County staff detail housing grant, fairgrounds plan and staffing changes

Community Development Director Gail Henrickson and staff provided the commission with a January project status update that included code‑maintenance items, grant work and staffing changes.

Henrickson said the department received a grant from the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) to follow up on the 2023 housing assistance grant. The follow‑up will identify one to two opportunity sites in each jurisdiction (county and five cities), analyze regulatory and natural‑hazard barriers, develop site‑level development scenarios and produce market‑feasibility analyses. For Clatsop County, staff identified roughly 10 acres around Napa (a public‑works stockpile at the 4‑H building) and some county‑owned parcels in Warrenton as potential opportunity sites.

Henrickson said the FEMA buyout remains “in limbo” with no new updates. She also summarized staffing changes: a new building‑permit technician and a code‑compliance specialist will start in the coming weeks, Laura will transition to casual status on Jan. 31 and staff will begin recruitment for an electrical inspector and, later, a replacement building official (current official intends to retire June 30).

Other updates included code maintenance items: a modernization of communications‑facilities language (cell towers) to reflect current technical needs and a proposed revision to signage rules to reduce overbroad permit requirements for minor signs.

Next steps: staff will complete the DLCD grant work over the next two years, continue recruitment for vacant positions, and return code‑revision drafts to the commission for review.