Two South Kona residents on Thursday received approval to convert the late Herb Kane’s Honaunau home into a bed and breakfast.
The Hawaii County Leeward Planning Commission voted 5-0 to approve, with conditions, David Cox and Michael Corbitt’s special permit application to turn the home into a four-unit bed and breakfast. Among the conditions are installing a wastewater disposal system to replace the current cesspool, installing a backflow prevention device to comply with Department of Water Supply standards and ensuring the property is properly permitted.
According to the application, filed with the Planning Department, Cox and Corbitt intend to continue running an existing 8.5-acre farm as a primary business, with the bed and breakfast as a supplemental operation to support the farm.
The farm during the 2011-12 season produced 15,000 pounds of avocados off 150 trees. The farm also has 65 macadamia nut trees growing.
Planning Director Bobby Jean Leithead Todd commended Cox and Corbitt for putting farming first as well as working with the federal government to reforest a portion of the property. Under the property’s lease from Kamehameha Schools, agricultural production must be continued.
“We see a lot of people come here, and agriculture is a very small component,” she said. “I appreciate your effort to upgrade the farm and continue to farm on it.”
Converting the home to a bed and breakfast requires no new construction, the applicants said, and with only four guest rooms, the property would host a maximum of eight guests. The applicants anticipated four extra vehicles, at most, parking on the property and using Telephone Exchange Road, which is a private roadway.
Kane, an artist renowned for his depictions of Hawaiian life before Western contact, lived on the farm from 1982 until his death in early 2011, the application said. Cox and Corbitt named the property Kane Plantation in the artist’s honor, and erected a plaque on the main driveway “to honor and preserve his legacy.”
Cox and Corbitt are also working with the United States Department of Agriculture to restore native forest in an area of the property not currently being used for farming. They said the reforestation efforts will likely start in 2015.
“We want to replant the area with native species so we can attract more birds and wildlife and beautify the area,” said Cox. “And, be able to educate our guests on native species that we have on our property.”
Just three people provided testimony on the application, with all noting their support. One man, Ed Vasquez, donated a bronze bust of Kane to the endeavor.
“These gentlemen have improved this farm so that it is now a working farm as Herb intended back when he first moved there,” said Terry Wallace, a longtime friend of Kane. “I feel very strongly Herb would have appreciated what they have done.”
Commissioners also voted unanimously to forward with amendments the Hawaii County Council’s second draft of a bill to revise the county’s agricultural tourism rules to the council’s Planning Committee. The amendments, forwarded with a favorable recommendation, say activities can occur only between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. They also include a request that the council solicit input from the farm and ranching communities as well as various farm-related organizations.
Eight people testified during the meeting — with an equal number on each side of the issue.
Among the concerns raised by those opposed to the bill were having no requirement for a special use permit that would mandate notification of neighbors; infrastructure not able to handle increased activity on agricultural land; noise; retail sales on agricultural land; removal of items from the bill suggested by the public over the past few years; and an apparent lack of oversight and safeguards.
“I appreciate the educational value of farm tours and encourage visitors to learn more about our industry, but not at the expense of peace and quiet, our public safety and our livelihood,” said Louise Winn, a Honaunau resident.
Those in favor of the bill said many of the concerns are the result of a misunderstanding of agricultural tourism and the rules surrounding the land use. One said agricultural crops yield small returns resulting in a need for agricultural tourism and value-added product sales in order for a farm to survive.
“If we don’t allow people onto these farms where are our future farmers going to come from?” asked Nancy Ginter-Miller, who started her own agricultural tourism operation in 2006.
Council members in 2008 adopted an ordinance establishing some rules for agricultural tourism, however, planning officials said that action raised new questions for people working in agriculture and their neighbors. The council last year attempted to revise the rules, based upon a bill drafted by Leithead Todd, without success. Puna Councilman Zendo Kern, who chairs the Planning Committee, submitted a new slate of revisions in February now known as Bill 25.
The bill proposes splitting agricultural activities into major and minor operations. Minor operations would limit annual visitors to 5,000, with a maximum 100 visitors per week. The minor operation also cannot have vehicles with more than 15 passengers access the property. A major operation would be allowed up to 30,000 visitors per year.
It also eliminates the restriction that limits gross revenues from the agricultural tourism operations from exceeding the gross revenues from the actual agricultural activity.
