NORTH SHORE NEIGHBORHOOD BOARD NO. 27

AG COMMITTEE AGENDA
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2024
S P E C I A L M E E T I N G
WAIALUA COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION (WCA)GYM
66-434 KAMEHAMEHA HIGHWAY
HALEʻIWA, HAWAIʻI 96712
6:00 P.M. – 8:00 P.M.

I. CALL TO ORDER: Chair Racquel Achiu

Rules of Speaking: (In Person Meeting)
Please silence all electronic devices – Anyone wishing to participate in the meeting discussions, please raise your hand to be recognized by the Chair. Please identify yourself by name (and affiliation if any) when speaking for the first time. When recognized by the Chair, please address comments to the Chair. You will have 2 MINUTES to speak and/or ask your question. Please do not interrupt others when they are speaking; committees are less formal but want every voice to be heard

Note: The Committee may take action on any agenda item. As required by the State Sunshine
Law (HRS 92), specific issues not noted on this agenda cannot be voted on, unless added to
the agenda.

II. COMMITTEE BUSINESS
A. AGRICULTURE LOT CPR Process & Zoning

Special Guests:
● Chair Kathleen Pahinui, North Shore Neighborhood Board No. 27
● Councilmember Matt Weyer, City Council District 2
● Yvonne Yoro, Representative Amy Perruso’s Office
● Director Dawn Takeuchi Apuna, City & County Of Honolulu Department of Planning & Permitting
● CPR Specialist Dathan Choy, State of Hawaiʻi Dept of Commerce & Consumer Affairs, Real Estate
Branch

III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A. Committee Minutes of August 13, 2024

IV. ANNOUNCEMENTS

V. ADJOURNMENT

A mailing list is maintained for interested persons and agencies to receive agenda and minutes. Additions, corrections, and deletions to the mailing list may be directed to the Neighborhood Commission Office (NCO) at Kapālama Hale, 925 Dillingham Boulevard, Suite 160 Honolulu, HI 96817; Telephone (808) 768-3710 Fax (808) 768-3711; or call Neighborhood Assistant Zhoydell Magaoay at (808) 768-4224 or e-mail zhoydell.magaoay@honolulu.gov. Agendas and minutes are also available on the internet at www.honolulu.gov/nco.

All written testimony must be received in the Neighborhood Commission Office 48 hours prior to the meeting. If within 48 hours, written and/or oral testimony may be submitted directly to the board at the meeting. If submitting written testimony, please note the board and agenda item(s) your testimony concerns. Send to: Neighborhood Commission Office, 925 Dillingham Boulevard, Suite 160 Honolulu, HI 96817. Fax: (808) 768-3711. Email: nbtestimony@honolulu.gov.

If you need an auxiliary aid/service or other accommodation due to a disability or an interpreter for a language other than English, please call the Neighborhood Commission Office at (808) 768-3710 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. or send an email to nco@honolulu.gov at least three (3) business days before the scheduled meeting. It may not be possible to fulfill requests received after this date.

NORTH SHORE NEIGHBORHOOD BOARD
AG COMMITTEE MINUTES (DRAFT)
TUESDAY, AUGUST 13, 2024
WAIALUA COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION (WCA)
66-434 KAMEHAMEHA HIGHWAY
HALE’IWA, HAWAI’I 96712
6:00 P.M. – 7:30 P.M.

Chair Achiu called the meeting to order at 6:05 P.M. In attendance were Chair Racquel Achiu, Vice-Chair Casi Alexander, Secretary Boyd Ready, and members Ron Weidenbach, Leif Anderson, Antya Miller. Community members in attendance were Mark Hamamoto, Inga Macatiag, Scott Rudy, Wendy Hale, Dafna Epstein, and Travis Overley.

Casi Alexander moved that the North Shore Neighborhood Board Agriculture Committee make the recommendations in a resolution to the City Council of Honolulu City & County’s draft ordinance 64(2023) FD1 BILL The motion was seconded. Vice-Chair Alexander noted that the three areas of most concern as ascertained in a poll of the members and guests at the July meeting were selected for these recommended amendments to the draft bill.

Twelve recommended amendments, under the three headings ‘Confined Animal Raising, Agritourism, and Farm Dwellings, to 64(2023) FD1 were considered seriatum.

