Alert! There is some stealth legislation making its way through the Honolulu City Council that would kill all agricultural growth on Oahu and reduce the property values of all family farmers on ag-zoned land. This legislation would make it even harder to get ag land into the hands of local farmers and destroy years of equity built up by local families living in the country.

This anti-ag initiative follows the recent approval by the Agriculture Development Task Force (ADTF) of Councilman Donovan Dela Cruz's Resolution 9-90. This resolution has now morphed into Bills 23 and 24, which would force the homes of thousands of farmer-constituents into the biggest local government-sponsored land grab since the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy.

Instead of engaging in an objective analysis of true ag-land reform, the ADTF and Reso 9-90 sidestepped the hard issues of righteous ag-use and focused a specific and personal attack on “;gentleman farmers”;—whatever that is. Among its many anti-farmer changes, the current drafts of the bills deliver a one-two punch to the guts of small family farmers.

First, they would reduce all farm dwellings to an arbitrary maximum of 1,500 square feet. This will appeal only to those who believe in some ancient perception of a farmer's low social status and inferior economic worth. Then it declares all larger farm dwellings as “;non-conforming.”; By being “;non-conforming,”; it means that: 1) If the house is destroyed by hurricane, fire or natural disaster, it could be rebuilt only to the new 1,500-square-foot minimum, and 2) No home could be sold using a conventional mortgage. These measures would drastically reduce property values along much of the North Shore, as you wouldn't be able to rebuild your home or sell it.

These bills do not recognize the difference between fake farms and family farms, and actually miss the point that ag lands must be developed in order to move land into the hands of local family-operated, diversified farms.

I am one of the very fortunate few to live on my 5-acre lot, and I now have the largest certified organic tropical fruit orchard on Oahu. But this was possible only because of ag land development and subdivision. I work every day in the fields and there is nothing “;gentlemanly”; about it: I grow food; my neighbor has two pet horses. Both are permitted under the existing ag uses, so in order to both discourage abuse and encourage farming, the Council must change the ag uses to eliminate hobbies and promote food production.

Ag-land reform on Oahu is complex and deserves our best efforts. These bills target a bogeyman called “;gentleman farmer.”; They are shortsighted, misdirected and mean-spirited, intending to solve one problem but creating many more. This ensures that our ag lands will remain vacant and growing our biggest non-cash crop: guinea grass, fuel only for our summer grass fires.

The bills would eliminate family farms as well as those small businesses depending on our local produce. They would destroy the home equity of hundreds of home owners.

This is lazy government at its best and problem solving at its worst.

Al Santoro and his wife, Joan, own Poamoho Organic Produce in Waialua, the largest certified organic farm on Oahu.