HB 966 - Agricultural Tourism Summary

• Establishes statewide uniform standards for agricultural tourism activities across all Hawaii counties that have adopted agricultural tourism ordinances, replacing inconsistent county-by-county regulatory frameworks.

• Requires agricultural tourism activities to be registered with the county planning department and include documentation of farm access, facilities, visitor activities, agricultural tax returns, and agricultural water rates enrollment.

• Mandates that agricultural tourism remain accessory and secondary to principal agricultural use, coexist with active agricultural operations on the farm, and automatically terminate if the farm's agricultural activity ceases (except for temporary disruptions due to weather, disease, or crop changes).

• Requires farms conducting agricultural tourism to be actively engaged in productive agricultural use, with real property taxed as agricultural and current on tax obligations.

• Effective July 1, 3000.