RECOMMENDATION 1: IN RE CONFINED ANIMAL RAISING

STANDARDS
• Recommendation 1a: Strike proposed clause (1) from § 21-5.40-2(a) due to unsuitable and overly general restriction of agricultural production on agricultural zoned lands, considering a) Agriculture Zoning 2 allows for the subdivision of land into 2 acre parcels, b) Oahu is home to many non-conforming Agriculture zoned lots under 3 acres, and c) farmers can raise and maintain a healthy population of livestock within confines on parcels well under 3 acres depending on the breed and size of livestock and the conditions established by the farmer.

Recommendation 1a was adopted by unanimous consent.

• Recommendation 1b: Adjust clause (s) from § 21-5.40-2(a) to clarify that setback requirements apply to structures where animals are housed a majority of the time and that setbacks should be graduated based on the scale of animal production and size of animal (using USDA or other industry terms to define scale of production and size of animal) due to unsuitable and overly general application of restrictions on agricultural lands.

The text as adjusted would read:
(a) Animal raising, confined – standards.
1. Structures where animals are housed a majority of the time must be set back from the property line of any adjoining property within the residential, apartment, or apartment mixed-use zoning district on a graduated scale depending on the scale of operations and size of the animal. Structures associated with commercial scale large animal operations shall be set back a minimum of 300 feet. Small scale large or medium-sized animal operations shall be set back a minimum of 50 feet. Small scale small animal operations shall not require a setback. The director may adopt rules scale of operation and size of the animal for specific cases.

Recommendation 1b was adopted by unanimous consent.
RECOMMENDATION 2: IN RE AGRITOURISM
STANDARDS
• Recommendation 2a: Strike clause (1) from 21-5.40-4(b) due to a) the inability to measure the percentage of “activity” taking place on a zoning lot, b) the discrepancy between 50 and 51 percent included in clauses (1) and (5), and c) the duplicative regulatory nature of including clauses (1) and (5).

Recommendation 2a was adopted by unanimous consent.

• Recommendation 2b: Strike from clause (2) the sentence “Improvements on the land used for agritourism must be capable of removal without unreasonable cost or effort,” due to 1) the duplicative nature of this sentence with the preceding sentence, and b) the lack of a clear definition of “unreasonable cost or effort” which may lead to unnecessary subjective restriction on the construction of agritourism structures.

Recommendation 2b was adopted by unanimous consent.

• Recommendation 2c: Shift all inclusions of “crop production or livestock keeping” to “agricultural use” or “agricultural production” due to the unsuitably narrow description of crop production or livestock keeping which does not include other valid agricultural uses of agricultural land (such as agricultural processing).

Recommendation 2c was adopted by unanimous consent.

• Recommendation 2d: Adjust clause (5) of 21-5.40-4(b) to quire both a minimum of 51% and “active” agricultural use, due to the striking of clause (1).

Recommendation 2d was adopted by unanimous consent.

• Recommendation 2e: Retain clause (a) from Sec. 21-5.10A of the currently enacted Land Use Ordinance to allow for agricultural retail on agricultural lands due to the unsuitable restriction on existing and currently operating agricultural retail establishments that the removal of this permitted use and standard would apply.

Recommendation 2e was adopted by unanimous consent.

The text as amended would read.”
(1) Activities and improvements on the property may not diminish the long term agricultural potential of the land.

(2) Structures primarily dedicated to agritourism must not exceed 10 percent of the total zoning lot area.

(3) Buildings and structures associated with agritourism that are not required as part of the crop production or livestock keeping on the zoning lot are limited to 10,000 square feet of total floor area for the zoning lot.

(4) A minimum of 51 percent of the zoning lot area suitable for agricultural use must be dedicated to active agricultural use through an agricultural easement or similar legal encumbrance for as long as the agritourism use is in operation. The director may adopt rules pursuant to HRS Chapter 91 to determine the zoning lot area considered to be suitable for agricultural use.

(5) Except as otherwise specified under principal uses, retail activities in an enclosed structure may be allowed, but are limited to not more than 500 square feet of floor area, and
all products for sale therein must be predominantly agricultural products grown or produced on the site, in the city or elsewhere in the State of Hawaii, and finished foods, drinks or other goods substantially made from those products. Non-food items may be sold, provided that these items are made primarily from agricultural products grown or produced on the site, in the city or elsewhere in the State of Hawaii. An incidental amount of general merchandise that features the brand, name or logo of the agribusiness operator may also be sold, provided that the items occupy no more than five percent of the floor area permitted for and devoted to retail sales, as provided in this section. The limitations enumerated above notwithstanding, an agribusiness activity may also include facilities for the preparation, sale and consumption of food and drink on the site, which must feature agricultural products grown or produced on the site, in the city or elsewhere in the State of Hawaii.

