Hawaii should adopt community benefit agreements

By Luciano Minerbi

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Mar 13, 2013

~~<p>The Public Land Development Corp. (PLDC), with all its exemptions, bypasses county land use policies, plans and ordinances and ignores cultural and environmental assessments and labor laws. By allowing unilateral decisions by only an unaccountable few, it has already adversely impacted civic society in Hawaii; fortunately, many groups protested its enactment.</p>
<p>But recent PLDC metamorphoses — such as the the Public-Private Partnership Authority — are not any better and remain flawed for one major reason: Partnerships that shut out the community are inadequate for good planning.</p>
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The Public Land Development Corp. (PLDC), with all its exemptions, bypasses county land use policies, plans and ordinances and ignores cultural and environmental assessments and labor laws. By allowing unilateral decisions by only an unaccountable few, it has already adversely impacted civic society in Hawaii; fortunately, many groups protested its enactment.

But recent PLDC metamorphoses — such as the the Public-Private Partnership Authority — are not any better and remain flawed for one major reason: Partnerships that shut out the community are inadequate for good planning. Login for more...