HCC §25-5-142
Allowed businesses and activities in the ML district
Read the official text at hawaiicounty.gov ↗This section lists the many types of businesses, services, and facilities that are allowed in the ML (light industrial) district. Some uses need a special permit, and some can be added as minor extras. It also allows buildings and uses that are normally part of the main allowed uses.
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The ordinance, as written (Hawaiʻi County) — Permitted uses
A copy, taken August 21, 2026. The version published by Hawaiʻi County is the one that governs, and it may have changed since. Check it before relying on anything here.
(a) The following uses shall be permitted in the ML district: (1) Agricultural products processing, minor. (2) Airfields, heliports and private landing strips. (3) Amusement and recreation facilities, indoor. (4) Animal hospitals. (5) Animal quarantine stations. (6) Apiaries. (7) Aquaculture activities. (8) Automobile and truck sales and rentals. (9) Automobile and truck storage facilities. (10) Automobile service stations. (11) Bakeries. (12) Bars. (13) Broadcasting stations. (14) Car washing. (15) Carpentry, hardwood products and furniture manufacturing and storage establishments. (16) Catering establishments. (17) Cemeteries and mausoleums, as permitted under chapter 6, article 1 of this Code. (18) Cleaning and dyeing plants. (19) Commercial parking lots and garages. SUPP. 19 (1-2026) 25-114 ZONING § 25-5-142 (20) Contractors’ yards for equipment, material, and vehicle storage, repair, or maintenance. (21) Crematoriums, funeral homes, funeral services, and mortuaries. (22) Day care centers. (23) Financial institutions. (24) Food manufacturing and processing facilities. (25) Greenhouses, plant nurseries. (26) Heavy equipment sales, service and rental. (27) Home improvement centers. (28) Junkyards, provided that the building site is not less than one acre in area. (29) Laboratories, medical and research. (30) Laundries. (31) Lumberyards and building material yards, but not including concrete or asphalt mixing and the fabrication by riveting or welding of steel building frames. (32) Manufacturing, processing and packaging establishments, light. (33) Meeting facilities, including special events, as permitted under section (34) Motion picture and television production studios. (35) Photographic processing. (36) Plumbing, electrical, air conditioning and heating establishments. (37) Primary airports, provided that plan approval is secured from the director. (38) Public uses and structures, as permitted under section 25-4-11. (39) Publishing plants for newspapers, books and magazines, printing shops, cartographing, and duplicating processes such as blueprinting or photostating shops. (40) Recycling centers, which do not involve the processing of recyclable materials. (41) Repair establishments, minor. (42) Restaurants. (43) Self storage facilities. (44) Special events. (45) Storage and sale of seed, feed, fertilizer and other products essential to agricultural production. (46) Telecommunication antennas and towers, as permitted under section 25-4-12. (47) Temporary real estate offices, as permitted under section 25-4-8. (48) Transportation and tour terminals. (49) Truck, freight and draying terminals. (50) Utility facilities, public and private, including offices or yards for equipment, material, vehicle storage, repair or maintenance. (51) Utility substations, as permitted under section 25-4-11. (52) Veterinary establishments. (53) Vocational schools. (54) Warehousing, which does not include retail sales or discount houses or establishments open to the general public or defined members. (55) Wholesaling and distribution, including the storage of incidental materials and equipment, except for highly flammable or explosive products. 25-115 SUPP. 19 (1-2026) (b) In addition to those uses permitted under subsection (a) above, the following uses may be permitted in the ML district, provided that a use permit is issued for each use: (1) Major outdoor amusement and recreation facilities. (2) Schools. (3) Yacht harbors and boating facilities. (c) The following uses may be permitted in the ML district as incidental and subordinate to any permitted use: (1) Living quarters for watchmen or custodians in connection with the operation of any permitted use. (2) Retail sales. (3) Services for persons working in an ML district which are conducted within an integral part of a main structure with entrances from the interior of the building and which have no display or advertising visible from the street. (d) Buildings and uses normally considered directly accessory to the uses permitted in this section shall also be permitted in the ML district. (1996, ord 96-160, sec 2; ratified April 6, 1999; am 2011, ord 11-26, sec 4; am 2012, ord 12-28, sec 16; am 2019, ord 19-100, sec 8; am 2020, ord 20-94, sec 3; am 2024, ord 24-65, secs 7 and 10; am 2025, ord 25-55, sec 12; ord 25-66, sec 23.)25-5-142
Published by the County of Hawaiʻi Office of the County Clerk.
LawTrove is not legal advice. The summary above is a computer-generated restatement — the authoritative text is the official version linked above.