Economic Development & Planning

Local Expedited Permitting Program

Building in Orange's South Main Street PDS

A building in the Town of Orange's South Main Street Block designated Priority Development Site.

Project Overview

Massachusetts General Law Chapter 43D was enacted for the purpose of supporting an expedited and streamlined municipal permit process for targeted economic development projects.  The Program allows towns, that choose to participate, the opportunity to select specific areas of their community to apply for “Priority Development Sites” (PDS) designation.   Eligible PDS locations must have been identified and approved by the town, and have permission of the property owner(s).  A PDS must be zoned commercial, industrial or mixed use, and can accommodate the development or re-development of a building(s) of at least 50,000 square feet, and may consist of one or more contiguous parcels.   In addition, state-approved PDS projects will have priority consideration for select state grant programs and may benefit from other state assistance programs, such as for marketing of the sites .

Current Activities

The FRCOG has been able to provide technical assistance to help towns identify and apply to the state for Priority Development Sites (PDS) designation.  In previous years, the state offered a one-time Technical Assistance Grant to support communities in their effort to streamline the local permitting process for these sites and to do some pre-development work.  The FRCOG assisted six communities in receiving over $550,000 in state grant funds for this purpose.  Since July 1, 2009, this grant program has been suspended due to budget cuts.     

Six Franklin County communities have successfully had nine PDS locations designated with the assistance of the FRCOG.  These nine sites total over 81 acres and over 1.7 million square feet of building space available for development or re-development.  The towns awarded grants and PDS designation in the region, to date, are:

The FRCOG also participated in the Massachusetts Association of Regional Planning Agencies' creation of the Best Practices Model for Streamlined Permitting guide.  This guide presents measures for how municipalities can make permitting more predictable, consistent, and efficient without compromising local jurisdiction or promoting imprudent projects.  Hardcopies of this guide have been distributed to each Franklin County town. Additional hardcopies are also available by contacting the FRCOG Planning Department. 

Future Plans

The FRCOG will continue to work with towns interested in participating in the Chapter 43D Program.  If the technical assistance grant funds are reinstated, the FRCOG will notify communities of the opportunity.  Also, if a community would like more information about how to adopt measures to make permitting more predictable, consistent, and efficient without compromising local jurisdiction or promoting imprudent projects, please contact the FRCOG Planning Department.     

Links

Massachusetts Permit Regulatory Office

Page last updated on September 15, 2009 .

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