Brunswick’s streamlined development review process has been paused as the Planning Board works to come up with a more thorough review process to replace the streamlined option.
Brunswick’s Town Council unanimously backed a 180-day moratorium on the Planning Board’s Streamlined Major Development Review process on Monday. The pause, which the Planning Board also supported unanimously in February, will slow the sudden influx of fast-tracked applications for major development that began late last year.
“It’s more than it’s ever been before,” Land Use Planner Natalie Thomsen said at the meeting. Between December 2023 and January 2024, the Planning Board received seven applications under the streamlined review process. In February, it received two more streamlined applications and have two additional pre-development meetings scheduled with the intent to apply for the streamlined process.
The 2017 ordinance, which was rarely used until late last year, allows for a speedy review of major development plans within the town. The streamlined process allows for a 21-day review instead of the standard 35 days, requiring Planning Board members to review hundreds of pages of documents in a short period.
“These applications have so little flexibility on the timeline that it’s strenuous on the staff,” Thomsen said. “It also doesn’t allow for any revisions for the applicant to come back, unless they choose to.”
While the moratorium will not eliminate the current policy or affect current projects underway, the two recent streamlined applications will be slowed by the pause. Developers, however, will still have an opportunity to expedite projects on a case-by-case basis.
During public comment, residents spoke in favor of the moratorium. Kelly Teel voiced concern over the impact of the streamlined review process on the community, questioning what the “big plan” for major development was in the long run.
” ‘Streamline’ is just a catchy word,” Teel said. ” ‘Fast-track’ is just ‘How fast can we ruin a quaint little town?’ ”
The ordinance was originally designed to make it easier for developers to work in Brunswick by removing obstacles in the review process, according to Councilor Sande Updegraph. The intent was to have a faster turnaround with the same precautionary measures of a standard 35-day review in place. It was not, she said, intended to be a process where developers could potentially cut corners.
“Times have changed, staffing has changed, boards have changed,” Updegraph said. “And we have found that there’s some loopholes in this [ordinance] that are not serving us well.”
The Planning Board will use the pause to work on a new proposal that adds more application requirements for a more thorough review and removes the streamlined application option. Thomsen submitted a draft of the new suggestions online, on which the Staff Review Committee will hold a workshop Wednesday, March 6.
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