(06-04-2026, 08:38 PM)ironyak Wrote: If anyone has actual insight into these concerns about zoning for "for natural use" vs agricultural or conservation, please do share..
Interestingly, back in the early days of statehood, Hawaii was eager to spawn new growth, and one area of their efforts was in agriculture, of which the Volcano Farm Lots was one. Carved out of dense Ohia and fern forest, the Lots are 30 acres each and originally were acquired as homesteads.
Homesteading, back then, was a deal one made with the state whereby they agreed to a five year plan in which they would move onto the land, clear the forest and begin ag pursuits, and, by the end of five years be making more than 50% of their taxable income from the land. If successful, the state would transfer ownership of the land to the homesteader.
And, over time, things change.
Fifty years later we bought one of the parcels from the state, that they had acquired as a forfeiture for an unpaid ag loan, and then secured funding, again from the state, in grants, to reforest the property. On top of that, back then (in the early 2000s), the tax rate for dedicated forest was ten times less than ag. Today they are the same. The county supports/encourages both equally. Open, rural, actual ag, conservation, these are the land uses that make our island what it is. What it always has been. Urban sprawl and tourism are our reaction to the changing world, and our desire/need for their tax dollars, and to absorb our share of the (what was until very recently) ever growing world population.
I agree wholeheartedly with the county encouraging future population growth in areas already given over to dense populations in order to persevere our rural communities and open spaces. Although I think farming here, in general, is a failing proposition, I think it is by far a better use of the land than more bedroom communities. But we really need to face it, with the cost of our isolation being so high the cost to ship in raw materials and equipment, and ship out product, is prohibitive to making a successful agricultural industry.
What has been a more lucrative endeavor is the Earth sciences. We, until the madness took over the great white chiefs in DC, were a capital of maintaining and the science of the various aspects of nature. From the different nature preservers to the atmospheric studies, we really have been a beacon of hope for creating the tools we’ll need to face the changing environment. And, although I have not seen a quantitative list of our losses, I suspect natural sciences have suffered dearly from the orangutan’s bastardization of intellectual pursuit, science. I look forward to that pendulum swinging back in Nature's favor.
I personally don’t have a problem with our, until the current administration, government’s socialistic underpinnings. The support of science, in all its myriad forms, has been exemplary of our success as a society, and the Big Island has been lucky to be the recipient of so much. It’s a shame we’re now giving all that up to return to the dark ages, which the 'angry mob' response to the General Plan 2045 is a great example. For a lifetime the repugs have under/defunded education.. and now we live with the resulting uneducated fools. The ‘angry mob’ who don’t believe a professional because they know better, they heard it on FB and X.
For those that did not see the entire Trib article, which imo gave way too much focus to the crowd of idiots that took the opportunity to make fools of themselves, it ended with the following..
After public testimonies wrapped up, Kohala Councilman James Hustace called on Planning Director Darrow to sit before the council and present a short history of the 2045 Plan.
“There was a tremendous amount of input from the public,” Darrow said. “That’s what the plan is made up of.”
He attempted to address concerns expressed by testifiers like D’Alerta, who claimed the plan’s “natural” zoning would supplant agriculture-zoned land and prevent farmers from growing food.
“This does not limit anybody’s ability to farm or build a house or change their zoning. It’s just a new type of overall General Plan land use designation,” he said.
“There’s nothing in the plan that is gonna force anybody to do anything,” he added. “It’s not gonna force anybody to buy an electric vehicle or give up your truck or lose your land or rezone or anything.”