(a) Each county shall identify and map potential important agricultural lands within its jurisdiction based on the standards and criteria in § 205-44 and the intent of this part, except lands that have been designated, through the state land use, zoning, or county planning process, for urban use by the State or county.
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Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 205-47

  • county: includes the city and county of Honolulu. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 1-22
  • important agricultural lands: means those lands, identified pursuant to this part, that:
    (1) Are capable of producing sustained high agricultural yields when treated and managed according to accepted farming methods and technology;
    (2) Contribute to the State's economic base and produce agricultural commodities for export or local consumption; or
    (3) Are needed to promote the expansion of agricultural activities and income for the future, even if currently not in production. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 205-42
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
(b) Each county shall develop maps of potential lands to be considered for designation as important agricultural lands in consultation and cooperation with landowners, the department of agriculture, agricultural interest groups, including representatives from the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation and other agricultural organizations, the United States Department of Agriculture – Natural Resources Conservation Service, the office of planning and sustainable development, and other groups as necessary.
(c) Each county, through its planning department, shall develop an inclusive process for public involvement in the identification of potential lands and the development of maps of lands to be recommended as important agricultural lands, including a series of public meetings throughout the identification and mapping process. The planning departments may also establish one or more citizen advisory committees on important agricultural lands to provide further public input, utilize an existing process (such as general plan, development plan, community plan), or employ appropriate existing and adopted general plan, development plan, or community plan maps.
(d) The counties shall take notice of those lands that have already been designated as important agricultural lands by the commission.

Upon identification of potential lands to be recommended to the county council as potential important agricultural lands, the counties shall take reasonable action to notify each owner of those lands by mail or posted notice on the affected lands to inform them of the potential designation of their lands.

In formulating its final recommendations to the respective county councils, the planning departments shall report on the manner in which the important agricultural lands mapping relates to, supports, and is consistent with the:

(1) Standards and criteria set forth in § 205-44;
(2) County’s adopted land use plans, as applied to both the identification and exclusion of important agricultural lands from such designation;
(3) Comments received from government agencies and others identified in subsection (b);
(4) Viability of existing agribusinesses; and
(5) Representations or position statements of the owners whose lands are subject to the potential designation.
(e) The important agricultural lands maps shall be submitted to the county council for decision-making. The county council shall adopt the maps, with or without changes, by resolution. The adopted maps shall be transmitted to the land use commission for further action pursuant to section 205-48.

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