Bill 64 restrictions would harm small farms, apiaries
from Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
The following testimony was submitted by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii for consideration by the Honolulu City Council Committee on Planning and the Economy on Aug. 22, 2024.
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Aug. 22, 2024, 9 a.m.
Honolulu Hale
To: Honolulu City Council, Committee on Planning and the Economy
Esther Kiaʻāina, Chair
Radiant Cordero, Vice-Chair
From: Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Ted Kefalas, Director of Strategic Campaigns
RE: Bill 64 (2023) — RELATING TO USE REGULATIONS
Aloha Chair Kiaʻāina, Vice-Chair Cordero and members of the Committee,
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii has concerns about the portion of Bill 64 (2023), FD1 that would amend the city’s land-use regulations governing agricultural uses.
In general, Grassroot believes that the current draft of Bill 64 would harm Oahu’s small farmers and beekeepers, worsen the island’s food security and discourage entrepreneurship. Therefore, we strongly support the following amendments to the bill proposed by Committee Chair Esther Kiaʻāina and Councilmembers Andria Tupola and Matt Weyer.
>> Restore current beekeeping standards.
One of our primary concerns with the current draft is how it would treat beekeeping. Current standards allow beekeeping in all county zones, with setback standards and an eight-hive limit for non-agricultural zones. Apiaries kept in agricultural zones are not subject to any zoning standards.
The draft bill would put the screws to hobby and commercial beekeepers by imposing a 5,000-square-foot minimum lot size for keeping bees. No lot could have more than six hives, lots between 10,000 and 20,000 square feet could have four, and any lot smaller than 10,000 square feet could have only two.
Finally, without explaining why, the bill would remove beekeeping as a permitted use in the county industrial and industrial mixed-use zones.
Meanwhile, the proposed minimum lot sizes in residential zones where lot sizes sometimes do not exceed 5,000 and rarely exceed 10,000 square feet would have a devastating effect on many current and prospective beekeepers.
Several amendments submitted by Councilmembers Tupola and Weyer would delete these proposed restrictions by making beekeeping a permitted use in all zoning districts and removing the arbitrary lot restrictions now in the bill.
>> Keep small-scale ranching alive.
One of Bill 64’s most potentially harmful elements is its proposal to prohibit raising animals such as cattle, horses, goats, poultry, birds, rabbits and swine in pens, stalls, or cages on parcels smaller than three acres.
As stated in the bill, this would include feedlots, where “feed is brought to the animals rather than the animals grazing or otherwise seeking feed in pastures, fields, or on rangeland.”
Many Oahu ranchers raise horses or cattle on small plots of land, with a barn and a small pasture area. Their reasons might be for personal enjoyment, to feed their families or supplement their incomes. But under Bill 64, they would no longer be able to do so.[1]
Committee Chair Kiaʻāina and Councilmembers Tupola and Weyer have each submitted amendments to strike this minimum, and we would suggest the Committee adopt them.
Finally, although they do not pertain to agriculture, Councilmember Weyer’s amendments relating to home-based childcare should be also adopted.
Allowing one non-household employee to help out on an everyday basis makes sense, and could help provide training to individuals looking to go into childcare as a career.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Ted Kefalas,
Director of Strategic Campaigns
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
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[1] Annabelle Ink, “Honolulu Bill To Rein In Fake Farms Threatens Real Ag Enterprises,” Honolulu Civil Beat, July 5, 2024.
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Meanwhile on the Big Island …
Lessen regulation to let local beekeeping industry flourish
from Grassroot Institute
The following testimony was submitted by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii for consideration by the Hawai‘i County Council on Aug. 21, 2024.
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August 21, 2024, 11 a.m.
Hawai‘i County Building
To: Hawai‘i County Council
Heather Kimball, Chair
Holeka Goro Inaba, Vice-Chair
From: Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Jonathan Helton, Policy Researcher
RE: Bill 144 — RELATING TO ZONING RESTRICTIONS FOR APIARIES AND BEEKEEPING
Aloha Chair Kimball, Vice-Chair Inaba and other members of the Council,
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii supports Bill 144, which would amend the county’s zoning regulations on beekeeping and apiaries.
In particular, the measure would amend the definitions of “livestock,” “livestock production” and “animal” to promote beekeeping; describe generally accepted management practices for beekeeping; reduce setbacks for apiaries; and make them a permitted use in all zoning districts
Taken together, these changes would represent a major positive change in how the County regulates beekeeping, which is at least a $20 million industry in Hawaii County alone.[1]
Apiaries — defined in the bill as sites where one or more colonies of bees are kept — currently are regulated under the same county rules as piggeries and pen feeding of livestock.
These rules mean anyone wanting to have a beehive must get approval from the state Department of Health and the County planning director and follow strict County setback laws, including having all hives 1,000 feet or more from any roads — a requirement that ices the ability of many prospective beekeepers to manage hives.[2]
Bill 144 says its intention is to make clear that apiaries in Hawai‘i County are covered by the state’s Right to Farm Act, which generally protects farmers from complaints against their farms relating to nuisances such as noise or smell if their farms are “conducted in a manner consistent with generally accepted agricultural and management practices.”[3]
Under the bill, beekeepers would no longer have to follow the 1,000-foot limit and could instead follow less strict setbacks of 25 feet from any property line or 15 feet for apiaries behind a flyover barrier.
This bill is a prime example of how relaxing overly broad regulations could assist Hawaii’s entrepreneurs. Hawaii Island beekeepers already supply 30% to 35% of all queen bees on the mainland and 75% in Canada.[4] With many U.S. honeybee colonies in a precarious position,[5] Hawaii’s beekeepers could play a major role in helping feed the United States and the world.
The measure also represents a major opportunity for the Council to boost a growing industry that could truly help diversify the island’s economy. The increased biodiversity that more bees would bring could improve pollination to support Hawaii’s local flora and fauna as well.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Jonathan Helton
Policy Researcher
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
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[1] June 20, 2024 meeting of the Leeward Planning Commission. See the 5:29:20 mark.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Hawaii Revised Statutes, Chapter 165, 165-4 Right to farm., accessed Aug. 4, 2024.
[4] See footnote 1.
[5] Seth Borenstein, “Nearly half of US honeybee colonies died last year. Struggling beekeepers stabilize population,” Associated Press, June 22, 2023.