Pennsylvania House Bill 2470 was referred out of the House Finance Committee to the House Rules Committee today. The legislation, which is a major initiative of Pennsylvania residential home builders’ organizations, is designed to extend approvals already obtained for development.
HB 2470, which is a mere 3 pages in length, is a simple one issue bill. It would extend the approval period of certain state and local building permits issued between December 31, 2008, and July 2, 2013, until July 18, 2018. It would also preserve an administrative fee allowance requiring payment of the lesser of 25% of the overall cost of the permit or $5,000 to the governmental entity issuing the permit.
The thinking behind the bill is to extend the time frame for approved projects to be completed so that the housing market and financing conditions have time to improve. It is unclear at press time why the legislation was referred to the Rules Committee. We will follow it and update you when we know more.
