Monterey County hears workshop on planning and permitting; HCD cites vacancies, long wait times and general-fund reliance

Craig Spencer, director of Housing and Community Development for Monterey County, gave a workshop-style presentation to the Board of Supervisors on the county’s planning and permitting operations and asked the board to receive the report and provide direction to staff.

The presentation outlined workloads, staffing levels and recent performance figures for 2024 and early 2025, and identified priorities for long-range planning work. Spencer said the department is managing “some pretty big accomplishments, some challenges, some vacancies,” and is pursuing process changes and a fee study to improve service delivery.

Spencer said the building division processed about 3,500 building-permit applications in 2024 and completed more than 23,000 inspections, generally with a one- to two-day turnaround once inspections were scheduled. He said plan-check wait times grew to about 12 weeks during a period of unanticipated staff leaves but were brought down to about six weeks with consultant support and staff returns.

The department reported roughly 2,700 open code-compliance cases, opened about 665 new code cases in 2024 and closed roughly 700. HCD staff completed about 500 encroachment-permit reviews and more than 150…