§205-4.5 Permissible uses within the agricultural districts. (a) Within the agricultural district, all lands with soil classified by the land study bureau's detailed land classification as overall (master) productivity rating class A or B and for solar energy facilities, class B or C, shall be restricted to the following permitted uses:
(b) Uses not expressly permitted in subsection (a), including landfill units, as defined in section 342H-52, located on land within the agricultural district that has soil classified by the land study bureau's detailed land classification as overall (master) productivity rating class A in a county with a population greater than five hundred thousand, shall be prohibited, except the uses permitted as provided in sections 205-6 and 205-8, and construction of single-family dwellings on lots existing before June 4, 1976. Any other law to the contrary notwithstanding, no subdivision of land within the agricultural district with soil classified by the land study bureau's detailed land classification as overall (master) productivity rating class A or B shall be approved by a county unless those A and B lands within the subdivision are made subject to the restriction on uses as prescribed in this section and to the condition that the uses shall be primarily in pursuit of an agricultural activity.
Any deed, lease, agreement of sale, mortgage, or other instrument of conveyance covering any land within the agricultural subdivision shall expressly contain the restriction on uses and the condition, as prescribed in this section, that these restrictions and conditions shall be encumbrances running with the land until the land is reclassified to a land use district other than an agricultural district.
If the foregoing requirement of encumbrances running with the land jeopardizes the owner or lessee in obtaining mortgage financing from any of the mortgage lending agencies set forth in the following paragraph, and the requirement is the sole reason for failure to obtain mortgage financing, then the requirement of encumbrances shall, insofar as the mortgage financing is jeopardized, be conditionally waived by the appropriate county enforcement officer; provided that the conditional waiver shall become effective only in the event that the property is subjected to foreclosure proceedings by the mortgage lender.
The mortgage lending agencies referred to in the preceding paragraph are the Federal Housing Administration, Federal National Mortgage Association, Department of Veterans Affairs, Small Business Administration, United States Department of Agriculture, Federal Land Bank of Berkeley, Federal Intermediate Credit Bank of Berkeley, Berkeley Bank for Cooperatives, and any other federal, state, or private mortgage lending agency qualified to do business in Hawaii, and their respective successors and assigns.
(c) Within the agricultural district, all lands with soil classified by the land study bureau's detailed land classification as overall (master) productivity rating class C, D, E, or U shall be restricted to the uses permitted for agricultural districts as set forth in section 205-5(b).
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter to the contrary, golf courses and golf driving ranges approved by a county before July 1, 2005, for development within the agricultural district shall be permitted uses within the agricultural district.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter to the contrary, plantation community subdivisions as defined in this section shall be permitted uses within the agricultural district, and section 205-8 shall not apply.
(f) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, agricultural lands may be subdivided and leased for the agricultural uses or activities permitted in subsection (a); provided that:
Lots created and leased pursuant to this section shall be legal lots of record for mortgage lending purposes and shall be exempt from county subdivision standards. [L 1976, c 199, §1; am L 1977, c 136, §1; am L 1980, c 24, §3; am L 1982, c 217, §1; am L 1991, c 281, §3; am L 1997, c 258, §11; am L 2005, c 205, §3; am L 2006, c 237, §4, c 250, §2, and c 271, §1; am L 2007, c 159, §3 and c 171, §1; am L 2008, c 145, §3; am L 2009, c 53, §1; am L 2011, c 217, §3; am L 2012, c 97, §7, c 113, §3, c 167, §2, and c 329, §4; am L 2014, c 52, §§1, 3(1) and c 55, §3; am L 2015, c 228, §3; am L 2016, c 173, §3; am L 2017, c 12, §1; am L 2018, c 49, §4; am L 2021, c 77, §2; am L 2022, c 131, §3; am L 2024, c 182, §2; am L 2025, c 255, §3]