Hawaii Administrative Rules › Title 15 - DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM › Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism › Chapter 15 - LAND USE COMMISSION RULES › Subchapter 17 - IMPORTANT AGRICULTURAL LAND DESIGNATION AND PROCEEDINGS › Section 15-15-127 - Standards and criteria for the reclassification or rezoning of important agricultural lands

Current through June, 2024
(a) Any land use district boundary amendment
				  or change in zoning involving important agricultural lands identified pursuant
				  to this subchapter shall be considered as, and meet the submittal requirements
				  for, a district boundary amendment under this chapter.
(b) An application for a special permit
				  involving important agricultural lands shall include evidence that the request
				  has been referred to the state department of agriculture and the state office
				  of planning for review and comment and contain as part of the petition any
				  comments or recommendations made by both the state department of agriculture
				  and the state office of planning.
(c) In addition to the criteria set forth in
				  subchapter
				  8, any decision by the commission or
				  county pursuant to this section shall specifically consider, and find by a
				  preponderance of the evidence, that:
(1) The
				  land to be reclassified is not critical for agriculture based on the amount of
				  similarly suited lands in the area and the State as a whole;
(2) The proposed district boundary amendment
				  or zone change will not harm the productivity or viability of existing
				  agricultural activity in the area, or adversely affect the viability of other
				  agricultural activities or operations that share infrastructure, processing,
				  marketing, or other production-related costs or facilities with the
				  agricultural activities on the land in question;
(3) The district boundary amendment or zone
				  change will not cause the fragmentation of or intrusion of nonagricultural uses
				  into largely intact areas of lands identified by the State as important
				  agricultural lands that create residual parcels of a size that would preclude
				  viable agricultural use;
(4) The
				  public benefit to be derived from the proposed action is justified by a need
				  for additional lands for nonagricultural purposes;
(5) The proposed district boundary amendment
				  or zone change will not negatively impact the ability or capacity of state and
				  county agencies to provide and support additional agricultural infrastructure
				  or services in the area;
(6) The
				  public benefit from the proposed district boundary amendment or zone change
				  outweighs the benefits of retaining the land for agricultural
				  purposes;
(7) The proposed action
				  will have no significant impact upon the viability of agricultural operations
				  on adjacent agricultural lands;
(8)
				  The decision-making criteria of subchapter
				  8 governing decisions of the land use
				  commission on district boundary amendments have been met; and
(9) The decision-making criteria adopted by
				  each county to govern decisions of county decision-making authorities under
				  this chapter have been met.