Waimea residents urge preservation as Hawaii County committee postpones two rezoning measures

The Hawaii County Council Committee on Legislative, Approvals and Acquisitions postponed consideration of two rezoning measures, Bills 198 and 199, to Oct. 15 after more than a dozen residents urged the committee to preserve agricultural land and address infrastructure shortfalls.

The committee met Sept. 16 in Hilo and Kona chambers with hybrid Zoom participation and voted to postpone each bill at the applicant’s request; both postponements carried 8 ayes, 1 excused. The bills would change a roughly 5.349-acre parcel in Waimea (Tax Map Key 6-4-024-027) from agricultural district classification to rural and alter county zoning from agriculture 5-acre lots to residential-agricultural 0.5-acre lots and neighborhood commercial (10,000 sq ft). The applicant is listed in the record as Kopululu Land LLC.

Residents who testified said the proposed rezoning would allow a significant commercial and residential footprint without the roads, sidewalks, turn lanes, drainage and other infrastructure they consider necessary. “The proposed rezoning is misaligned with this policy because it does not ensure adequate infrastructure for what would become the largest commercial development outside Waimea’s urban core,” said Chad Wiggins, a Waimea resident, citing the South Kohala community development plan’s guidance on infrastructure and agricultural protections.

Several testifiers raised floodplain and safety concerns. Kristen Counter, who said she lives directly behind the subject property, told the committee the commercial portion of the proposal would place buildings in areas mapped AE and AEF in the floodplain and warned of increased traffic and pedestrian risk where there are no continuous sidewalks or turn lanes. John Kawano, who said his family has lived on the Honokaʻa side of the property for three generations, described maps showing about half of the parcel in an AE floodplain and asked how prospective buyers or developers would be held accountable if they marketed lots later determined to be constrained by flood risk.

Other residents framed the rezoning in cultural and food-security terms. Anna Nabahini Kahope said Waimea’s “richest, most fertile” agricultural acres are at stake and linked rezoning to rising local costs and long-running concerns about gentrification and loss of access to traditional gathering places. Benjy Garfinkel, a neighboring landowner and developer who said he bought nearby property to stop neglect, warned that allowing half-acre residential parcels as a precedent could lead to further subdivision of prime agricultural land.

Committee chair Hola Kagoro Inaba said the postponement was made at the applicant’s request to allow more time to coordinate with the planning department. The clerk summarized the bills on the record before the motions to postpone; the clerk’s reading described Bill 198 as a request to amend state land-use boundaries and Bill 199 as an amendment to Hawaii County zoning code section 25-8-11.

The committee will revisit Bills 198 and 199 at the Oct. 15 committee meeting. No final zoning change or council adoption occurred on Sept. 16.