HB261

SECTION 1. Chapter 205, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to part III to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§205-__ Permissible uses on lands designated important agricultural lands. (a) All lands designated important agricultural lands shall be restricted to the following permitted uses:

(1) Cultivation of crops, including but not limited to flowers, vegetables, foliage, fruits, forage, fiber, 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 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 agricultural activity or agribusiness, including clusters of single-family farm dwellings permitted within agricultural parks developed by the State; provided that the maximum density on land designated important agricultural land shall be one farm dwelling per fifty acres and only minimal infrastructure shall be allowed; provided further that if a lot designated important agricultural land is less than fifty acres when designated important agricultural land, one farm dwelling shall be permitted on that lot.

(5) Agricultural worker housing, provided:

(A) The land used for agricultural worker housing shall not exceed two per cent of the total and area of the lot;

(B) The agricultural worker housing shall be rented solely to the agricultural workers working on the lot and their families;

(C) The agricultural worker housing shall be built in cluster fashion; provided that the cluster shall not break up contiguous blocks of land designated important agricultural land; and

(D) Agricultural worker housing will not be counted toward the maximum density of one dwelling unit per fifty acres.

(6) Public institutions and buildings that are necessary for agricultural practices;

(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, treatment plants, corporation yards, or other similar structures;

(8) Retention, restoration, rehabilitation, or improvements of sites of historic or cultural importance;

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

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

(11) Agricultural parks;

(12) Agricultural tourism, conducted on a working farm, or a farming operation as defined in section 165-2, for the enjoyment, education, or involvement of visitors; provided that the agricultural tourism activity is accessory and secondary to the principal agricultural use and does not interfere with surrounding farm operations; and provided further that this paragraph shall apply only to a county that has adopted ordinances regulating agricultural tourism under section 205-5; or

(13) Bio-fuels processing facilities, provided that the majority of the feedstock is grown within this State, and alternative energy generating facilities, including the appurtenances associated with the production and transmission of bio-fuels and alternative generated energy; provided that such facilities and appurtenances are compatible with agricultural uses and cause minimal adverse impact on important agricultural land.

(b) Uses not expressly permitted in subsection (a) shall be prohibited, except the uses permitted as provided in section 205-8, and construction of single-family dwellings on lots existing before June 4, 1976. Any other law to the contrary notwithstanding, no subdivision of land designated important agricultural lands shall be approved by a county unless the lands within the subdivision are made subject to the restriction on uses set forth in this section, the condition that the uses shall be an agricultural activity or agribusiness, and the following:

(1) The minimum size for each lot shall be fifty acres;

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a subdivision resulting in agricultural lots or parcels not less than ten acres in size for the purpose of leasing the resulting ten-acre parcels for agricultural purposes shall be permitted; provided that only one farm dwelling shall be permitted for every fifty acres and only basic infrastructure shall be required or allowed;

(3) After land has been designated as important agricultural lands, it may be subdivided one time only and:

(A) Any permitted farm dwellings shall be built in cluster fashion; provided that the clustered farm dwellings, together with a fifty-foot buffer between the farm dwellings and the remaining important agricultural lands may not exceed one per cent of the total land area of the land before subdivision;

(B) The configuration and placement of the cluster of farm dwellings shall not break up contiguous blocks of important agricultural lands; and

(C) The overall density may not exceed one farm dwelling for each fifty acres of important agricultural lands in the subdivision.

Any deed, lease, agreement of sale, mortgage, or other instrument of conveyance covering any land within the agricultural subdivision of lands designated important agricultural lands shall expressly contain the restriction on uses and the conditions contained in this section and the restrictions and conditions shall be encumbrances running with the land until such time that the land is no longer designated as important agricultural lands.

"Agribusiness" means farming and the business associated with farming, including but not limited to processing of farm products or the manufacturing of farm equipment and fertilizers;

"Agricultural activity" means any of the permitted uses described in section 205-4.5;

"Subdivision" means the division of improved or unimproved land into two or more lots, parcels, sites, or other divisions of land and for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of sale, lease, rental, transfer of title to, or interest in, any or all such lots, parcels, sites, or divisions of land. The term includes a consolidation and resubdivision and, when appropriate to the context, shall relate to the land subdivided."

SECTION 2. Section 205-4.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) This section and any other law to the contrary notwithstanding, lands designated as important agricultural lands shall be restricted to the uses permitted in section 205- . 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, fiber, 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 activities 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 that 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;

(8) Retention, restoration, rehabilitation, or improvement of buildings or sites of historic, cultural, 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, and vehicle and equipment storage areas that are normally considered directly accessory to the above mentioned uses and are permitted under section 205-2(d);

(11) Agricultural parks;

(12) Plantation community subdivisions, which as used in this paragraph means a subdivision or cluster of employee housing, community buildings, and acreage established on land currently or formerly owned, leased, or operated by a sugar or pineapple plantation and in residential use by employees or former employees of the plantation; provided that the employees or former employees shall have a property interest in the land;

[[](13)[]]Agricultural tourism conducted on a working farm, or a farming operation as defined in section 165‑2, for the enjoyment, education, or involvement of visitors; provided that the agricultural tourism activity is accessory and secondary to the principal agricultural use and does not interfere with surrounding farm operations; and provided further that this paragraph shall apply only to a county that has adopted ordinances regulating agricultural tourism under section 205-5; or

[[](14)[]][~~Wind energy~~] Bio-fuels processing facilities, provided that the majority of the feedstock is grown within the State, and alternative energy generating facilities, including the appurtenances associated with the production and transmission of [~~wind~~] bio-fuels and alternative generated energy; provided that such facilities and appurtenances are compatible with agriculture uses and cause minimal adverse impact on agricultural land."

SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	261
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007
STATE OF HAWAII