iStock illustration
Fragmented local bureaucracies and archaic permitting frameworks remain roadblocks to housing production in Massachusetts, according to developers and consultants.
The Pioneer Institute’s report, released today, contains 10 proposals to streamline permitting for housing development. The recommendations are based upon interviews with developers, consultants, attorneys and officials.
Participants shared stories of understaffed town halls and lack of up-to-date online information on zoning bylaws, said Andrew Mikula, the report’s author and chief housing economist for The Pioneer Institute.
“A lot of developers said you needed local attorneys and architects just to understand where the pain points in the process were,” Mikula said.
In a statement, Pioneer Institute Executive Director Jim Stergios said the findings underscore reasons for developers to consider building out-of-state.
“Municipalities can’t single-handedly fix the state’s housing shortage, but they don’t have to wait for Beacon Hill to stop making it worse,” Stergios said.
Two of the recommendations are under consideration by the Massachusetts legislature.
The MassWins Act, an economic development bill submitted by Gov. Maura Healey in April, would establish statewide standards for site plan reviews. Such reviews are the main local approval for projects under the MBTA Communities act, which required 177 cities and towns to expand multifamily zoning by right.
“Especially with the MBTA Communities Act, that’s important because that is the one potential process that could become too discretionary,” Mikula said.
The other would require training for local land use board members, with the goal of controlling the “bloated scope” of reviews. Proposed legislation by state Sen. Julian Cyr, D-Provincetown, would provide free training for local boards that have power to review developments.
Survey participants said fragmented bureaucracies and lack of upfront information delay them from even starting the permitting process. It recommends that communities establish a single point of contact for developers and hold pre-filing meetings, which are already a common practice in some communities such as Boston.
“We wanted to clear to builders in advance what to expect out of a public hearing, and the technical or design-related concerns that can be fixed,” Mikula said.
