House committee advances bill to fast‑track DOT driveway permits for 20+‑unit housing projects

The House Public Works and Highways Committee voted 14‑2, with two members not voting, to recommend passage of Senate Bill 153‑FN, a proposal to create an expedited Department of Transportation permitting lane for residential projects of 20 units or more that would be funded by a $120 per‑unit fee.

The bill, sponsored in the hearing by Sen. Mark McConkie, is intended to shorten long delays developers said are preventing approved housing from moving forward. McConkie told the committee that permitting for some larger developments has taken “a year and a half to 2 years” and described the measure as a second lane for receiving permitting rather than a mandatory deadline.

Supporters said the expedited lane would be paid for by developers and would let DOT contract vetted third‑party consultants to perform traffic‑study and plan reviews, with DOT maintaining final approval. “SB 153 implements an expedited permitting process for applications for major entrances for residential use of 20 units or more to issue the permit within 60 business days of approval of the traffic impact study,” said Alan Hanscomb, state maintenance engineer for the New Hampshire Department of Transportation. Hanscomb told the committee the fee is intended to fund a specialist position who would act as a liaison between applicants, consultants and DOT offices; the third‑party review would be a pass‑through cost with no DOT markup.

Industry witnesses backed the bill. Matt Mayberry, CEO of the New Hampshire Home Builders Association, said the group had worked with DOT and the bill “is gold to us” because a dedicated employee could cut months off financing hold times. Joshua Reeb, president and CEO of Associated Builders and Contractors, said the industry endorses the concept and that builders see the fast lane as a privately funded way to avoid permitting bottlenecks: “Waiting 60 days versus up to 30, 40 months, this is a good thing,” he said.

Committee members raised concerns about fairness and potential pressure on DOT to favor paid expedited reviews. Representative Bohm compared the approach to a pay‑for‑priority system, saying, “it's gonna take you a year, but if you pay me $2,400, we can do it in a week.” Sponsors and DOT officials responded that participation is voluntary, the regular permit lane remains open, and DOT retains final authority over safety decisions. Hanscomb said DOT is working with consulting engineers to create a fee schedule and retainer estimates and that any unused portion of a retainer would be returned; industry testimony said the state would have 120 days to return any balance after completion.

The bill applies only to residential permits meeting the 20‑unit threshold and does not change local zoning or planning approvals; witnesses emphasized that local approvals would still be required before seeking the DOT driveway permit. Hanscomb noted the department has been revising online portal documentation since last August and has handled roughly 1,700 permit applications, about 40% of which were residential.

In executive session the committee voted to report the bill out as “ought to pass” (OTP) and indicated a floor amendment would be likely to add clarifying language requiring DOT to either approve or deny specified items within 60 days. Because a member objected to placing the measure on consent, the committee chair said the bill will go to the full House floor with that floor amendment expected.

Votes at a glance: motion — “Ought to pass” for Senate Bill 153‑FN; mover — Representative Brown; second — Representative Edgar; committee outcome — approved (14 yes, 2 no, 2 not voting).