A story in the Garden Island last week by Léo Azambuja reports on plans for a proposed “farm dwelling” being reviewed by the Kauai Planning Commission.

It’s another one of those fake farms, a high-priced estate for a wealthy owner being built on land zoned for agriculture, pretending to be a “farm” by growing something on the side in order to meet legal requirements established to prevent just this kind of misuse.

“The zoning is agricultural, the General Plan is agricultural and the state land use (designation) is agricultural,” said county planner Lisa Ellen Smith, reading the Planning Department report.

The “farm” will be on a one-acre section of the nearly 17 acre agriculturally-zoned property. The one acre is where they plan to grow their farm crop…grass. According to the planning consultants pushing the project, it’s a sod farm. Right.

On the remaining acres alongside the “sod farm” will be a 5,930 square foot home with a covered lanai measuring 1,777 square feet, a 4,513 square foot pool, a 8,505 square feet of driveways and sidewalks, according to the story. The estimated cost of construction is not reported.

The owner of the property is CEO of a Canadian-based multinational corporation.

“Who are we kidding?” one planning commissioner reportedly asked.

For several years, the legislature has been trying to clamp down on these projects that exploit legal technicalities to exploit farm land and erode the state’s base of agricultural lands.

Presenting this sod farm proposal to the planning commission were two consultants, Roland Sagum from Applied Planning Systems and Sean Combs of Land Strategies Hawaii, Azambuja reports.

Readers of the Garden Island readers who don’t recognize Sagum’s name might have benefited from being reminded that Sagum is perhaps better known as State Representative Roland Sagum III, a Democrat first elected in 2006 to represent a district that includes Niihau, Lehua, Koloa, and Waimea.

He faces competition in the primary this year from county parks employee Daynette Morikawa, a former high school golf coach. She is described as an active HGEA member, and is vice-chair of HGEA’s Managerial and Confidential Employees Chapter, Kauai Island Division.

The story of this “sod farm” has to provide ammunition for Morikawa’s campaign.