§205-45 - Petition by farmer or landowner.

§205-45 Petition by farmer or landowner.
(a) A farmer or landowner with lands qualifying under section 205-44 may file
with the commission a petition for declaratory order to designate the lands as
important agricultural lands. The petition may be filed at any time in the
designation process.

(b) Any law to the contrary notwithstanding,
within the same petition for declaratory order as described in subsection (a),
the petitioner may seek a reclassification of land in the agricultural district
to the rural, urban, or conservation district, or a combination thereof;
provided that:

(1) The land sought to be reclassified to the rural,
urban, or conservation district is within the same county as the land sought to
be designated as important agricultural lands;

(2) If the reclassification of the land is proposed
to the urban district, that reclassification to urban is consistent with the
relevant county general and community, development, or community development
plans; and

(3) The total acreage of the land sought to be
designated or reclassified in the petition complies with the following
proportions:

(A) At least eighty-five per cent of the total
acreage is sought to be designated as important agricultural land; and

(B) The remainder of the acreage is sought to
be reclassified to the rural, urban, or conservation district.

(c) The petition for declaratory order shall
be submitted in accordance with subchapter 14 of the commission's rules and
shall include:

(1) Tax map key numbers of the land to be designated
as important agricultural lands and, if applicable, the land to be reclassified
from the agricultural district to the rural, urban, or conservation district,
along with verification and authorization from the applicable landowners;

(2) Proof of qualification for designation as
important agricultural lands under section 205-44, respecting a regional
perspective;

(3) The current or planned agricultural use of the
area sought to be designated as important agricultural lands; and

(4) If applicable, the current or planned use of the
area sought to be reclassified to the rural, urban, or conservation district.

(d) Prior to the commission considering a
petition for a declaratory order to designate important agricultural land in
combination with the reclassification of agricultural land to the rural, urban,
or conservation district, the petitioner shall submit to the commission a
certification issued by the department of agriculture as to the quality of the
land for which designation as important agricultural land is being sought.

(e) The commission shall review the petition
and the accompanying submissions to evaluate the qualifications of the land for
designation as important agricultural lands in accordance with section 205-44.

If the petition also seeks the reclassification
of land to the rural, urban, or conservation district, the commission shall
review the petition and accompanying submissions to evaluate:

(1) The suitability of the land for the
reclassification in accordance with section 205-2;

(3) Compliance with the other provisions of
subsection (b).

If the commission, after its review, finds that
the designation and, if applicable, reclassification sought in the petition
should be approved, the commission shall vote, by a two-thirds majority of the
members of the commission, to issue a declaratory order designating the
petitioner's identified lands as important agricultural lands and, if
applicable, reclassifying the petitioner's identified land from the
agricultural district to the rural, urban, or conservation district. The
commission may include reasonable conditions in the declaratory order.

With respect to a petition that seeks to both
designate important agricultural lands and reclassify agricultural lands to the
rural, urban, or conservation district, if the commission finds that either the
designation or reclassification as proposed by the petitioner should not be
approved, the commission shall deny the petition in its entirety.

(f) The designation or reclassification of
land pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) shall not be subject to the district
boundary amendment procedures of sections 205-3.1 and 205-4 or become effective
prior to legislative enactment of protection and incentive measures for
important agricultural land and agricultural viability, as provided in section
9 of Act 183, Session Laws of Hawaii 2005.

(g) Farmers or landowners with lands
qualifying under section 205-44 may file petitions for a declaratory order to
designate lands as important agricultural lands following the legislative
enactment of protection and incentive measures for important agricultural lands
and agricultural viability, as provided in section 9 of Act 183, Session Laws
of Hawaii 2005.

(h) A petitioner granted a declaratory order
that designates important agricultural land, whether or not combined with the
reclassification of land to the rural, urban, or conservation district, shall
earn credits if the amount of land reclassified to the rural, urban, or
conservation district is less than fifteen per cent of the total acreage of
land subject to the order. The "total acreage of land subject to the
order" means the total acreage designated as important agricultural land
and, if applicable, reclassified to the rural, urban, or conservation district
by the declaratory order.

The credits shall equal the difference between
the following, rounded to the nearer tenth of an acre:

(1) The number that is fifteen per cent of the total
acreage of land subject to the order; less

(2) The amount of the petitioner's land that is
reclassified from the agricultural district to the rural, urban, or
conservation district by the declaratory order.

A petitioner with credits earned within a
county may petition the commission for a declaratory order to reclassify any of
the petitioner's other land in the same county from the agricultural district
to the rural, urban, or conservation district until the credits are exhausted
or expired. The "petitioner's other land in the same county" means
land owned by the petitioner that is in the same county as the land designated
or reclassified under the petition. The commission may issue the declaratory
order if it finds that the land is suitable for reclassification in accordance
with section 205-2 and that the reclassification is consistent with the
relevant county general and community, development, or community development
plans. The petitioner may petition for such reclassification until all of the
petitioner's credits are exhausted. Any unexhausted credits shall expire and
become unusable ten years after the granting of the declaratory order that
designated the important agricultural land and, if applicable, reclassified
land to the rural, urban, or conservation district.

A petitioner with unused and unexhausted
credits shall not transfer the credits to another person.

(i) Notwithstanding any other law to the
contrary, the land use commission may grant declaratory orders pursuant to this
section before the commission receives from any county a map delineating
recommended important agricultural lands.

(j) Land designated as important agricultural
land pursuant to a declaratory order that both designates land as important
agricultural land and reclassifies land in the agricultural district to the
rural, urban, or conservation district, or a combination thereof pursuant to
this section shall be redesignated only with the prior authorization of the
legislature. The authorization shall be expressed by the adoption of a
concurrent resolution approved by a two-thirds vote of each house of the
legislature voting separately. When making its decision, the legislature shall
consider the standards and criteria in section 205-50.

(k) The commission may adopt rules pursuant to
chapter 91 to effectuate this section. [L 2005, c 183, pt of §2; am L 2008, c
233, §19]

Note

Section 9 of Act 183, Session Laws of Hawaii 2005, is printed
after section 205-41.

Designations made pursuant to this section take effect at any
time after incentives and protections for important agricultural lands and
agricultural viability are enacted. L 2005, c 183, §14(1).

Land use commission rules, see chapter 15-15, Hawaii
Administrative Rules.