(6) Weddings and similar accessory destination events are subject to the following: (A) Events must take place at a designated event space; and (B) Predominantly open-air physical improvements associated with destination events, such as a roofed pavilion, are allowed;

(7) Bus, jeep, or off-road vehicle tours using motorized vehicles, including an all-terrain vehicle (ATV), quad, four-wheeler, off highway motorcycle, or any other all-terrain or four-wheel drive vehicle, may only be conducted on a working farm, and require major conditional use approval subject to the following standards: (A) Tours must have an educational purpose related to the agricultural use of the property. (A) Tours must have an educational purpose related to the agricultural use of the property; and (B) Tours must not interfere with surrounding farm operations.

USAGE
• Recommendation 2f: If the determination is made NOT to retain clause (1) of Sec. 21-5.10A of the currently enacted Land Use Ordinance as part of the draft Bill 64 Agritourism section 21-5.40-4(b) then “retail” and “eating and drinking” should be added as Permitted Use, Use Standards Apply on the Master Usage table and the relevant language from Sec. 21-5.10A should be added into the retail and eating and drinking segments of draft Bill 64.

Recommendation 2f was adopted by unanimous consent.

RECOMMENDATION 3: IN RE FARM DWELLINGS

STANDARDS
• Recommendation 3a: Strike proposed clause (1) from § 21-5.40-4(e) due to a) the imposition of undue hardship on retired farmers and farmers injured on the job who would be unable to maintain their farm dwelling as a legal residence, b) the potential implications on the ability of farmers to pass their land on to future generations, c) the length of time required to bring 51% of an agricultural parcel into production, as well as d) a more strict interpretation of the current definition of farm dwelling, and e) and overly narrow allowance for “crop production and livestock keeping” as opposed to “agricultural use” or “agricultural production” as used in the current Land Use Ordinance.

Recommendation 3a was adopted by unanimous consent.
The text as adjusted would read:
(1) Each farm dwelling (including eaves, overhangs, carports, garages, trellised areas, stairways, decks, storage sheds, and swimming pools) must be contained within an area not to exceed 5,000 square feet, confined to a polygon for which no exterior angle is greater than 180 degrees.

(2) In the AG-1 zoning district, the number of farm dwellings must not exceed one for every 5 acres of zoning lot area.

(3) In the AG-2 zoning district, the number of farm dwellings must not exceed one for every 2 acres of zoning lot area.
(4) If multiple farm dwellings are permitted on a zoning lot, they must not exceed 10 percent of the total zoning lot area.

• Recommendation 3b: Strike from § 21-8.30 the sentence “If the applicant wishes to erect additional farm dwellings under § 21-8.20, the zoning lot shall be subdivided,” due to a) the importance of multi-generational housing to support small farms, b) the unequal application of restrictions on ohana units on farmers as compared to residential land owners.

Recommendation 3b was adopted by unanimous consent.

The text as adjusted would read:
(a) Any agricultural zoning lot which has at least twice the required minimum lot size for the underlying agricultural district may have two detached farm dwellings, in addition to ohana units erected pursuant to § 21-8.20.

DEFINITIONS
• Recommendation 3c: Strike the terms “principal” from “principal agricultural use” due to lack of definition of what is principal agricultural use.

Recommendation 3c was adopted by unanimous consent.

• Recommendation 3d: Strike the exception for “open space, forestry, or boarding and care of animals” from the allowance for a farm dwelling, due to the potential implications on pasture at rest, agroforestry, and the boarding of horses.

The definition as adjusted would read:
A dwelling unit that is accessory to agricultural use on the same lot.

Recommendation 3d was adopted by unanimous consent.

The recommendations having all been separately adopted, Chair Racquel Achiu directed that, without objection, Vice-Chair Alexander would prepare the adopted recommendations in the form of a Resolution with appropriate ‘whereas’ and ’resolved’ clauses for presentation to the Honolulu City Council, the Mayor’s office, the Department of Planning and Permitting, and the Hawaii Department of Agriculture. Since there were no objections, the motion was adopted.

There being no further business Chair Achiu called for announcements and then adjourned the meeting at 8:15 PM.

Draft minutes by Boyd Ready, Secretary

To view agenda and minutes, visit our board website.

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