Governor Wes Moore signed two executive orders that could affect how counties handle permitting, development review, and housing production, including a new State-local permitting effort that will begin with Baltimore City, Montgomery County, Wicomico County, and the Town of Thurmont.

The Permitting and Licensing Acceleration Team, or PLAT, will review State permitting, licensing, and certification processes and work with local governments on ways to reduce delays. The first round of work will focus on building State-local permitting roadmaps with the four pilot jurisdictions before expanding to other interested local governments.

The order repeatedly frames local participation as voluntary. PLAT will also establish a recurring State-local permitting forum, develop process maps with participating jurisdictions, and create a framework for broader local participation in future State permitting work.

PLAT will examine administrative, regulatory, statutory, operational, and technology barriers across State processes. The order also calls for standardized timelines, process maps, performance measures, applicant resources, a priority-project dashboard, and coordinated support for priority development projects.

The team — which will consist of nine contractual employees and receive strategic direction from the Governor’s Office, with fiscal oversight from the Maryland Department of Planning — can also recommend statutory and regulatory changes tied to housing development, an area counties will want to watch as that work moves forward.

The team will consist of nine contractual employees and receive strategic direction from the Governor’s Office, with fiscal oversight from the Maryland Department of Planning.

A separate housing order creates a Maryland Housing Innovation Incubator within the Department of Housing and Community Development. A Housing Innovation Advisory Council will bring together State and local officials to recommend issues for study, identify funding sources, and consider legislative and regulatory changes tied to housing production and costs.

The Incubator can also identify changes to State and local regulations, policies, and administrative processes affecting housing production. The Advisory Council can turn that work into formal legislative, regulatory, and budget recommendations.

The Council may include one MACo representative, one MML representative, up to six local elected officials, and representatives from local planning and health departments. Those local seats are listed among additional invitees selected at the DHCD Secretary’s discretion.

The order also launches a Governor’s Initiative to Accelerate Modular Housing Construction. That work will include modernizing regulations, developing statewide pre-approved building plans, and providing technical assistance to local governments.

The order directs DHCD to explore State-level pre-approval of standardized modular housing plans and develop guidance for local jurisdictions on their recognition and use. It does not require counties to accept those plans, but the framework could affect how local building review and inspection processes develop going forward.

DHCD and the Maryland Department of Planning will also create a technical assistance program for local governments that want to modernize zoning, permitting, inspection, and development review for modular housing. That assistance is framed around local governments seeking to make those changes.

A new Modular Workforce Partnership will focus on training, apprenticeships, and other workforce programs tied to modular housing construction, including opportunities through Maryland Corps, Service Year, and high school registered apprenticeships.

MACo is reviewing both orders, particularly how the new State processes could affect county permitting, inspections, development review, and land-use authority. The orders preserve voluntary local participation in several areas but also launch work on State-level pre-approved modular plans and future legislative and regulatory recommendations that could affect local processes.

Stay tuned to Conduit Street for more information.