Important Agricultural Lands (IAL)
Important Agricultural Lands (IAL) are lands the State Land Use Commission has designated under Part III of HRS Chapter 205 (§§205-41 to 205-52), enacted by Act 183 (2005) to carry out the Hawaiʻi Constitution's direction to conserve and protect agricultural lands. A designation does not create a fifth land-use district. It marks land the State intends to keep in long-term agricultural use, makes it eligible for agricultural incentives, and makes any later reclassification or rezoning of it harder.
The statute defines IAL as land that is capable of producing sustained high agricultural yields, contributes to the State's economic base by producing agricultural commodities, or is needed to expand agricultural activity in the future, even if it is not in production today (§205-42). Section 205-44 lists eight standards the Commission weighs: current agricultural production, soil and growing conditions, agricultural productivity ratings such as the ALISH system, land types tied to traditional Native Hawaiian agriculture or to unique crops, sufficient water, consistency with county plans, contribution to a critical agricultural land mass, and nearby support infrastructure. Land does not have to meet every standard.
Land reaches the designation by one of two routes. A farmer or landowner can petition the Commission for a declaratory order designating qualifying land (§205-45). That petition may also ask to reclassify other agricultural-district land in the same county to the rural, urban, or conservation district, provided at least 85 percent of the total acreage in the petition is designated IAL. Separately, each county identifies and maps potential IAL through a public process run by its planning department and sends its recommendations to the Commission, which adopts the maps (§§205-47 to 205-49). The maps are reviewed at least once every ten years, and not more than once every five (§205-52).
The designation matters most when someone wants to take the land out of agriculture. Any district boundary amendment or change in zoning involving IAL must be decided against the added standards in §205-50, including the land's relative importance for agriculture, harm to neighboring agricultural operations, and fragmentation of intact agricultural areas. The deciding body must find that, on balance, the public benefit outweighs keeping the land in agriculture, and the decision needs a two-thirds vote of the body's full membership. A special permit application involving IAL is referred to the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity and the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development for comment. In return, agricultural operations on designated land receive preference in State and county incentive programs (§205-46).
An IAL designation on a parcel tells you the State has set it aside for long-term agriculture, so a plan that depends on reclassifying or rezoning the land faces added findings and a two-thirds vote rather than a simple majority. For an agricultural buyer the same designation is what makes a farm operation eligible for incentive preference. Either way it belongs on the list of entitlement questions to settle before price, alongside the parcel's state land-use district and county zoning.
Lands the State Land Use Commission has designated under HRS Chapter 205, Part III (§§205-41 to 205-52), enacted by Act 183 (2005), for long-term agricultural use. The designation sits on top of a parcel's land-use district; it is not a fifth district.
Yes, but under a higher bar. HRS §205-50 requires the deciding body to weigh added agricultural standards, find that the public benefit outweighs keeping the land in agriculture, and approve by a two-thirds vote of its full membership.
This is a plain-language reference, not legal advice. KILO is a pre-development screening tool, not a system of record — confirm any determination with the agency of jurisdiction.