Permit Extension Lets Building Projects Breathe Easy

In 2005, Stonegate Village, a retirement community on 10 Flintlock Road, opened its doors and began accepting residents with a promise to develop all 80 lots on the 18.9 acre property. Now, seven years later, not even half of the lots have been built and they say “anemic sales” are a cause for the lack of development. Currently the development is making progress and since developers amended their plan in 2009, expiring permits will not be an issue for a long time.

A new state law has extended the period of land-use permits issued during the time when the construction bubble burst, from 2006 to 2011, from five years to nine years. The law was pushed by the Home Builders Association of Connecticut, who argued the construction industry has 20 to 30 percent unemployment, and this was one way to help it.

“That bill would prevent the wholesale abandonment of approved projects and activities due to the present unfavorable economic conditions by essentially tolling the term of existing approvals for a brief period of time that will allow the economy, markets and lending to recover, preventing a waste of public and private resources,” the association wrote in a letter to state legislators.

Specifics

The bill became law in May of 2011 with a signature by Gov. Dannel Malloy. The law extends the life of land-use and wetlands permits various lengths, depending on their use, but extends most permits approved before July of 2011 to nine years instead of five.

Generally, land-use permits have a five-year life where the developer has to get a building permit on the project and start working on it. This new law allows developers more time, as many permits were issued from 2006 to 20011 but the project was never built, thanks to a down economy.

The law drew little opposition from planning departments across Connecticut.

Charlie Karno, the director of planning for the Town of Ledyard, said the law doesn’t really impact the town greatly at this point and that “usually these things (building projects) move along quickly.”

Waterford Planning Director Tom Wagner, who has been a planning director for 29 years, said most of these towns want the project to be built, even if it is eight years later.

Zoning Commission Chairman Eric Treaster said it is easy to get a five-year extension for any permit that was originally granted by the Zoning Commission.

“All that is necessary is for the applicant to submit a new application for the same project,” he said. “If the regulations have not changed in the interim, the new identical application would be approved, which would restart the clock.”

“When the (Planning and Zoning Commission) approves something, we expect for it to be built,” Wagner said.

Wagner said this law does save time for both towns and developers.