Mayor signs open density bill

The Garden Island

LIHU‘E — Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. on Tuesday signed Bill No. 2339 relating to development standards in the open district that significantly reduces the allowable density and number of lots that can be created.

Noting that efforts to control sprawl on agricultural land have been ongoing for nearly a decade, the mayor said, “Through lessons learned from those past efforts, meetings with stakeholders, and diligent legal analysis by the county attorney’s office, the administration was able to hone and codify a set of legal mechanisms that was recently passed largely unchanged by the County Council.”

The draft bill was submitted to the Planning Commission in August of last year, and was passed by the County Council on May 12.

Under the new law, a maximum of five units can be built on all open zoned parcels, while county open district zoned lands are now subject to stricter subdivision standards.

A parcel that is 50 acres or less in a county open district may be subdivided into lots that are at least five-acres in size.

Parcels that are larger than 50 acres but less than 300 acres may be subdivided into 10 or less lots, none of which may be smaller than five acres.

If a parcel is over 300 acres in the county open district, subdividing the parcel must be done in accordance with the following criteria:

— A maximum of 75 acres may be subdivided into no more than 10 parcels, none of which may be smaller than five acres.

— An additional 20 percent of the total parcel area or 300 acres, whichever is less, may be subdivided into parcels that are no less than 25 acres in size.

— The balance of the parcel may not be subdivided.

The intent of this ordinance is to close the county open district “density bonus” as discussed in the Kaua‘i General Plan by imposing controls on the development of land zoned county open and agriculture districts within the state Land Use Commission agricultural district.