Owner calls iffy acreage farmland

A private firm wants a state designation that brings tax credits and other benefits

By Andrew Gomes

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Feb 04, 2013

~~<p>Kauai's second-largest private landholder wants the state to designate about 11,000 acres it owns as "important agricultural land" under a 2005 state law, but advising agencies are divided on whether the entire area deserves the special status.</p>
<p>Grove Farm Co. and an affiliate recently petitioned the state Land Use Commission to qualify two big tracts of land near Lihue and Koloa under a state law intended to protect farmland in perpetuity.</p>
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Kauai's second-largest private landholder wants the state to designate about 11,000 acres it owns as "important agricultural land" under a 2005 state law, but advising agencies are divided on whether the entire area deserves the special status.

Grove Farm Co. and an affiliate recently petitioned the state Land Use Commission to qualify two big tracts of land near Lihue and Koloa under a state law intended to protect farmland in perpetuity. Login for more...