed for their existfng and
planned uses. The following additfonal data sources were explored to better understand existfng and
intended future use:
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• Carbon Assessment of Hawaiʻi landcover and habitat analysis (John Jacobi, 2015)
• Historic Lava Flows (HVO, All available years)
• 2015 UH-Hilo Agricultural Baseline crops and pasture data (SDAV, 2015)
• Federal and State Owned Lands from Hawaiʻi County assessor data
Landcover data was used to define more intentfonal boundaries for natural areas. The following criteria
shaped decisions around the Natural Areas designatfon:
• State owned lands – retained Natural
• Bare Lands in landcover and historic lava flows – Classified as Natural
• Wetlands in landcover and Cemetery in County Parks – Classified as Natural
• Natfve dominant use in landcover – Classified as Natural
• Agriculture dominant use – Classified as Agriculture (includes developed, alien forests)
• Pastoral dominant use – Classified as Pastoral
Consideration: 2019 future land use was under review at the same tfme the 2018 Kīlauea Lower East Rift
Zone (2018 LERZ) eruptfon recovery process was underway. At that tfme, the area impacted by the
eruptfon was assigned a land use designatfon of Pending so as not to conflict with concurrent planning
processes.
Actfon: The Pending designatfons in the 2018 LERZ impact area were reviewed to assign appropriate
future uses that would not conflict with the recovery efforts and would appropriately convey the
demonstrated risk of the locatfon. The County land area also increased in this area by approximately 766
acres due to the lava flowing into Kapoho Bay and reshaping the coastline in that area. The lava flows
were assigned Natural. Island areas surrounded by lava or kīpuka were assigned agricultural use
designatfons to match agricultural studies for productfve crop use and or pastoral uses. The Kapoho
residentfal area was also under lava flow. The former urban uses in this area were assigned natural to
match these condtfons.
Consideration: Parks were not always showing as recreatfon or conservatfon.
Actfon: Data layers for County, State, and Federal Parks were cross-referenced with the proposed land
use designatfons. Park areas not designated as recreatfon or conservatfon use were adjusted to match
park boundaries. Parks in SLU conservatfon are noted as GPLU conservatfon, actfve parks with actfve use
areas are noted as recreatfon, and public lands not in actfve use are noted as natural or conservatfon,
such as PONC propertfes.
Consideration: Industrial land uses in LUPAG and the 2019 proposed future land use plan were often
inconsistent or showed conflictfng boundaries with zoning and other plans.
Actfon: All industrial areas designated in LUPAG, the 2019 proposed land use plan, zoning, CDPs, and
other area plans were identffied and reviewed to compare boundaries for consistency.
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2021 & 2024 Proposed Land Use Map and Revisions
The revisions from the 2019 process were shared in an interactfve mapping platiorm using Esri ArcGIS
Online Story Maps. Story Maps provided a universally accessible locatfon to see the proposed land use
alongside many other relevant data sets for infrastructure, conservatfon, hazards, facilitfes, agriculture,
natfve habitat, and transportatfon. The Story Map provided an effectfve way to review proposed changes
and digitfze comments directly in the mapping applicatfon. The County also began using the interactfve
document platiorm, Konveio, to review draft General Plan document products and gather community
input.
In 2022, a series of working sessions were conducted to review the comments and the proposed
changes. At this tfme, the name of the map was chosen to be the General Plan Land Use (GPLU) map to
clarify the connectfon to the guiding document and purpose of the map. Some revisions to the
designatfons were also made. The final proposed General Plan land uses are shown below in Table 1.
Table 1: General Plan Land Use Designations
General Plan
Designation Changes from 2019 Proposed Plan
Urban Land Use
High-Density Urban
Medium-Density Urban
Low-Density Urban
Urban Expansion Added back – after discussion, it was decided to revisit this LUPAG
designatfon
Light Industrial
Heavy Industrial
University
Resort
Rural Land Use
Rural
Agricultural Land Use
Productive Agriculture
Extensive Agriculture Name Change – in the 2019 plan this was referred to as Pastoral Use
Natural Name Change – in the 2019 plan this was referred to as Natural Areas
Open Space Land Use
Recreation
Conservation
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The 2022 working sessions were conducted to review land use designatfons categorically. Using a live
working session format, questfons were explored about map designatfons in real tfme, identffying areas
to flag for review. Comments from the previous online review platiorm were also reviewed to determine
appropriate responses and actfons.
In sessions exploring urban designatfons, uses near centers and development plans were considered.
Inclusion of the Urban Expansion designatfon as a proposed land use provided an opportunity to revisit
appropriate locatfons for that use:
• Review areas of LUPAG within Urban Expansion.
• Look at undeveloped existfng land use
• Exclude areas that are already at capacity, map those at the capacity
• Exclude state owned conservatfon, critfcal habitat, county parks.
• Within TODs, use the appropriate high or medium urban designatfons.
The next sessions explored rural and agriculture uses for consistency with State Land Use, zoning, and
the 2020 UH-Hilo Agriculture data. Conservatfon and Natural areas were reviewed for consistency with
State Land Use, natfve habitat landcover data, and area plans for conservatfon. These review sessions
highlighted areas for potentfal changes to better align with intended criteria.
After incorporatfng recommendatfons to the GPLU map in the spring-summer 2023, an interactfve
mapping platiorm was designed to provide a single locatfon for public users to review the proposed map
and add comments. The mapping platiorm links to the Konveio General Plan document review platiorm
directly, allowing users to derive document searches from the map and to query the map based on
questfons in the document. The public review process concluded on April 1, 2024. Over 200 comments
were provided on the GPLU maps. From the public review process, a few consideratfons were identffied
and reviewed.
