Dear Municipal Official:

As required by legislative mandate passed last summer (Ch. 205 of the Acts of 2006), each of the Commonwealth’s regional planning agencies are collaborating to inventory local permitting processes in Massachusetts.   We request your assistance by spending approximately 20 minutes filling out the attached questionnaire. 

 This information will be used by state and local policy makers to assess existing permitting procedures, and to consider changes in existing policies and programs.  In addition, the Massachusetts Association of Regional Planning Agencies (MARPA) will use this data, along with additional information gathered through research and focus groups, to develop a “best practices” guide that municipalities can use as a tool to make permitting more predictable, consistent, and efficient without compromising local jurisdiction or encouraging imprudent projects.   

This same survey will be administered in all 351 Commonwealth municipalities.  It is available in paper form or online via Survey Monkey at (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=114433416831 ) and is designed to be completed by someone generally familiar with the municipality’s permitting process.  Please note that we do not intend to publish individual municipal responses, but rather seek to compare activities across the state.   We have sent this survey to the municipality’s planning department, the Chairman of the Planning Board and the City or Town’s CEO.  While we welcome multiple responses from a single community, a single response for your municipality is preferable.  We encourage you to fill the survey out electronically, but if you complete it in print form, please return it to your local regional planning agency.  Additionally, please respond by April 6^th so that we may promptly begin analyzing the information.  In appreciation, we will provide every respondent with a summary of our findings. 

Thank you for taking the time to complete the survey.  Local and state permitting is a constant topic of discussion on Beacon Hill this year, and it is vital that public officials have accurate objective information on the state of local permitting in the Commonwealth rather than relying solely on anecdotal information when making decisions that affect us all.  If you have any questions, please contact Sean Caron at (617)451-2770 x2021 or James Watson at (508) 583-1833 x208.

Paper Form Local Permitting Survey (PDF)

Online via Survey Monkey at (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=114433416831 )

_____________________________________________________________

James Watson

Comprehensive Planning Supervisor

Old Colony Planning Council

70 School Street

Brockton, MA 02301

Tel. (508) 583-1833  --   Fax (508) 559-8768

e-mail  jwatson@ocpcrpa.org