Economic Development & Planning
Local Expedited Permitting Program
The Putnam Hall Block in downtown Orange has been designated a 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 areas. 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 PDS designation. In past 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 pre-development work. During this time, 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 constraints.
Six Franklin County communities have successfully had nine PDS locations designated. These nine sites total over 98 acres and over 1.8 million square feet of building space. The PDS designations in Franklin County are:
- Town of Bernardston: PDS Site #1 (Church St, Northfield Rd/Route 10, Industrial Drive site), and PDS Site #2 (Northfield Rd/Route 10 site)
- Town of Deerfield: Oxford Foods Property
- Town of Gill: Mariamante Property
- Town of Greenfield: Bank Row Area, and 180 Laurel Street (Bendix) Site
- Town of Montague: Strathmore Mill Property
- Town of Orange: Putnam Hall Block, South Main Street Block, and West River Street Block
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. 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 December 14, 2011 .