Save North Shore farmland from housing development. No Fake Farms. No Ag Land Mahele!
Save North Shore farmland from housing development. No Fake Farms. No Ag Land Mahele!
The Issue
Stop the Ag Land Mahele.
The Ag Land Mahele will be a disaster for the people of the North Shore, the central plain of Oahu, and the island as a whole.
It’s happening right now.
@savemokuleia
The north shore community agricultural lands are being subdivided by unscrupulous developers into housing using a State level loophole; the CPR subdivision. This loophole allows for the subdivision of large tracts of farm land into small parcels. These parcels can then have 2 full size houses put up on each lot in addition to innumerable 'outbuildings' that generally become vacation rentals or additional housing units. If current CPR projects go though, the North Shore Community will be saddled with thousands of additional residents, cars, and several hundred new homes in addition to losing the agricultural land to housing, forever.
Developers claim that these subdivisions are for creating small farms. That would be true if farming was more lucrative than building houses. It's not. The sale prices and/ or mortgage of any of these lots cannot be paid for with farming. Farms cannot compete with housing for land, which is why we have zoning in the first place. There is ample evidence that the CPR model of land subdivision DOES NOT create more farming but instead yields lots of houses; just look what's happened to Kunia, or any of the large-tract gated communities we have already.
The CPR loophole is extremely dangerous because it allows the developer to subdivide and build without any of the normal oversight for a like-size housing subdivision. There are no Environmental Impact Statements. There are no Traffic studies. And there's NO COMMUNITY INPUT or oversight.
Another major issue is sewage and water. While all of these projects will be adding hundreds or thousands of new residents to an area, the development will not have sewage treatment (which means all houses will be on septic with the resulting untreated run-off downhill) and many will not have water but will have to dig individual wells (leading to a much higher risk to contamination of EVERYONE'S water sources). This is before addressing what the additional water usage will be to support all of these new lawns and swimming pools.
All of that said, this model for sneaking in housing developments is most dangerous in it's potential scope. Once a few of these developments go through the rest of the fallow sugar cane and pineapple land that landowners have been banking will follow. And it makes sense for landowners' wallets, on paper it's the largest amount of money that can ripped out of the land. This is also the reason much of our ag lands have been kept fallow, or unfarmed; so that the land can be developed as quickly as possible without having to remove any farming tenants.
Why have ag land at all? The biggest reason is FOOD SECURITY. Hawaii is the most isolated archipelago on the planet and as we have seen with the current virus crisis, supply chains are fragile. Estimates vary but if Oahu was cutoff from mainland shipping we would run out of food in less than a week (see http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/06/29/hawaii-local-food/ Once ag land is converted into housing it is lost forever (unless you think the population here is declining...).
Another reason to preserve ag land is the rural beauty we all cherish. The north shore of Oahu is a popular place to live and visit because it IS NOT a city. Yet. With each new development the island of Oahu gets more crowded, uglier, and less appealing. As that continues, we lose more tourists to the outer islands and the corresponding revenue that, whether you are in the tourist industry or not, anyone living in the state relies on to live. The crowding and traffic are bad now. Imagine what it will be like when you add in a few thousand more residents and cars.
So what's at stake?
All of the ag land on Oahu's exploding north shore.
The future food security of the whole island.
The beauty of Oahu's last scraps of unpaved property.
The country way of life that anyone lucky to live here enjoys on the North Shore.
The future viability of Oahu as a tourist destination; the main driver of our economy.
What's the Solution?
The State of Hawaii, the City and County of Honolulu, and it's people need to recognize the value of agricultural lands and to protect them with laws that enforce zoning instead of poking holes in it. This begins with our community boards up the ladder to the Governor.
Take action now!!!!!
Call Gil Rivieres office
(808) 586-7330
Call Heidi Tsuneyoshi’s office
(808) 768-5002
Call DPP (report unpermitted structures or grading )
(808) 768-8000
Email the governors office
https://governor.hawaii.gov/contact-us/contact-the-governor/
Call the land board
(808) 587-0404
1. STOP NEW BUILDING PERMITS ON AG LAND
2. CLOSE THE CPR AG LAND SUBDIVISION LOOPHOLE
Incomplete list of current CPR developments
"Mahiko Farms" 333 acres, 59 parcels => 118 houses, 472 people, 472 cars
"Kawaihapai Farms" 186 acres, 56 parcels => 112 houses, 448 people, 448 cars
"Kaala Estates" 112 acres, 19 parcels => 38 houses, 152 people, 152 cars
"Kaala View Farm Lots #1" 53 acres, 20 parcels => 40 houses, 160 people, 160 cars
"Kaala View Farm Lots #2" 31 acres, 9 parcels => 18 houses, 72 people, 72 cars
1,713
The Issue
Stop the Ag Land Mahele.
