A more than decade-old government effort to preserve important farmland on Oahu, perhaps in perpetuity, has hit a wall.

The state Land Use Commission ruled Thursday that city officials missed one step in implementing a 2005 state law intending to protect important agricultural land on Oahu from future conversion to other uses.

Commissioners, who called the law flawed, credited the city Department of Planning and Permitting with trying to carry out the unfunded mandate but said DPP failed to notify the 1,781 private landowners whose property was recommended for protection about the recommendation after DPP finalized its plan in 2018 for City Council consideration.

In a Dec. 29 written brief, DPP informed the commission that the city agency wouldn’t have the resources to redo its work, which began 12 years ago, if the commission remanded the city’s important agricultural land, or IAL, recommendation back to DPP.

Dawn Apuna, DPP deputy director, described the agency’s position during Thursday’s hearing more critically.

“To be frank, it is unlikely that the city will be back before the commission on this IAL anytime soon,” she told commissioners. “Based on the record before you, the city has crossed the goal line. To ask for anything more would mean moving the goal line on the city. We did what we were supposed to do under the IAL statute and rules, and we are done.”

Apuna called the whole proceeding monumental, unprecedented and far from perfect, then added, “Oahu’s IAL lives or dies today based on your decision. No pressure.”

DPP recommended that 41,407 acres of Oahu farmland, or 11% of the island’s landmass, be protected.

The agency was trying to carry out the state’s IAL law, which the Legislature enacted in 2005 in response to a long-ignored Hawaii Constitution amendment ratified by voters in 1978 mandating that prime ag lands be identified and protected.

Landowners were given incentives including tax credits to voluntarily seek the IAL designation for qualified land, and several large companies did so. County governments were given the task of recommending land for involuntary protection.

The law makes the LUC the final arbiter of what should be protected statewide after each county submits recommendations. So far, only the City and County of Honolulu has done the work it was instructed to do.

LUC members, who voted 7-0 to reject the city’s plan, suggested that the Legislature amend the law by passing a bill to address issues raised by many landowners during commission hearings in 2021 and this month through Thursday.

The biggest concerns from landowners include suitability of land recommended for preservation, the ability to keep using or to add homes on their property, and insufficient efforts to notify them.

DPP insisted that an IAL designation would create no material change to homes being permitted on farmland as they currently are as accessories to agricultural operations. The agency also said it properly applied criteria in the law to recommend land for protection and that it made reasonable efforts to inform affected landowners.

The state Department of Agriculture supported DPP’s recommendation, though the state Office of Planning and Sustainable Development questioned whether parcels under an acre or two in size should be included.

The Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation has supported the IAL law and helped advise DPP, but on Thursday, Brian Miyamoto, executive director of the organization with 700 Oahu members, urged the LUC to remand the city’s work for several reasons, including the application of criteria for protecting land.

The city’s work included assessments of land quality ratings, community and focus group meetings, letters sent to the roughly 1,800 landowners, a formal comment period, an opportunity to object, City Council hearings and Council approval.

In 2021 the LUC asked for and received an opinion from the state attorney general on whether the city properly followed the law with regard to identifying land deserving protection. That opinion backed the city’s selection work.

Still, some commissioners had concerns about other things, including landowner notifications and statute language about farm dwellings.

“The situation is flawed,” LUC member Nancy Cabral said during Thursday’s six-hour hearing. “There’s a whole lot of problems here.”

Arnold Wong called the statute flawed, and fellow commissioner Lee Ohigashi said, “The Legislature needs to fix this.”

Commission Chairman Jonathan Likeke Scheuer compared the whole situation to trying to assemble a piece of furniture with incorrect instructions, a mismatched set of parts and the wrong tools instead of sending everything back.

“That’s where we’re at,” he said.