The Massachusetts Permit Regulatory Office today announced the release of the Municipal Permit Tracking System, a free electronic program that will help municipalities to streamline permitting operations and communications and accelerate the permitting process.

The new tracking system is available to all interested communities in Massachusetts.

“The Municipal Permit Tracking System will be a key resource for cities and towns all across the Commonwealth,” said Permitting Ombudsman April Anderson Lamoureux. “As a result, opportunities for economic development and job creation will be on a faster track, since each community will now have the tools necessary to efficiently plan for and communicate their efforts to expedite permitting of local parcels, making them more attractive to developers.”

In 2007, the Massachusetts Association for Regional Planning Agencies, a statewide organization of 13 regional planning agencies, released “A Best Practices Guide to Streamlined Local Permitting,” which highlighted electronic permit tracking systems as a key resource for improving local permitting performance. The guide recommended that communities use tracking systems to facilitate interagency communications and to help meet the 180-day turnaround required by Chapter 43D, the opt-in expedited permitting program launched in 2007.

To help municipalities to implement this best practice and improve efficiency, the Massachusetts Permit Regulatory Office partnered with the town of Grafton to develop an affordable permit tracking system. The result was an application and users’ guide that can be easily adapted for use in other communities.

The Municipal Permit Tracking System contains 11 main template database tables for tracking the following department permits: Building permits (building department); wetlands and RDAs (conservation department); driveways, road openings, tree removal, and trench permits (public works department); septic and wells (health department); and permitting and project information (planning).

MPTS is available online at www.mass.gov/mpro. Communities may chose to customize the applications and link the program to their GIS services at their own cost.

Since its launch in 2007, 72 communities have adopted the Chapter 43D Program and identified 115 Priority Development Sites across the state. To view an inventory of Chapter 43D Priority Development Sites offering six-month local permitting, and “A Best Practices Guide to Streamlined Local Permitting,” visit www.mass.gov/mpro.

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