Farm dwelling or ohana?

[David M]

Yes, the county code

David

Ninole Resident

[leilaniloo]

quote:

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Originally posted by KathyH

To answer some more of your question:

I don't believe there's a size limits on farm dwellings (the size limit is on guesthouses), but it doesn't matter because the chances of getting an additional farm dwelling permit in HPP are slim at this time. I have talked to Planning about the areas where they feel farm plans are potentially genuine and where they are mostly attempts to end run the zoning, and HPP is the latter.

Obviously if you bought an existing farm with income that would be different.

Ohanas are not allowed on ag land. Ohanas are for residential zoning that exceeds a certain lot size.

So you are down to enlarging the original house, adding a guesthouse or a detached bedroom (no kitchen), or converting the existing into one of those two, as people are explaining.

It is a problem when people put a small house on ag land that is not truly farm land. They are a little bit stuck when it comes to having a larger house, if the existing house isn't what they want.

Even though there are tons of illegal ohanas and second units in HPP, the current climate at zoning is totally against approving any more building with that potential. They are getting real sticky about bar sinks or anything that could form the nucleus of a second kitchen and be turned into a separate unit.

btw, you didn't say if you are considering buying this property or already own it, but if the former -- unless the lot is unique, and if you want a property with two units, you should look around because they are there. Some are even legal from the days when they gave out permits without too much thought.

If you mostly want THIS lot but want to build a custom house, then you have to get a bit creative and modify the small house.

You can build a detached bedroom if it's 50 feet or less from the main structure. It cannot have a kitchen but it doesn't have the 500 square foot enclosed space limit of a guesthouse. It can be big.

So basically
if you can live with the 50 foot distance, you only have to demo the kitchen.
If you want more separation, you have the size limit and have to demo the kitchen.

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[leilaniloo]

The county from what I've learned does allow "caretaker" houses on ag land and in subdivisions such as Leilani Estates.

The other issue are the subdivision's CC&R's. Each usually have specific requirements as to min sq footage.

How a subdivision regulates its landowners is another issue altogether. Seems to me there a lots of homes going up that are not following HOA restrictions. I find that most of the CC&R's are could stand some updating. Leilani restricts heights to 18' (they said the CC&R's were a boilerplate from Kona side so the restriction had more to do with not blocking your neighbhor's view of the ocean. Leilani is not ocean front property so this makes absolutely no sense.

Also not to confuse the matter....did you know that many CC&R's have language that state that to amend the bylaws it takes a majority vote of 10% of the owners? NOT A MAJORITY VOTE OF ALL MEMBERS. BUT JUST 10%. And it can be done via mail in ballot. So if a subdivison had 1000 parcels it would take 51 people to vote in a change. (10% of 1000 is 100 and 51 is the majority.)

I would love to see some of the subdivisions revisit their CC&R's and consider updating them.

Jane

[Bob Orts]

quote:

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Originally posted by leilaniloo

Also not to confuse the matter....did you know that many CC&R's have language that state that to amend the bylaws it takes a majority vote of 10% of the owners? NOT A MAJORITY VOTE OF ALL MEMBERS. BUT JUST 10%. And it can be done via mail in ballot. So if a subdivison had 1000 parcels it would take 51 people to vote in a change. (10% of 1000 is 100 and 51 is the majority.)

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Are you sure you're not confusing a quorum of members with that of a voting majority for an amendment to CC&R's?

Most CC&R's I've read state that a quorum exist with 10% or more of the voting membership. But an amendment to the by-laws or CC&Rs requires 50% plus 1. Some state that CC&R changes require a minimum vote of 50%+1 for amendment, while others say a majority of voters so long as 50%+1 cast votes. So in a 1,000 lot subdivision, 100 vote presence is required for a quorum. For a CC&R change it may be 501 votes if by 50%+1 for passage, or 251 votes if a majority of the 50%+1 for passage.

[John S. Rabi]

Read the By-Laws, it clearly tells you how many votes you need.

Aloha,
John S. Rabi, GM,ARB,BFT,CM,CBR,FHS,PB,RB
808.989.1314
http://www.JohnRabi.com
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