Honolulu Star-Advertiser - October 28, 2012
Quiet enactment of a law that the Abercrombie administration backs to create state-and-private partnerships for development projects has now erupted in vocal questioning, adamant protests and even calls for repeal.
These concerns over the Public Land Development Corp.'s powers, its intent and jurisdiction, are prompting state lawmakers to reconsider their support heading into the next Legislature.
Some who voted for the proposal are prepared to support its repeal in the 2013 session, while others contend that the opposition has resulted from misinformation about the new PLDC agency, created by the Legislature in 2011.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie has rejected the criticism on that basis, but opposition persists. A repeal would require two-thirds of each legislative chamber.
The law creating PLDC says it "shall be exempt from all statutes, ordinances, charter provisions, and rules of any government agency relating to special improvement district assessments or requirements: land use, zoning, and construction standards for subdivisions, development and improvement of land; and the construction, improvement and sale of homes."
State Rep. John Mizuno, who voted for the bill, now says he will vote for the law's repeal because it "eliminates the ability of the public as well as many government environmental and building review agencies to have the objective oversight to ensure proper protections and safety for area residents and the environment, prior to a developer starting a project in our state."
The agency's five-member board, comprised of three selected by the governor and two by the Legislature, "will be allowed to exempt any project from many land use, environmental and even building permits," Mizuno says....
