LIHU‘E — The Kaua‘i County Council’s Planning Committee this week deferred until January a bill that would allow farms to provide housing for their workers, potentially providing a boon to island agriculture. Planning Committee Chair Jay Furfaro confirmed what he
LIHU‘E — The Kaua‘i County Council’s Planning Committee this week deferred until January a bill that would allow farms to provide housing for their workers, potentially providing a boon to island agriculture.
Planning Committee Chair Jay Furfaro confirmed what he had stated earlier in the week: An ad hoc committee of members of the Kaua‘i Farm Bureau, the Ko‘olau co-operative and former Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura is continuing its work on the bill in conjunction with the county departments of Finance, Water and Planning.
Furfaro has said the three main issues facing the bill are how the properties will be taxed, how they will combine their catchment systems with the county’s water meters to keep the farm land adequately hydrated, and if the housing permits will run with the land — resulting in a permanent increase in density — or temporarily with the farm for as long as it is in operation.
The Kaua‘i Farm Bureau and other supporters of agriculture have expressed concerns that the bill, despite its positive intentions, could be used as a loophole for developers and the real estate industry to further inflate the price of ag land and price out working-class people.
The Planning Committee voted unanimously to defer Bill No. 2318 until its first meeting in January.
