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Lawyers and builders propose changes to variance and appeals process to speed housing projects
Summary
A coalition of real-estate attorneys, builders and legislators endorsed several bills to clarify variance standards, shorten local hearing timelines and change de novo zoning appeals to closed-record review to reduce litigation time and development delay.
Real-estate attorneys, a state senator and building industry representatives told the committee Thursday they support a package of changes aimed at shortening delays in local permitting and appellate review that they say stall housing production.
Senate Bill 1448, presented by Senator John Keenan, would toll the one-year statutory period in which a variance must be acted upon while an appeal is pending so that the time consumed by litigation does not erode a developer's statutory window. "It tolls that one-year requirement," Keenan said, to prevent developers from losing…
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