Planning, permitting and parks outline FY2026 budgets; staffing and fee adjustments cited

City planning, permitting and parks officials presented department-level highlights of the proposed FY2026 city budget at the Finance Committee meeting April 29, describing operational changes, staffing adjustments and targeted revenue actions.

Why it matters: Department budgets determine how the city delivers permitting, planning, building inspections, parks maintenance and recreational programming. Officials described modest overall expenditure changes driven primarily by labor cost increases, while identifying service-level needs and new or restructured roles intended to improve delivery and revenue capture.

Planning and Urban Development: Kevin Craft, director of Planning and Urban Development, told the committee the department employs 17 full-time staff across development review, long-range planning and historic preservation and is proposing less than a one percent net change in its FY2026 budget with no new FTEs. Craft highlighted the department’s approvals last year — more than 450 new homes approved including roughly 268 deed-restricted affordable units — and other outcomes: about $1.2 million allocated to the JLC Doosan Housing Trust Fund, 100 new EV charging stations, more than 300 bike racks and roughly 100 new street trees. He also recapped large projects in process: the Roo Institute’s first phase with three acres of public open space along the waterfront, the Union Branch pathway (bids out, construction expected this summer), and Forest Avenue planning and design with a recommended road diet and further outreach to adjacent businesses. Craft said the department will start a comprehensive transportation plan update and a new comprehensive plan process in the coming year.

Permitting and Inspections:…