Anyone who tries to renovate a home in Chapel Hill will run into a maze of costly and confusing regulations. The impact of these government rules has gotten so bad that local realtors have considered forming a task force to try to get the town’s attention.

To real estate agent Larry Tollen, getting a permit for a home renovation in Chapel Hill is always a new experience.

And Tollen is a veteran home renovator.

“Every time I have to get something permitted, I get the impression that no one has ever done a renovation before,” he said. “It’s like the process is being designed for you from scratch every time.”

Chapel Hill is run by public officials who believe government should play a dominant role in our lives. You see the result. This is a great example of why the Locke Foundation focuses on the need for regulatory reform. The realtors should be pushing Chapel Hill to justify its renovation regulations and to tell the public specifically which “harms” the government is seeking to prevent.

Meantime, at the state level, we are fortunate the new legislative majority is very concerned about regulations’ impact on business and the public, and has, in fact, moved on reforms, as JLF’s Becki Gray describes here.

But even with comprehensive tax reform, business owners tell us that the regulatory burden in North Carolina discourages business investment and expansion. Again, starting in 2011, the General Assembly began unraveling the complicated, outdated, and oppressive regulations that have been strangling our economy.

Administrative rules may be made by unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats, but they carry the same form, punch, and penalties as laws. Every regulation imposes a cost on someone. Businesses pass higher costs along to customers, affecting our overall economy. Many rules are outdated, unnecessary, burdensome, and inconsistent with regulatory principles or legislative intent.

Touted as the most important business bill this year, the 2013 regulatory reform requires government agencies to review their rules periodically and determine if they are still needed. Those that are not will expire. Rules that work and are fair will stay on the books. All new rules will come with a built-in sunset date — ensuring regular review and justification.

Review and justification — that is the key.