Section 15-15-122 - Petition by farmer or landowner for designation of important agricultural land and urban, rural or conservation re-classification(a) A landowner may, within the same petition for declaratory order as described in subsection 15-15-121, request the reclassification of a portion of the land which is the subject of the petition in the agricultural district to the rural, urban, or conservation district, or a combination thereof. The land sought to be reclassified as urban, rural or conservation shall; (1) Be within the same county as the land sought to be designated as important agricultural lands;(2) If the reclassification of the land is proposed to the urban district, that reclassification to urban is consistent with the relevant county general and community, development, or community development plans; and(3) Be no more than fifteen percent of the total acreage which is the subject of the petition such that at least eighty-five per cent of the total acreage which is the subject of the petition is sought to be designated as important agricultural land; and(4) Meet all of the requirements of subchapter 8 herein.(b) In a petition for declaratory order under this section seeking to designate lands important agricultural lands in the agricultural district to the rural, conservation or urban district, the lands to be designated important agricultural lands shall be deemed qualified for such designation only if the commission reasonably finds that the lands meet the criteria of sections 15-15-120 (c) (5) and (c)(7).(c) A petition for declaratory order under this section shall be submitted in accordance with subchapter 14 and be set for initial hearing within 90 days of submission. The procedure for the hearing shall be in conformance with the procedures set forth in subchapter 7, and shall include: (1) Tax map key numbers of the land to be designated as important agricultural lands and, if applicable, the land to be reclassified from the agricultural district to the rural, urban, or conservation district;(2) Verification of ownership and/or authorization from the applicable landowners;(3) Proof of qualification for designation as important agricultural lands under this subchapter;(4) The current or planned agricultural use of the area sought to be designated as important agricultural lands; and(5) The current or planned use of the area sought to be reclassified to the rural, urban, or conservation district.(d) An application for a declaratory order to designate important agricultural land in combination with the reclassification of agricultural land to the rural, urban, or conservation district shall not be deemed a proper filing until the petitioner has submitted a certification, issued by the state department of agriculture as to the quality of the land which is the subject of the petition.(e) In review of any petition seeking to have lands classified as important agricultural lands in combination with a request to reclassify a portion of the agricultural land to the urban, rural or conservation designation, the commission shall review the petition and the accompanying submissions in accordance with this subchapter and section 205-4 4, HRS.- The commission shall also specifically determine, by a preponderance of the evidence whether: (1) The land is suitable for the reclassification in accordance with subchapters 2 and 8; and(2) If the reclassification of a portion the land is proposed to the urban district, that reclassification to urban is consistent with the relevant county general and community, development, or community development plan.(f) Approval of a petition for designation of important agricultural lands in conjunction with a petition for urban, rural or conservation reclassification under this section shall require approval by a vote of a two-thirds majority of the commissioners. The commission shall include reasonable conditions in its order.(g) Should the commission find that either the designation of lands in the petition sought to be identified as important agricultural lands or the lands identified in the petition for reclassification to urban, rural, or conservation is not supported by a preponderance of the evidence and should not be approved, the commission shall deny the petition in its entirety.[Eff and comp 11/2/2013;am and comp 10/18/2019] (Auth: HRS §§ 205-1, 205-7, 205-45) (Imp: HRS § 205-45)