To hear the owners and their agents describe it, a proposed upscale, gated golf-course subdivision on agricultural land in the lee of Mauna Loa, in the ahupua`a of Hokukano, will do nothing less than heal the damaged relationship between humans and nature.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThere is a spiritual element to what we do that is an important part of the balance,\u201d Hokukano Ranch administrator Greg Hendrickson was quoted as saying in the March 2007 \u201cLeaflet\u201d published by The Kohala Center. \u201cWhen we promote health and harmony in the landscape, the result has ecological, social, and economic benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tClark Stevens, an architect who has been retained to design \u201cHokukano Preserves,\u201d spoke effusively of the need to be sensitive to the land in determining \u201cinhabitation\u201d zones (otherwise known as house sites). The golf course, he told The Kohala Center, was designed \u201cso that golfers will have an experience that will teach them about the landscape of this place and encourage them to engage with the land.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tMany residents of Kona have a different take on the subdivision. More than 700 have signed a petition objecting to the subdivision. Their concerns, as stated in the petition, revolve around the prospect of the subdivision increasing flooding in downstream areas and increased traffic congestion on the already congested Mamalahoa Highway. \u201cIf the county approves this application,\u201d the petition states, \u201cwe hold the county liable for possible loss of life and property damage as a result of the flooding that will occur.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tMore than a dozen residents wrote longer letters, spelling out their concerns in greater detail. The proposed subdivision, with 100 lots of at least 20 acres each, has abundant common areas, but they are handled as easements across the subdivided lots instead of occupying their own separate legal parcels. The 200-plus-acre golf course, for example, cuts across at least 19 of the 47 lots in Phase I of the subdivision. A 10-acre equestrian center bisects a 37-acre lot. Prospective owners must agree to restrict activities on their lots to \u201cprivate areas,\u201d which, under the restrictive covenants filed with the Bureau of Conveyances, are to be used exclusively for the owners\u2019 \u201cresidential, recreational and agricultural purposes.\u201d This restriction, wrote Steve Stetler of Captain Cook, \u201cdoes not seem to conform to 20-acre parcels for agriculture use and appears to violate the Right to Farm act by restricting use of parcels to one acre.\u201d Stetler and others also objected to the absorption of the golf course by the residential parcels. \u201cA golf course should be its own lot instead of being a part of a farm lot, especially since new rules have stated \u2013 golf courses are not proper use of agricultural zoning,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
\tShawn Suzuki, the principal of Konawaena High School, immediately makai of the area to be subdivided, weighed in, voicing questions about \u201chow the clearing of such a large area will affect water runoff as we\u2019ve experienced major flood damage twice over the past three years \u2013 the first damaging our cafeteria, library, main building and 12 classrooms, the second completely filling our football field and damaging our all-weather track.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Is It Agriculture?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
The Hokukano Preserves subdivision lies just directly mauka of Hokuli`a, the upscale subdivision on agricultural land that was found to have been permitted by the county in violation of the state restrictions on what can be done within the state Agriculture District. Hokuli`a lots range are much smaller than those at Hokukano, but the long litigation over Hokuli`a has caused some people to ask whether restrictions on agriculture at Hokukano might also run afoul of the state land use law.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThere\u2019s a question on this subdivision,\u201d county Planning Director Chris Yuen told Environment Hawai`i.<\/i> The golf course, which has been under construction since 1991 and is planned for completion sometime next year, has been deemed by the county a non-conforming use, he noted, but \u201cthe further question is whether they can restrict the lot owners.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tYuen referred to Section 205-4.6, Hawai`i Revised Statutes<\/i>. Under this section, it is illegal to have any \u201cprivate agreement contained in any deed, agreement of sale, or other conveyance of land\u201d restrict agricultural uses. The law allows such restrictions when made to protect \u201cenvironmental or cultural resources, \u2026 utility easements, and access easements.\u201d Whether a golf course, clubhouse, or equestrian area can be defined to meet one of these exceptional uses is a matter that may need to be argued later.<\/p>\n
\tThe state Land Use Law and rules of the Land Use Commission limit houses on agricultural lands to single-family farm dwellings, which are to be used in connection with a farm or where agricultural activity provides income to an occupant, Yuen said. However, he added, \u201cthere\u2019s no definition of what constitutes a farm.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cRight now, there are roughly 4,000 lots on this island in agricultural subdivisions created after June 4, 1976,\u201d when the farm dwelling restriction took effect, Yuen said. They include not only Hokuli`a, but also Kohala Ranch and Sunrise Estates, in the town of Hilo. \u201cThe county gives people a farm-dwelling notice when they get a building permit, which informs them of this requirement, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s an enforceable standard,\u201d Yuen said, adding, \u201cYou have to have a bright line\u201d to enforce.<\/p>\n
\tWhatever the agricultural nexus may be, said Yuen, the subdivision is premised on \u201cthe idea of rich guys having houses and retaining natural surroundings at low density.\u201d And that, he added, \u201cmay be a decent outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n
–Patricia Tummons<\/p>\n
Volume 18, Number 4 October 2007<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
To hear the owners and their agents describe it, a proposed upscale, gated golf-course subdivision on agricultural land in the lee of Mauna Loa, in the ahupua`a of Hokukano, will do nothing less than heal the damaged relationship between humans … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[149],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-october-2007"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1383\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}