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House approves expedited driveway-permit option for large residential developments; critics cite fairness and fee concerns
Summary
Lawmakers approved a bill letting developers pay fees for expedited state driveway permits for projects of 20 units or more, with supporters saying it will cut review time and opponents calling the fee system unfair to those who cannot pay to speed reviews.
The New Hampshire House on May 1 passed legislation that allows developers to pay fees to accelerate state driveway permitting for residential projects of 20 units or greater, establishing a 60-day review timeline for completed applications handled through an optional expedited process.
Representative Mills introduced a floor amendment that added an explicit option for the Department of Transportation to deny a permit; the amendment was adopted. Supporters said the expedited process, funded by applicant fees and third‑party consultants, could shorten project timelines that currently take a year or more.
Representative Bohm spoke against the committee recommendation and said the bill effectively permits developers to buy faster processing. "Normally, it will take maybe more than a year but with this bill, if I pay the DOT $6,000, they will have it done in 60 days," Bohm said, arguing the change favored projects whose developers could afford the fee and raised constitutional fairness concerns.
Representative Brown, speaking for the committee, said the bill would allow an optional public‑private partnership to expedite reviews and require DOT to approve or deny within 60 days of a completed application. The committee said fees not used in the process would be returned to applicants.
The House passed the bill on a roll-call vote of 293-61. The law creates an optional path for expedited permitting but leaves standard timelines in place for applicants who do not use the fee-based process. The Department of Transportation and municipalities will handle implementation details; the bill includes provisions for fee collection, third‑party consultants and refund procedures.
