New York City’s permitting system has become a significant barrier to addressing its housing shortage and maintaining business competitiveness. Businesses and developers commonly wait months—or even years—to obtain approvals from different agencies. These delays drive up costs and discourage investment, ultimately increasing rents and the costs of doing business.
To break through this logjam, New York should create a fast-track permitting system to accelerate and streamline the review process. This approach is already working in several other cities, where it has boosted housing production and helped signal a business-friendly environment.
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San Francisco, for example, recently launched “PermitSF” to speed up approvals for housing and small businesses. The program’s goal is to centralize applications across different agencies and update technology to overcome the city’s reputation for a slow and difficult process. Mayor Daniel Lurie’s plan also implements a “shot clock,” forcing agencies to make decisions within set timeframes—dramatically shortening the process for applications.
Baltimore has also overhauled its permit office with “Bmore FAST” (Facilitating Approvals and Streamlining Timelines). The office is advised by a panel of developers, contractors, architects, and small business representatives to help expedite permitting.
It’s not just cities; states are getting in on the act, too. Last year, Pennsylvania started the PA Permit Fast Track program to coordinate approvals across state agencies, hasten timelines, and provide a public dashboard to improve transparency. The state has piloted the program on major developments, such as a 1,300-acre industrial campus in Philadelphia.
New York City has already taken some steps toward permitting reform, but more can be done. The Adams administration has laid out a Get Stuff Built roadmap with 111 initiatives to streamline environmental review, land-use processes, and building permitting. These suggestions include creating a single online portal for construction. The city’s Department of Buildings has been working on digitizing approvals. Past administrations also tried to cut red tape, such as by allowing licensed architects to “self-certify” plans.
New York City’s leaders should build on these efforts to create a dedicated fast-track permitting system of their own, modeled on the successes in San Francisco, Baltimore, and Pennsylvania. Such a system could, for instance, guarantee a decision on qualifying residential projects within a set timeframe—a shot clock—provided the application meets safety and code requirements. It could also require multiple agencies to conduct reviews simultaneously instead of sequentially. Creating a public dashboard would also strengthen transparency and accountability.
The Citizens Budget Commission, a New York nonprofit, has recommended other changes to permitting. These include combining Community Board and Borough President reviews; allowing for easier appeals (by creating an appeals board consisting of the City Planning Commission and Council Speaker); and focusing the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure on zoning, transferring review of non-zoning actions and modest zoning applications to other agencies.
As New York City struggles to regain its post-pandemic vibrancy, fixing the permitting process should be a top priority. Other cities and states have shown that red tape can be cut without compromising safety or increasing costs. A well-designed fast-track system would expand housing, reduce construction costs, and reaffirm New York’s commitment to opportunity. Such reforms would signal that the city is serious about addressing its housing crisis and attracting investment.
Photo by Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images
