SB219

Report Title:

Agricultural Lands; Subdivisions; Security Guard Posts

Description:

Allows owners of agricultural lands to subdivide land into parcels not less than 20 acres in size; provided that the subdivided lots are used for intensive agricultural purposes. Allows security guard posts to be built on agricultural lands.

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	219
TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2001
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO AGRICULTURE.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. Chapter 205, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding two new sections to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§205- Intensive agricultural subdivisions. (a) Any person owning property within an agricultural district may subdivide the property into leasehold lots to be used for intensive agricultural purposes. The minimum lot size in an intensive agricultural subdivision shall not be less than twenty acres.

(b) The lots in an intensive agricultural subdivision shall be used solely for the production of plant and animal life for food, fiber, and raw materials, including general farming, fruit growing, flower growing, aquaculture, growing of timber and forest products, apiary, grazing, dairying, and the production of any form of livestock or poultry for a period of not less than years. Special permits for other uses shall not be allowed.

(c) No farm dwellings or employee housing shall be permitted in an intensive agricultural subdivision. Buildings and uses that are normally considered directly accessory to the agricultural activity as described in section 205-4.5 shall be permitted provided that no structure suitable for residential occupancy shall be constructed.

(d) Intensive agricultural subdivisions shall be exempt from all county subdivision ordinances; provided that any buildings and uses described in section 205-4.5 shall comply with all applicable county building ordinances.

§205- Intensive agricultural subdivision and file plan; county approval. (a) A landowner or an authorized representative of the landowner shall submit a file plan of the proposed intensive agricultural subdivision and any construction plans for accessory facilities and utilities that are to be constructed to the legislative body of the county in which the proposed subdivision is located.

(b) The legislative body shall approve or disapprove the intensive agricultural subdivision within forty-five days after the file plan has been submitted. If after the forty-fifth day, the intensive agricultural subdivision file plan is not disapproved, it shall be deemed approved by the legislative body.

SECTION 2. Section 205-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (d) to read as follows:

"(d) Agricultural districts shall include activities or uses as characterized by the cultivation of crops, orchards, forage, and forestry; farming activities or uses related to animal husbandry, aquaculture, and game and fish propagation; aquaculture, which means the production of aquatic plant and animal life for food and fiber within ponds and other bodies of water; wind generated energy production for public, private, and commercial use; bona fide agricultural services and uses which support the agricultural activities of the fee or leasehold owner of the property and accessory to any of the above activities, whether or not conducted on the same premises as the agricultural activities to which they are accessory, including but not limited to farm dwellings as defined in section 205-4.5(a)(4), employee housing, farm buildings, mills, storage facilities, processing facilities, security guard posts, vehicle and equipment storage areas, and roadside stands for the sale of products grown on the premises; wind machines and wind farms; small-scale meteorological, air quality, noise, and other scientific and environmental data collection and monitoring facilities occupying less than one-half acre of land, provided that such facilities shall not be used as or equipped for use as living quarters or dwellings; agricultural parks; and open area recreational facilities, including golf courses and golf driving ranges; provided that they are not located within agricultural district lands with soil classified by the land study bureau's detailed land classification as overall (master) productivity rating class A or B.

These districts may include areas which are not used for, or which are not suited to, agricultural and ancillary activities by reason of topography, soils, and other related characteristics."

SECTION 3. Section 205-4.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) Within the agricultural district all lands with soil classified by the land study bureau's detailed land classification as overall (master) productivity rating class A or B shall be restricted to the following permitted uses:

(1) Cultivation of crops, including but not limited to flowers, vegetables, foliage, fruits, forage, and timber;

(2) Game and fish propagation;

(3) Raising of livestock, including but not limited to poultry, bees, fish, or other animal or aquatic life that are propagated for economic or personal use;

(4) Farm dwellings, employee housing, farm buildings, or activity or uses related to farming and animal husbandry;

Farm dwelling as used in this paragraph means a single-family dwelling located on and used in connection with a farm, including clusters of single-family farm dwellings permitted within agricultural parks developed by the State, or where agricultural activity provides income to the family occupying the dwelling;

(5) Public institutions and buildings which are necessary for agricultural practices;

(6) Public and private open area types of recreational uses including day camps, picnic grounds, parks, and riding stables, but not including dragstrips, airports, drive-in theaters, golf courses, golf driving ranges, country clubs, and overnight camps;

(7) Public, private, and quasi-public utility lines and roadways, transformer stations, communications equipment buildings, solid waste transfer stations, major water storage tanks, and appurtenant small buildings such as booster pumping stations, but not including offices or yards for equipment, material, vehicle storage, repair or maintenance, or treatment plants, or corporation yards, or other like structures;

(8) Retention, restoration, rehabilitation, or improvement of buildings or sites of historic or scenic interest;

(9) Roadside stands for the sale of agricultural products grown on the premises;

(10) Buildings and uses, including but not limited to mills, storage, and processing facilities, maintenance facilities, security guard posts, and vehicle and equipment storage areas that are normally considered directly accessory to the abovementioned uses and are permitted under section 205-2(d);

(11) Agricultural parks; or

(12) Wind energy facilities, including the appurtenances associated with the production and transmission of wind generated energy; provided that such facilities and appurtenances are compatible with agriculture uses and cause minimal adverse impact on agricultural land."

SECTION 4. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________