Assembly schedules confirmation hearing for Greg Soleil as Anchorage development services director

The Anchorage Assembly on Feb. 21 scheduled a confirmation hearing for Greg Soleil, the acting Development Services Director and the administration’s nominee to serve as Development Services Director and municipal building official for the Municipality of Anchorage.

Becky Woodpearson, presenting on behalf of the mayor, described Soleil as “an outstanding candidate for this role,” saying he has served as acting director since May 2021 and oversees building-official responsibilities across six divisions and roughly 70 employees.

The position drew extended questioning from assembly members focused on permitting delays, customer service and the balance between enforcing building codes and allowing reuse of older buildings. Soleil described several priorities if confirmed: staff retention and training at permit counters, consolidating guidance materials, improving plan-review coordination with inspectors, and replacing aging permitting software.

Soleil, who identified himself as the acting Development Services Director, said he is a licensed civil engineer with “more than 26 years of structural, geotechnical, and transportation engineering experience,” and that he holds a civil engineering degree from the…