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Community Development director outlines staffing, code updates and housing work
Summary
Community Development Director Matthew Rectors told the Albany City Council that his 19-person department is focused on streamlining permitting, updating the Albany Development Code and responding to state mandates on middle housing while managing federal CDBG funds and historic-district work.
Matthew Rectors, the city’s community development director, briefed the Albany City Council on the department’s structure, recent accomplishments and near-term priorities at a Jan. 2025 work session.
The department operates with about 19 full‑time equivalent positions and separate biennial budgets for planning ($4.4 million), economic development ($6.8 million) and building/permitting ($6.1 million), Rectors said. “Our mission … is to provide solution‑oriented thinking, partnerships, and robust engagement to promote and facilitate the growth, development, and empowerment of the city and its diverse neighborhoods,” he read to the council.
Rectors told councilors the planning team handles current and long‑range planning, floodplain review and historic‑district preservation; the building division enforces Oregon’s state building codes under a delegation to the city; and economic development focuses on business retention, recruitment and job creation. He said the planning side also manages the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program through the Community Development Commission, which helps decide how federal CDBG monies are spent.
The director highlighted process improvements introduced after input from a monthly Development Services Advisory Group (DSAG). He said staff converted some 20‑page staff reports into checklist‑style application tools and expanded online permitting and inspection scheduling to shorten staff processing time without changing statutory notice requirements for land‑use applications.
Rectors described recent accomplishments including the Monteith River Park waterfront revitalization (with the Central Albany Revitalization Area partnership), a maintained Community Rating System floodplain classification that reduces flood insurance costs for affected homeowners, completion of a housing implementation plan tied to the city’s Housing Affordability Task Force, and early steps to comply with the state’s Climate Friendly and Equitable Communities requirements.
Councilor Michael Thompson questioned the source of several slide headlines used in Rectors’ presentation and suggested some came from outlets with a political leaning. Rectors said the slide headlines were a compendium of items he had collected online and that staff did not intend political bias; he later reiterated staff welcome council feedback on wording.
Rectors warned councilors that unfunded state and federal mandates — including middle housing changes that allow duplexes through fourplexes in traditionally single‑family zones — are adding workload and regulatory complexity. He said staff regularly provide input to state rulemaking when local officials and residents express concerns.
On public engagement he described the DSAG as an open, non‑appointed forum that anyone who uses development services may attend; attendance varies from a handful to about 20 participants and includes developers, engineers, realtors and construction business owners.
Rectors closed by flagging staffing risks from upcoming retirements and emphasizing the department’s role in advising the state on regulatory impacts. He encouraged councilors to request tours and ride‑alongs to deepen understanding of operations.
