From Kevin Landrigan at the Union Leader:
Developers, planners, engineers and lawyers told Executive Councilor John Stephen, R-Manchester, that they would welcome changes in state laws and regulations to speed up the process of getting permits for residential and commercial projects from state and local agencies.
New to his job, Stephen said it was obvious this permitting logjam should be the first issue he would highlight for a two-hour roundtable discussion at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College.
“I believe this could really be the biggest barrier to solving our affordable housing crisis,” Stephen said.
Gov. Kelly Ayotte is working on a permitting process overhaul with the goal of a hard, 60-day timeframe for a developer to get an answer on all applications from state agencies.
