Harrisburg council authorizes new community development department, building official and director positions
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Summary
To address development workloads, the council approved creating a Community Development Department and two new positions: a building official (salary range $70,000-$90,000) and a community development director ($80,000-$120,000).
The Harrisburg City Council approved creating a Community Development Department and authorized hiring a building official and a community development director to centralize planning, zoning and building services.
City staff told the council the changes are intended to address understaffing in development services as growth increases. The building official position will supervise the permit technician, building inspector and code enforcement; the salary range discussed for that role is $70,000 to $90,000 depending on qualifications. The community development director will manage planning and zoning functions, subdivision, site-plan and plat reviews, and drafting ordinance and subdivision-regulation amendments; the salary range discussed is $80,000 to $120,000.
Staff said budget supplements may not be necessary because some 2025 budgeted dollars are expected to remain unspent and because the city vacated a park supervisor position that will not be filled; staff said those savings could help cover the new positions. Councilmembers approved the creation of the positions and subsequent hiring actions by motion and roll call.
City staff will bring job descriptions and hiring steps forward; the positions were described as part of a structural change to improve permit processing and code enforcement capacity during ongoing growth.