The Braintree Planning Board on Jan. 14 heard a staff presentation on proposed revisions to several application fees and directed staff to return with additional information at the board’s February meeting.

Assistant Director Murphy told the board the town’s last systematic fee changes dated to about 2015 and that the department recommends modest increases aimed at recouping staff and board time for complex or long-running applications. "Those notable areas would be the commercial and business development along with the use special permit and some of the minor applications that the board sees," Murphy said.

The proposal presented to the board would raise commercial and business development fees by about 10 percent and convert the flat fee for use special permits (no construction) into a base-plus‑size model. Murphy said staff recommends a $375 base fee plus $125 per 1,000 square feet of use for non‑construction use special permits; the presentation included a table comparing four prior applications and what the new fee would have been (for example, 238 Grove Street’s fee would have increased from $375 to $1,437 under the proposed formula). The department also proposed new, modest fees for minor modification requests and for as‑built approvals (for single‑ and two‑family as‑builts the proposal was $50; other as‑builts $200).

Board members raised equity and administrative questions. Member Connolly and others worried that small tenants could be unduly burdened when landlords control building maintenance; Murphy said most applications are filed by tenants and that property‑owner billing shifts would be a private matter between landlords and tenants. Members asked how Braintree’s fees compare with nearby towns; Murphy said some towns (for example, Weymouth, Norwood and Westwood) have different board structures or fee mixes and that multifamily fees in Braintree are already a bit higher than some peers.

Members suggested administrative changes that could reduce staff time, including clearer submittal deadlines and more regular, smaller annual adjustments instead of rare large increases. The board and staff also discussed the townwide review of fees requested by the mayor’s office and said the planning department will coordinate with the finance director on next steps.

No final fee changes were adopted at the meeting. Several members asked staff to return with: a clearer history of prior fee changes, a suggested schedule for future reviews (staff suggested every five years), and proposed deadline language for application submittals so the board can better manage meeting workloads. The board indicated it would place substantive fee changes on the Feb. 11 agenda for further consideration.