Can I build a home on agricultural land, or AG zoning in Hawaii?
Although this is a complex question that only a qualified attorney versed in Hawaii’s Land Use Ordinance (LUO) can answer with regard to your specific property and intended use, I’ll summarize the law as it applies today, and briefly touch on attempted legislation that may change that in the near future.
The short answer is: Yes, you can build a house on AG zoned properties on Oahu. However, the main use of the land must fall within permitted use. Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) 205-4.5 has established permissible uses and they include, but are not limited to:
- Cultivation of crops
- Game and fish propagation
- Raising of livestock
- Farm dwellings and farm buildings
You will be required to file a farm plan with the Honolulu Department of Planning & Permitting in order to receive approval to build a farm dwelling, wherein you’ll have to establish that the farm dwelling will be an “accessory use” to agriculture, agricultural land conservation, or both, and that >50% of the lot will be used as such.
A “farm dwelling” is defined per HRS 205-4.5(a) as “a single family dwelling located and used in conjunction with a farm…where agricultural activity provides income to the family occupying the dwelling.”
Does this mean you can sell some vegetables at the local swap meet on the weekends to get around the system, and build an amazing home on cheaply acquired agricultural land? It seems that many homeowners have done this, and new bills have been proposed to combat this problem, and keep farmers on farmland. I’ll keep you updated with progress on this legislation as it passes…
Have questions about agricultural land, or other real estate? Contact me.
Sean
December 2, 2010
Aloha!
Mahalo for opening the topic of an underbelly yet very important issue, especially for our small island community.
For the record, I am not a farmer. However, I, for one, think it is rude, unethical and entirely selfish for non-farmers to buy farmland, hoping to somehow “get by the system” as mock/wannabe/pretend farmers with no real intention to cultivate the land and contribute goods to the community on a viable and regular basis. This isn’t to say that those who choose to support just themselves shouldn’t be considered farmers. Obviously, there is some gray area in the matter. But I wholeheartedly contend against “Gentleman Estates” and the like, where self-serving persons buy up ag property at cheaper prices, only to build enormous homes and do hardly a thing to truly and honestly prove themselves as farmers. This practice is a huge disservice to not just deserving farmers who grow the food we eat (talk about quite literally “biting the hand that foods you), but also to us as a greater community.
Thus, I support all bills designed to keep ag land definitively in the hands of true-blue farmers. Anyone who has common decency and understanding of the interconnectedness of life will surely do the same.
Mahalo again!
Sean
December 2, 2010
Aloha!
Mahalo for opening the topic of an underbelly yet very important issue, especially for our small island community.
For the record, I am not a farmer. However, I, for one, think it is rude, unethical and entirely selfish for non-farmers to buy farmland, hoping to somehow “get by the system” as mock/wannabe/pretend farmers with no real intention to cultivate the land and contribute goods to the community on a viable and regular basis. This isn’t to say that those who choose to support just themselves shouldn’t be considered farmers. Obviously, there is some gray area in the matter. But I wholeheartedly contend against “Gentleman Estates” and the like, where self-serving persons buy up ag property at cheaper prices, only to build enormous homes and do hardly a thing to truly and honestly prove themselves as farmers. This practice is a huge disservice to not just deserving farmers who grow the food we eat (talk about quite literally “biting the hand that foods you), but also to us as a greater community.
Thus, I support all bills designed to keep ag land definitively in the hands of true-blue farmers. Anyone who has common decency and understanding of the interconnectedness of life will surely do the same.
Mahalo again!
Nathan
February 2, 2022
Is it legal to live temporary in an RV on Ag1 land on ohau?