County says three new planners hired, senior planner offer pending

Staff told the commission the department has hired three new planners and expects the additions to restore capacity. "We have hired 2 new assistant planners. They will be starting in the next next 2 weeks," the director said, and staff added an offer has been made for a senior planner who would begin in October.

Staff described the hires as bringing planning backgrounds and local-government experience. Commissioners said having the additional staff should allow the department to do more than the "bare minimum," including advancing outreach and administrative improvements related to the zoning-code update and permitting processes.

The hiring news was framed against an overall low application volume; staff and commissioners said the lack of projects currently in the pipeline limits immediate workload but that the new hires will expand capacity when applications return.