Consideration: Some areas assigned Urban Expansion land use are currently developed as urban.
Actfon: Review existfng development in Urban Epansion to identffy areas that are built or at
capacity and assign consistent urban designatfons.
Consideration: The Kona CDP identffied areas at high elevatfon for consideratfon of protectfon to help
with water protectfon, landslide risk, and natfve habitat.
Actfon: Review lands in the County above 2,500 feet elevatfon for possible Natural designatfon.
Property in public ownership identffied for Natural designatfon.
Consideration: Lands identffied by the Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources Preservatfon
Commission (PONC) should be designated as conservatfon lands.
Actfon: Map the PONC lands and reclassify to Conservatfon Land Use.
Consideration: The coastal buffer for the island was initfally proposed to have Recreatfon as the universal
designatfon. Many coastal areas are in SLUD Conservatfon areas.
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Actfon: Review coastline for SLUD classificatfon. Convert SLUD Conservatfon and Agriculture to
GPLU Conservatfon. Confirm SLUD Urban as GPLU Recreatfon.
Results
Appendix B provides the graphic analysis of changes in land use from adopted LUPAG through the
proposed GPLU. The land use comparisons demonstrate the County policy goals to increase
Conservatfon and Natural uses, retain Productfve Agriculture, reduce or more specifically define urban
footprints, and provide more areas for Rural.
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Appendix A – List of Additional Data and Sources
HVO, U. (All available years). Past and Present Lava Flows for Hawaii Island.
John Jacobi, U. P. (2015, 01 01). Carbon Assessment of Hawaii Habitat Status. Retrieved from
https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/592dee75e4b092b266efeb6e
SDAV. (2015). 2015 Hawaii Statewide Agricultural Land Use Baseline layer.
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Appendix B: General Plan Land Use Changes by District
Hawaiʻi County
(approximately 2,578,828 acres)
2005 LUPAG
2019 Proposed
Land Use
2024 Proposed
Land Use
2005 LUPAG
(143,033 acres)
2019 Proposed
Land Use
(146,802 acres)
2024 Proposed
Land Use
(144,604 acres)
Hawaiʻi County
Breakdown of Other Land Use Types
Hāmākua
(approximately 404,337 acres)
2005 LUPAG
2019 Proposed
Land Use
2024 Proposed
Land Use
2005 LUPAG
(2,763 acres)
2019 Proposed
Land Use
(1,602 acres)
2024 Proposed
Land Use
(1,715 acres)
Hāmākua
Breakdown of Other Land Use Types
North Hilo
(approximately 167,230 acres)
2005 LUPAG
2019 Proposed
Land Use
2024 Proposed
Land Use
2005 LUPAG
(853 acres)
2019 Proposed
Land Use
(659 acres)
2024 Proposed
Land Use
(681 acres)
North Hilo
Breakdown of Other Land Use Types
South Hilo
(approximately 255,518 acres)
2005 LUPAG
2019 Proposed
Land Use
2024 Proposed
Land Use
2005 LUPAG
(20,292 acres)
2019 Proposed
Land Use
(19,936 acres)
2024 Proposed
Land Use
(21,289 acres)
South Hilo
Breakdown of Other Land Use Types
Puna
(approximately 321,604 acres)
2005 LUPAG
2019 Proposed
Land Use
2024 Proposed
Land Use
2005 LUPAG
(43,854 acres)
2019 Proposed
Land Use
(53,607 acres)
2024 Proposed
Land Use
(39,017 acres)
Puna
Breakdown of Other Land Use Types
Kaʻū
(approximately 661,461 acres)
2005 LUPAG
2019 Proposed
Land Use
2024 Proposed
Land Use
2005 LUPAG
(15,360 acres)
2019 Proposed
Land Use
(23,103 acres)
2024 Proposed
Land Use
(22,599 acres)
Kaʻū
Breakdown of Other Land Use Types
South Kona
(approximately 146,964 acres)
2005 LUPAG
2019 Proposed
Land Use
2024 Proposed
Land Use
2005 LUPAG
(1,994 acres)
2019 Proposed
Land Use
(1,601 acres)
2024 Proposed
Land Use
(2,966 acres)
South Kona
Breakdown of Other Land Use Types
North Kona
(approximately 365,585 acres)
2005 LUPAG
2019 Proposed
Land Use
2024 Proposed
Land Use
2005 LUPAG
(28,646 acres)
2019 Proposed
Land Use
(26,755 acres)
2024 Proposed
Land Use
(25,485 acres)
North Kona
Breakdown of Other Land Use Types
South Kohala
(approximately 176,135 acres)
2005 LUPAG
2019 Proposed
Land Use
2024 Proposed
Land Use
2005 LUPAG
(25,645 acres)
2019 Proposed
Land Use
(15,811 acres)
2024 Proposed
Land Use
(23,533 acres)
South Kohala
Breakdown of Other Land Use Types
North Kohala
(approximately 79,993 acres)
2005 LUPAG
2019 Proposed
Land Use
2024 Proposed
Land Use
2005 LUPAG
(3,625 acres)
2019 Proposed
Land Use
(4,267 acres)
2024 Proposed
Land Use
(7,319 acres)
North Kohala
Breakdown of Other Land Use Types