Just about every activity involving the use of land requires some type of permit or license, from replacing a roof or putting up a modest back yard shed to constructing a new residential subdivision or shopping center. Massachusetts laws establish timelines within which city and town boards must act on a wide variety of land use permits. Since the timelines are poorly aligned (see Fig. X), they can make it difficult for boards and commissions to act as quickly as applicants would like. They also can make it difficult for boards to coordinate their efforts, e.g., if they want to conduct joint public hearings or engage in some type of joint decision- making process.
Falmouth is not the only town where project proponents have complained about perceived delays, lack of coordination and communication between town boards and departments, and procedures that either seem onerous, duplicative, or unnecessary. It may be that Falmouth’s land use permitting procedures need to be overhauled or that Town boards need some training, but judging from newspaper accounts, meeting minutes, and other sources, it seems that everyone in Falmouth – the boards, applicants, and residents – would benefit from some education about how permitting is designed to work under various state laws and the Town’s own bylaws and regulations.
By adopting zoning that is so dependent on special permits, Falmouth has embraced an approach to development that all but invites disputes. The process for considering a special permit requires a public hearing, and special permit decision standards are generally loose, erring on the side of the issuing authority. The same land use permitting process that gives citizen activists a voice in the decision process also increases the risk of appeals for developers. As a result, Falmouth’s zoning (and that of many Massachusetts towns) creates tension by design. Falmouth residents are clearly passionate about limiting change and controlling the impact of growth on residential neighborhoods, so perhaps the existing framework is what they really want. Regardless, it is the framework that the Planning Board, Board of Appeals, and others have to work within; Town Meeting – not town boards – created it.
1.
Educational Opportunities
There are some strategies and resources available to help Falmouth’s boards, developers, and the general public communicate better about how permitting works and what to expect during the review and decision process. Some fairly standard methods include the following:
Permitting Guide. A well-organized permitting guide would help property owners and
developers understand each board’s application, review, and decision procedures and timelines. An abbreviated version of the same guide can be used as handout at public hearings to educate interested residents about how the permitting process works. Note, too, that permitting guides can be extremely helpful to new members of town boards as they work to educate themselves about their own responsibilities.
Public Education Materials. Poster-size charts at public hearings can be used to inform
abutters and other residents about public hearing protocol: the order of business, the rights of all interested parties, and the standards or criteria the board will use to make a decision.
Internal Audit. Several towns have conducted internal audits of their permitting
procedures in order to determine how long various procedures usually take and why some applications required much longer permitting timelines than others. Audits like these are fairly common in communities that have adopted legislation such as Chapter 43D (Expedited Permitting for Priority Development Sites), but they can be done by any town that simply wants to improve their permitting procedures, reduce the workload on volunteer boards, and provide greater customer satisfaction to developers. Publishing an audit summary can go a long way toward transparency, building good relationships with the community, and – quite often – demonstrating that overall, local permitting decisions occur well within statutorily prescribed deadlines.
Training. There are training resources available about the roles and responsibilities of city
and town boards. Falmouth could consider holding a training series for town boards and the public and bring in outside (neutral) facilitators from organizations like the Citizen Planner Training Collaborative (CPTC).
2.
Comprehensive Permit Guidelines
Most developers yearn to know the answer to one question: "what do I have to do to get my permit?" Unfortunately, communities sometimes forget that if they want certain outcomes from the development process - any type of development, including but not limited to affordable housing - they need to be clear about what they hope to accomplish and their expectations have to be anchored in economic reality. One way to communicate effectively about Falmouth’s comprehensive permit priorities would involve developing guidelines, with text, photographs, and maps, that developers can consider in the early stages of planning their projects.
The Board of Appeals is responsible for adopting Chapter 40B administrative rules and managing the comprehensive permit process in accordance with DHCD regulations and guidelines. Falmouth’s Board of Appeals has adopted local rules and provides developers with an application package that is tailored to Chapter 40B requirements and decision criteria. The local rules are very similar to the process outlined in DHCD’s Chapter 40B Regulations (760 CMR 56.00 et seq.). Clearly, the Board has done exactly what it is required to do by law. Local project review guidelines serve different purposes, however:
To inform developers about the Town's affordable housing concerns and priorities, and To provide criteria for boards and staff to use when they review comprehensive permit
applications and provide comments to the Board of Appeals.
To implement a community’s housing plan or local comprehensive plan.
Ideally, comprehensive permit guidelines should be developed by a working group of board members and staff, in consultation with many other town boards. Guidelines usually cover matters such as priority housing needs, the scale and density of developments, design review, areas of town that may be suitable for moderate- to higher-density development, and areas that would not be suitable because they have high natural resources value or significant
physical constraints. Ultimately, the guidelines should be approved by the Board of Selectmen and Planning Board, jointly, and perhaps other boards as well, depending on how the Town decided to conduct the adoption process. The goal is a set of guidelines that help to unify the Town's approach to comprehensive permit reviews and provide clear direction to prospective developers.