Development Approvals During The COVID-19 Pandemic

Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, many local governments struggled to process development applications in a timely way. A high volume of applications, combined with complex development approval processes and insufficiently staffed local government offices, meant that it would often take months to years for a single development application to be approved.

The COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated the timeliness issue as it has further reduced staff in development offices and forced local governments to modify their usual development approval processes to comply with public health restrictions. Fortunately, local governments have risen to the challenge and have adopted a number of creative strategies that both protect public health and expedite development application approvals: