Abercrombie to PLDC: Take a break

HONOLULU — Gov. Neil Abercrombie on Friday asked the Public Land Development Corporation Board of Directors to temporarily defer action on pending rules while public concerns about the agency are fully considered and addressed.

Additionally, Abercrombie directed the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, to which the PLDC is administratively attached, to facilitate meetings with stakeholders, according to a state press release.

“I have asked the PLDC board to postpone any meeting dates and adoptive actions until those concerns are fully taken into consideration,” Abercrombie says in the release. “I do not want the potential for the PLDC to accomplish public good to be lost because of a failure to account for reservations about either the process or the outcome.”

Abercrombie said he asked DLNR Chair William Aila Jr. to meet with stakeholders to address the PLDC’s rules and the rule-making before moving forward.

The meetings conducted by Aila will be done with full accountability and transparency, and with the understanding that if public concerns cannot be adequately addressed, then a legislative process may be appropriate, states the release.

“We will do our best to alleviate public concerns; however, the PLDC is the creation of the Legislature and lawmakers will ultimately be the ones to decide its future,” says Abercrombie in the release.

Abercrombie has said the same thing during a recent visit to Kaua‘i; that the PLDC was a product of the Legislature, which represents the people. But he has also said publicly that he would veto an effort by the Legislature to repeal Act 55, which created PLDC.

Established in 2011 by the Hawai‘i State Legislature, the PLDC’s purpose is to create and facilitate partnerships between state and county agencies, businesses, nonprofits and community groups to improve Hawai‘i’s communities, create jobs and expand public benefit through stewardship and responsible use of land resources, according to the release.

And all of the above would be accomplished by a majority of the five PLDC board members, none from Kaua‘i, while circumventing county zoning laws.

Currently, the PLDC is completing a public review process, mandated by law, to formulate its administrative rules. Last summer, the PLDC conducted statewide public hearings on draft rules and encountered concerns from the public and community groups that followed the initial passage of the law, the release states.

The PLDC staff worked with legislative proponents to complete a strategic plan to better define its scope, dispel myths and facilitate continued review of its draft rules. The PLDC has also proposed amendments to its draft rules based on public input and held an additional public hearing on Nov. 13 to provide further opportunity for public comment.

Kaua‘i County Councilman-elect Gary Hooser, who worked the last two years as the head of the state Office of Environmental Quality Control, has openly criticized Act 55 and PLDC and is opposed to amending the act, which would only accomplish better explaining the act’s intent to the public without any real changes.

To him, a repeal would be more appropriate.

“It is the responsibility of PLDC staff to follow through with the public commentary process, and personal attacks which have characterized some of the testimony are, in my opinion, misdirected and unproductive,” Abercrombie says in the release. “We’ve heard the concerns and now need to focus on productive dialogue with stakeholders before proceeding.”

The PLDC has the potential to support new schools, recreational facilities and operations by using public lands for public purposes that otherwise may not have had sufficient funding, according to Abercrombie.

“We will continue to work closely with the Legislature and all interested parties involved to do what is best for the people of Hawai‘i,” he says in the release.

Visit governor.hawaii.gov/public-land-development-corporation-pldc/ for more information.