In an experimental program modeled on one in New York, Connecticut is considering fast-tracking a handful of economic development projects with a “pre-permit” approval process intended to get shovels in the ground ”“ while taking its time in arriving at a decision.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy unveiled the plan as part of a larger jobs bill focused both on general hiring incentives as well as those targeting specific developments to be determined at a later date
“The idea here is to identify three properties that we think we want to pre-permit, ease the burden for a developer to come in and try to build some new property in a place that we think has great economic potential,” said Catherine Smith, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD), testifying on the proposal last month in Hartford. “This is a program that we think perhaps will spur some development in sites that might not otherwise get that attention.”
Look for that spur no sooner than 2013, however ”“ the DECD has until then to undertake a study on the impact of the New York program.
Smith did not say whether the program would be limited to projects that are truly new, or whether existing projects that have stalled in the early stages would be considered for some kind of permitting spur. According to Louis Bach, an analyst with the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, state officials have said that some 40 sites in the state have met all major permitting issues necessary for business development.
In Fairfield County, multiple big mixed-use projects stalled as a result of the Great Recession, including Steel Point in Bridgeport, Fairfield Metro Center, 95/7 in Norwalk and the Georgetown Land Development Co.”™s mill-to-village project in Redding.
Smith said businesses singled out a few agencies as particularly difficult to deal with: the DECD, the Connecticut Department of Transportation and a predecessor agency to the current Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
She added all three have taken steps since Malloy took office to streamline or eliminate red tape, with varying levels of success, but that more work needs to be done. As part of that process, the Connecticut General Assembly approved Malloy”™s request for $1 million to overhaul the state”™s websites to make it easier for businesses to find the information they need. The same approach will apply to mundane approvals or disclosures that currently require excessive paperwork.
“Small businesses ”¦ don”™t hire extra people to fill out forms, right?” Smith said.
If developers are better versed in crossing the t”™s, nevertheless they will get a reprieve of sorts in the new pre-permitting process.
Under Build-Now NY and a related “shovel-ready” certification process, Empire State Development Corp. said New York has invested $2.4 billion with private investors in construction projects that have totaled some 23 million square feet of space at last count, creating more than 22,000 jobs and retaining more than 8,000 more.
As of June, the vast majority of eligible shovel-ready sites were in upstate New York, rather than New York City and adjacent areas like Westchester County.
