The following press release was issued on Thursday, August 5, 2010, in response to the Governor’s signature of the Permit Extension Act. While comprehensive in scope, please note that the Permit Extension Act does NOT apply to Comprehensive Permit projects (40B). The petition to repeal Chapter 40B is moving forward and will be Question No. 2 on the state-wide ballot this November. If the repeal petition passes, Comprehensive Permit projects for which no building permit has been issued will be at risk. Please stay tuned for information and funding requests regarding HBAM efforts against the repeal.
BOSTON – The Home Builders Association of Massachusetts (HBAM) today praised Governor Deval Patrick and the state Legislature for their assistance in putting the building trades back to work during this construction season with passage of the Permit Extension Act, Section 173 of Senate Bill 2582, a comprehensive economic development package.
The bill, signed by Gov. Patrick today, will extend most building, special and other state and local permits for a period of two years. The permits must have been issued between August 15, 2008 and August 15, 2010 to be covered by the extension. Permit Extension is recognition that what is now being called The Great Recession, and the major credit crunch it created, was primarily responsible for a lack of action on many projects that had been reviewed and approved by state and local regulators.
“We thank the Legislature and the Patrick Administration for supporting this important privately funded stimulus for our still troubled economy,” said Walt Tomala, HBAM President. “The women and men of the home building industry look forward to getting back to work supplying the quality homes and apartments so desperately needed by all the citizens of the Commonwealth.”
The legislative action follows the release of an HBAM study that showed building single family homes and condominiums is a major positive force in the state’s economy. Based on 2009 statewide figures, the study conducted by the National Home Builders Association showed that home building created 22,111 jobs that year, generated $1.8 billion in income for workers and businesses, and pumped $314.6 million into state and municipal coffers.
“If that’s the kind of benefit our industry has during one of the worst construction markets in recent history, imagine what we can do for our state economy during a good cycle,” Tomala said. “We are very happy to be able to hit the ground running to revive projects that, if not for the recession, would already have been generating thousands of jobs and millions in benefits for our economy.”
The bill signed today by the Governor also recognizes the folly of wasting the time and money invested by developers and taxpayers in the review and permitting process of thousands of projects across the state, and the inherent unfairness of making applicants go through that time consuming, expensive process all over again.
Read the text of the Permit Extension Act