Photo courtesy of Frank Hinshaw, Hawaii Queen Bees
If signed by Mayor Mitch Roth, the measure will give beekeeping a boost by reducing rules and allowing apiaries countywide
A Grassroot-supported measure that would allow greater opportunities for beekeepers was approved Wednesday by the Hawai‘i County Council and now goes to Mayor Mitch Roth for his signature.
If signed by the mayor, Bill 144, introduced by Councilmember Ashley Kierkiewicz, will give the island’s $20 million-a-year beekeeping industry a significant boost by removing the requirements that apiaries be confined to only agricultural districts and beehives be set back from roads by at least 1,000 feet.
Harry Holm, president of the Big Island Beekeepers Association, said yesterday that beekeepers on the island “have been working on this bill for almost seven years, so to finally have it passed is really great for the beekeepers and future beekeepers of Hawai’i County.”
Holm was interviewed in April about the issue on Grassroot President Keli‘i Akina‘s “Hawaii Together” program on ThinkTech Hawaii, and yesterday thanked Akina and Grassroot “for providing us more exposure for people to be aware of this bill.”
You can see the “Hawaii Together” interview here, and Grassroot’s many testimonies and published commentaries on the bill here.
Hawai‘i County Council also approves Grassroot-supported ADU bill on first reading
A Grassroot-supported bill that would streamline the county’s permitting of accessory dwelling units to help ease the island’s housing crisis was approved on first reading by the Hawai‘i County Council on Wednesday.
In a news report yesterday about the bill, Hawaii Tribune-Herald reporter Michael Brestovansky wrote that Bill 123 must pass one final reading at a future Council meeting before being enrolled to the mayor’s office.
Grassroot has testified more than a half-dozen times in favor of Bill 123, which seeks to abolish the county’s existing “ohana dwelling” permit, redefine ohana dwellings as “accessory dwelling units,” make changes to where and how such units are allowed to be built, and allow guest houses and ADUs to be built on the same lots.
The Council’s action on the bill occurred on the same day that a commentary by Grassroot policy researcher Jonathan Helton supporting the bill was published in the Hawaii Tribune-Herald.
Headlined “Council bill could ease housing shortage,” Helton’s article noted that Bill 123, introduced by Council members Heather Kimball and Ashley Kierkiewicz, would “make it easier for homeowners to build ohana or accessory dwelling units in the county’s urban areas such as Hilo, Kona and Waimea.”
