State Rep. Nancy DeBoer this month testified before the House Regulatory Reform Committee to urge support for her plan to ease the permit application process in Michigan.

Michigan state law requires a building permit before construction or significant alteration of a building. The requirement does not apply to ordinary repairs, only larger projects like wall removal, water or sewer infrastructure, or additions. The permitting process is often burdensome and takes far too much time.

“Michigan is facing a housing crisis and lawmakers must respond,” said DeBoer, R-Holland. “We’ve all seen home prices in the Holland community. While no one piece of legislation can fix the crisis in its entirety, ensuring state law is moved in the right direction is our only option.

“Our permitting legislation ensures that homeowners and construction companies aren’t bogged down by broken government and state employees who won’t respond. By setting common-sense timelines the state is mandated to follow, we’re ensuring that construction projects aren’t held up by annoying bureaucracy.”

The legislation, House Bills 5932-5935, addresses the problem by implementing strict timeline constraints for how long the department has to review and ask for changes on a permit, specifies the permitting process to ensure rules are clear from the onset, and requires the department to reimburse permitting fees if it cannot meet required timelines.

DeBoer sponsored HB 5933 which outlines the timelines for departments to request changes to a permitting application. For applications submitted to the state, officials must notify the applicant of any required changes within 10 business days after receiving the application. After that timeframe has elapsed, the state is prohibited from requiring new or additional changes.

The legislation remains before the House Regulatory Reform Committee, awaiting further consideration.

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