Strategies for Streamlining the Development Review Process
Slow and unpredictable review processes can unnecessarily delay project timelines and compound costs. NAHB’s Development Review Topic Primer, created by the Land Development Committee and Opticos Design, offers an overview of the issue and a pro-housing message in 60 seconds or less.
Using existing NAHB toolkits and HBA initiatives from across the association, the State & Local Government Affairs team put together the below resource guide on strategies to streamline the development process.
State Legislation
State legislation can streamline processes by exempting certain projects from discretionary review, by implementing timelines that make systems more predictable, and establishing goals and reporting mechanisms for the newly streamlined departments.
Offering Pre-Approved Plans or Designing Certain Developments as ‘By Right’
Localities that offer pre-reviewed architectural plans allow small-scale and infill-focused developers to more easily navigate the permitting and building process. Plan books should contain a variety of housing types and sizes, and should not include overly prescriptive design standards that will raise the cost of a house.
- NAHB’s 2024 resource on pre-approved plans: From Blueprint to Reality: Harnessing the Power of Pre-Approved Housing Plans with Real-World Examples
- Explore more examples of localities with pre-approved or by right plans, including Fayetteville, AK, Groveland, FL, and Claremore, OK in the Housing Supply Accelerator Playbook.
- Missing Middle Housing: How Localities Are Streamlining Efforts for ADUs and Other Building Types | NAHB
State Agencies That Provide Assistance to Local Governments
Washington State’s Governor’s Office of Regulatory Innovation and Assistance (ORIA) works with local governments and applicants to improve the development permitting process. It also works with developers to obtain environmental permits.
The Massachusetts Permit Regulatory Office (MPRO) assists with commercial, industrial, mixed-use, and housing development. The office also oversees a state expedited permitting program and provides infrastructure grants to facilitate commercial and housing development. Massachusetts also provides a free permit tracking system to towns and cities.
Utah’s Office of Property Rights Ombudsman helps parties understand and comply with land use and development laws and helps to resolve disputes between governments and property owners.
Explore NAHB’s resource Development Process Efficiency: Cutting Through the Red Tape, for more details on these programs and more examples and strategies.
- Creating a ministerial approval process and removing local politics from the decision making around certain developments.
- This strategy can allow for automatic approval if a project complies with existing rules with professional staff making rulings rather than elected officials.
- Allowing concurrent reviews by different departments or create a centralized permitting office that is a one-stop-shop for permitting.
- Allow third-party reviews and permitting.
- Colorado, Georgia, Maine, and South Carolina allow municipalities to use third-party inspectors.
- Require explanations for permit rejections to allow applicants to rectify issues.
