Bill Summary for H 794 (2017-2018)

Printer-friendly: Click to view

Summary date: 

Apr 12 2017

Bill Information:

View NCGA Bill Details2017-2018 Session
House Bill 794 (Public) Filed Tuesday, April 11, 2017
AN ACT TO IMPROVE EFFICIENCY OF CONSTRUCTION PERMITTING BY REMOVING REDUNDANCIES IN REVIEWS AND APPROVALS BY STATE AND LOCAL AGENCIES, IMPROVE ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY OF REVIEWING AGENCIES, AND MAKE NORTH CAROLINA A NATIONAL LEADER IN PERMITTING EFFICIENCY, WHICH WILL ENCOURAGE INVESTORS TO CHOOSE NORTH CAROLINA TO CREATE JOBS.
Intro. by Stone, Saine, Bradford, Torbett.

View: All Summaries for BillTracking:

Bill summary

Contains several whereas clauses.

Section 1

Enacts GS 153A-145.7 (pertaining to counties) and GS 160A-205.3 (pertaining to cities), detailing 10 general requirements that are applicable to permits issued by counties and cities, including building permits and land use permits. The requirements include: (1) all requirements for the issuance of a permit must be included in an ordinance adopted by the governing body, and the ordinance must be available for public inspection in the same manner as other ordinances; (2) where feasible, a county or city must make its online permit review and approval program accessible by municipalities in the county or the county (respective to the statute) to facilitate concurrent review and approval of permits; and (3) prohibits a fee in lieu of payments related to off-site improvements authorized by law from exceeding 20% of the estimated actual costs associated with the direct impact of the permitee's development. Effective October 1, 2017.

Section 2

Enacts new Article 3C to GS Chapter 136 to be known as the Local Government Permitting Act of 2017.

New GS 136-166.51 sets out that the purpose of the Article is to delegate to certain municipalities the authority to issue construction permits and approve established standards for State-maintained roads located within the municipality and the municipality's extraterritorial jurisdiction. Provides that the delegated authority includes the authority to issue driveway permits and approve construction activities or encroachment within the Department of Transportation's rights-of-way. Expressly authorizes all municipalities with a population of 50,000 or more the permitting authority provided for in new Article 3C unless the municipality specifically declines the delegation. Clarifies that (1) the authority of municipalities to review and approve permits or establish standards for State-maintained roads in its municipal boundary exists only to the extent explicitly provided in the Article or otherwise granted by the Board of Transportation; (2) the Article does not modify the Department of Transportation's responsibility to perform typical maintenance activities on State-maintained roads and bridges; and (3) the Article does not modify the process for review of erosion and sediment control plans or stormwater plans, including authorities of the Department of Environmental Quality or any delegated authority for the same under GS Chapter 113.

New GS 136-166.52 permits a municipality that does not otherwise qualify for the delegation of authority provided for under the Article to request that the Board of Transportation (Board) grant the authority. Requires the municipality to develop a review program for its jurisdiction and submit its program to the Board for review and approval. Directs the Board to review each program submitted by a municipality and within 90 days of receipt of the application notify the municipality whether it has been approved, approved with modifications, or disapproved. Requires the Board to only approve an application upon determining the municipality's review staff have adequate experience and technical expertise related to the review of transportation design and construction activities. 

New GS 136-166.53 details the Department of Transportation's authority under the new Article, including establishing review guidelines for local governments to follow, assuming administration of a program in a municipality that has failed to correct deficiencies within 60 days of the Department's notification, and retaining the authority to review and approve certain construction activities. 

New GS 136-166.54 details the actions municipalities with delegated authority can do under the Article, including: (1) adopting ordinances and regulations necessary to establish and enforce transportation review programs, but not exceeding the minimum requirements established by the Department of Transportation for State-maintained roads as specified; (2) creating or designating agencies or subdivisions to administer and enforce the programs; and (3) establishing standards and ordinances for roads to make road design consistent with local roads, including landscaping requirements, on-street parking, signage, and signalization. Details parameters that a municipality must follow in its review and approval or disapproval of a plan. Establishes that, unless there is a compelling reason for a change in a technical standard, such as implementation to local land use objectives, public safety goals, local development standards, or site-specific conditions, the municipality delegated authority is to refer to State standards when reviewing construction plans which have activities within State-maintained rights-of-way. Authorizes an ordinance adopted by a municipality to establish a fee for the review of a transportation-related or right-of-way impacting construction plan and related activities. Prohibits a local government that already performs reviews of the same construction plans under the Article from establishing an additional fee for review of a construction activity impacting a State-maintained road or its right-of-way.

Effective October 1, 2017.

Section 3

Enacts new Article 82 to GS Chapter 143, Transparency and Efficiency in State and Local Permitting; Fees.

New GS 143-765 requires State and local government agencies that have the authority to review and approve permits to maintain published records that present a summary of adherence to their published review schedules with data on frequency of reviews that were not performed within the established time lines, as well as those reviews performed ahead of schedule. Further requires agencies to publish summary data that present the number of reviews and submittals for each project. Requires this data to be published on the agency's or municipal government's public website.

New GS 143-766 requires State and local government agencies that have the authority to review and approve permits to make accommodations to incorporate and facilitate access by staff of other agencies, departments, or local governments so that all entities can utilize the system concurrently and collaboratively. For municipalities that have separate local governments with separate areas of responsibility, such as a county review of building permits and a city with review authority of site plans, but both are reviewing the same construction project, the municipalities are required to coordinate their review processes so that submittals and reviews are done online through the same online system or portal.

New GS 143-767 authorizes State or local governments that incur costs associated with the creation or adoption of an online permitting system to establish a fee or increase an existing fee for the review. Prohibits the fee from exceeding the anticipated actual cost associated with implementation distributed equally among all permit applicants over the course of one year. Limits the duration of the fee or increased fee to only the first 12 months following the initiation of the online permitting process. Directs the State or local government to estimate the anticipated number of permit applications for the program's first 12 months based on the number of applicants from the previous 12 months. 

Directs state agencies that review construction documents and have permit authority to develop and implement an online system for submittal, review, and approval by 2020.