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Lawmakers kill Public Land Development Corp.

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AP
Hawaii Rep. Cindy Evans

The state House voted Tuesday to repeal the controversial Public Land Development Corp.

The vote was the final legislative hurdle for the bill, which now goes to Gov. Neil Abercrombie, who said he would sign the repeal into law.

“I’d just as soon get it behind all of us as soon as possible,” Abercrombie said on Sunday. “I think it’s a lesson in good intentions gone awry.”

The PLDC was created by lawmakers and the governor two years ago as the development arm of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. The new agency, which was granted broad exemptions from land use regulations, was supposed to partner with the private sector on development projects on underused state land. But public opposition delayed the establishment of the PLDC’s administrative rules last year, and the new agency never completed a single project.

House Majority Leader Scott Saiki (D, Downtown-Kakaako-McCully) said the state should encourage responsible economic development. “The PLDC failed because it went too far and was unbalanced,” he said.

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