The Ag Land Mahele will be a disaster for the people of the North Shore, the central plain of Oahu, and the island as a whole.
It’s happening right now.
@savemokuleia
The north shore community agricultural lands are being subdivided by unscrupulous developers into housing using a State level loophole; the CPR subdivision. This loophole allows for the subdivision of large tracts of farm land into small parcels. These parcels can then have 2 full size houses put up on each lot in addition to innumerable 'outbuildings' that generally become vacation rentals or additional housing units. If current CPR projects go though, the North Shore Community will be saddled with thousands of additional residents, cars, and several hundred new homes in addition to losing the agricultural land to housing, forever.
Developers claim that these subdivisions are for creating small farms. That would be true if farming was more lucrative than building houses. It's not. The sale prices and/ or mortgage of any of these lots cannot be paid for with farming. Farms cannot compete with housing for land, which is why we have zoning in the first place. There is ample evidence that the CPR model of land subdivision DOES NOT create more farming but instead yields lots of houses; just look what's happened to Kunia, or any of the large-tract gated communities we have already.
The CPR loophole is extremely dangerous because it allows the developer to subdivide and build without any of the normal oversight for a like-size housing subdivision. There are no Environmental Impact Statements. There are no Traffic studies. And there's NO COMMUNITY INPUT or oversight.
Another major issue is sewage and water. While all of these projects will be adding hundreds or thousands of new residents to an area, the development will not have sewage treatment (which means all houses will be on septic with the resulting untreated run-off downhill) and many will not have water but will have to dig individual wells (leading to a much higher risk to contamination of EVERYONE'S water sources). This is before addressing what the additional water usage will be to support all of these new lawns and swimming pools.
All of that said, this model for sneaking in housing developments is most dangerous in it's potential scope. Once a few of these developments go through the rest of the fallow sugar cane and pineapple land that landowners have been banking will follow. And it makes sense for landowners' wallets, on paper it's the largest amount of money that can ripped out of the land. This is also the reason much of our ag lands have been kept fallow, or unfarmed; so that the land can be developed as quickly as possible without having to remove any farming tenants.
Why have ag land at all? The biggest reason is FOOD SECURITY. Hawaii is the most isolated archipelago on the planet and as we have seen with the current virus crisis, supply chains are fragile. Estimates vary but if Oahu was cutoff from mainland shipping we would run out of food in less than a week (see http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/06/29/hawaii-local-food/ Once ag land is converted into housing it is lost forever (unless you think the population here is declining...).
Another reason to preserve ag land is the rural beauty we all cherish. The north shore of Oahu is a popular place to live and visit because it IS NOT a city. Yet. With each new development the island of Oahu gets more crowded, uglier, and less appealing. As that continues, we lose more tourists to the outer islands and the corresponding revenue that, whether you are in the tourist industry or not, anyone living in the state relies on to live. The crowding and traffic are bad now. Imagine what it will be like when you add in a few thousand more residents and cars.
So what's at stake?
All of the ag land on Oahu's exploding north shore.
The future food security of the whole island.
The beauty of Oahu's last scraps of unpaved property.
The country way of life that anyone lucky to live here enjoys on the North Shore.
The future viability of Oahu as a tourist destination; the main driver of our economy.
What's the Solution?
The State of Hawaii, the City and County of Honolulu, and it's people need to recognize the value of agricultural lands and to protect them with laws that enforce zoning instead of poking holes in it. This begins with our community boards up the ladder to the Governor.
Take action now!!!!!
Call Gil Rivieres office
(808) 586-7330
Call Heidi Tsuneyoshi’s office
(808) 768-5002
Call DPP (report unpermitted structures or grading )
(808) 768-8000
Email the governors office
https://governor.hawaii.gov/contact-us/contact-the-governor/
Call the land board
(808) 587-0404
1. STOP NEW BUILDING PERMITS ON AG LAND
2. CLOSE THE CPR AG LAND SUBDIVISION LOOPHOLE
Incomplete list of current CPR developments
"Mahiko Farms" 333 acres, 59 parcels => 118 houses, 472 people, 472 cars
"Kawaihapai Farms" 186 acres, 56 parcels => 112 houses, 448 people, 448 cars
"Kaala Estates" 112 acres, 19 parcels => 38 houses, 152 people, 152 cars
"Kaala View Farm Lots #1" 53 acres, 20 parcels => 40 houses, 160 people, 160 cars
"Kaala View Farm Lots #2" 31 acres, 9 parcels => 18 houses, 72 people, 72 cars
1,713
The Decision Makers
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Petition created on March 10, 2020