By NANCY COOK LAUER
By NANCY COOK LAUER
Stephens Media
A proposal to create new rules for small agri-tourism enterprises has generated so much controversy that County Council Chairman Dominic Yagong has scheduled a public hearing Tuesday to air residents’ concerns.
The hearing will be held at 6 p.m. in Hilo council chambers, with videoconference hookups to the West Hawaii Civic Center and Waimea and Pahoa council offices. Yagong said the hearing is scheduled for the evening so farmers and rural residents may attend.
“There were some concerns about the number of vehicles that would be visiting rural areas,” Yagong, who represents the Hamakua District, said. “On the other hand, it would be a way to stimulate the economy and provide opportunities for farmers to expand their portfolios.”
Bill 266 would create a new category of “minor” agri-tourism businesses. Minor agri-tourism operations are defined as operations that see 15,000 visitors or fewer a year, with a weekly maximum of 350 visitors, transported in vehicles that carry no more than 15 passengers per vehicle. Plan approval would no longer be required for minor agri-tourism operations, unless new construction is contemplated.
Major agri-tourism businesses would be limited to a maximum of 30,000 visitors annually.
There will no longer be a maximum limit of gross revenue generated. And, agricultural tourism operations will no longer be defined by square footage, but strictly by a maximum annual visitor count of 30,000.
Major agri-tourism operations will now face a 30-day review of plan approval rather than the current 60 days. There will no longer be a one-year grace period for major agri-tourism businesses to secure final plan approval. Instead, all agricultural tourism operations will be required to conform immediately, once the new rules are approved by the County Council.
The bill has been approved by both the Leeward and the Windward planning commissions.
Planning Director Bobby Jean Leithead Todd, who initiated the changes, said she sees the bill as making standards more stringent.
“We tried to break it down to lessen the impact on the smaller operations,” Leithead Todd said. “I really thought it was moving in the right direction. It is actually tightening things up, rather than loosening things up.”
The bill covers such agri-tourism enterprises as the practice of visiting an agribusiness, horticultural, aquacultural or agricultural operation, such as a farm, orchard, winery, greenhouse, botanical garden, hunting preserve, an agricultural products processing facility, a companion animal or livestock show, for the purpose of recreation, education or active involvement in the operation, other than as a contractor or employee of the operation, according to the bill.
The move was praised earlier this year by Lani Medina Weigert, president of the Hawaii Agritourism Association, which represents 125 farms statewide.
“This will be very helpful for many farmers,” Weigert told the Windward Planning Commission at its May hearing. “It will create a more dependable revenue stream coming in.”
Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.