KY Association Negotiates with State to Reduce Regulatory Burdens for Developers
Recent negotiations between the Home Builders Association of Kentucky and the state's Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet officials have resulted in a streamlined development plan review process that will save developers thousands of dollars.

Recent negotiations between the Home Builders Association of Kentucky and the state's Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet officials have resulted in a streamlined development plan review process that will save developers thousands of dollars.

Governor Ernie Fletcher announced the reforms at a recent Home Builders Association of Louisville meeting in front of more than 300 members.

While the governor made the reforms official, Rocky Pusateri, chairman of the Louisville association's Land Development Committee, credits Scott Smith, the Cabinet's director of regulatory affairs, with getting the reforms through.

“As an engineer, Scott understood the plight of developers who — in urban areas of the state — were having their plans engineered three times,” said Pusateri.

Pusateri and his committee began pushing for the reforms last February. The previous development process required plans to be reviewed and approved at both the state and local level and was redundant and time-consuming. Reviews at the state level alone were taking as much as three months, he said.

The outcome of the meeting with state officials is that developers in the metropolitan areas of Jefferson County and Northern Kentucky, where local sanitary engineers already review plans, will not have to send their plans to the State Division of Water for further review. 

Pusateri noted that since developers in the major areas of development in the state will not have to clog up the system with their plans, rural developers will also see a reduction in the approval time.  “This initiative helps everyone in the state,” he said.

Pusateri also hopes that other metropolitan areas of the state, which have professional engineers reviewing plans, will be able to take advantage of the same initiative offered to Louisville and Northern Kentucky.

For more information about this regulatory success in Kentucky, contact state executive officer Bob Weiss at 502-875-5478.  [ return to top ]