Guiding

conservation-minded

development proposals

through the land-use

permitting process

LAND-USE
PERMITTING

Community Engagement

One of the surest ways to complicate and prolong a regulatory review process is to incur the wrath of abutting property owners. Rather than springing substantially finalized plans on neighbors at a land-use commission meeting, we recommend that clients invite neighbors to be a part of the planning process early on. The people who live near your property often have good ideas and valuable information that can lead to a better site plan, and it's often possible to respond to their issues and concerns without compromising your goals for your property. Perhaps most importantly, neighbors who are given the opportunity to participate in the planning process are much more likely to support your land-use application than oppose it.
 

Site Plan Refinement

If you already have a site plan, Open Space Equity can help you identify things that are likely to cause concern among conservation, wetlands, planning, and zoning commissions. We can also help you refine your site plan before submitting a formal application to pre-empt potential regulatory problems and expedite the land-use review process.
 

Application Development

Land-use reviews can be complicated, particularly when multiple, autonomous commissions are involved. Open Space Equity can help you minimize costs and avoid delays by carefully mapping out the review process in the context of each commission's regulations and the state statutes governing their review process. We can then help you develop a strong, complete application for each phase of the land-use review process.
 

Commission Reviews

Having served on several land-use commissions, the principals of Open Space Equity understand the review process from both sides of the table. When representing you before regulatory entities, we can help you anticipate and respond to commission concerns and requests, avoid common pitfalls, and conclude the review process expeditiously. We excel particularly at securing approvals for complex, difficult land-use applications, and at working with established teams of attorneys, engineers, and other advisors.
 

Contact Open Space Equity and learn how to best guide your project through the land-use review process.

Permitting
Considerations

• Proactively involving neighbors in the planning process helps avoid problems during the regulatory review process
   
• Holding informal preliminary discussions with land-use commissions helps reduce the time and expense associated with securing a project's approval
   
• Thoughtful, conservation-minded site planning is the best way to expedite the review process