Community Development director details staffing, permit workload and housing pipeline

Derek Tokos, Community Development Director, told the Newport City Council on the work‑session agenda that the department has 6.47 full‑time equivalent staff and is balancing customer service, code administration and project work while supporting several ongoing housing and infrastructure efforts.

Tokos said the department spends much of its time assisting residents at the counter and processing building permits. "It's a lot of time on the customer assistance, building services side of it," he said, describing the counter work that helps homeowners and developers get applications ready. He also described the inspection workload for new single‑family homes: "that typically is about 16 inspections from start to finish to ensure that it meets building safety codes."

The update summarized local development trends and active projects. Tokos said the city's housing‑capacity analysis identifies a capacity target of about 30 new units per year, while a state…