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Kootenai County considers converting vacant Planner II position into long‑range planning role
Summary
County staff told commissioners a decline in short‑term permitting work and ongoing consultant costs for the comprehensive plan make converting a budgeted, vacant Planner II to a long‑range planner a viable option; commissioners asked staff to return with a business item in three to four months.
Kootenai County officials said Jan. 23 that they may convert a budgeted, vacant Planner II position into a long‑range planner to handle comprehensive planning work now performed by contractors.
David Callahan, director of community development, told the Board of County Commissioners the department has not filled the Planner II vacancy because demand for current‑planning work has dropped, but that economic shifts — including migration tied to wildfires in California — could change the workload quickly. "We haven't filled it, because we haven't found the right person yet. But it's also the case that we've noticed a pretty significant drop in current planning work," Callahan said.
Callahan said the county has never had a dedicated long‑range planner and that creating one would match common practice in other jurisdictions where planning staff split current‑planning (applications, variances, rezonings) from long‑range work (comprehensive plan updates, policy goals). He noted the position is already in the budget and that the county currently pays a consultant to do long‑range planning.
"If we don't actually need the current planning position in another 2 or 3 or 4 months, I'd like you to be thinking about allowing us to convert this position to a long range planner who would offset the cost of that we're actually paying a consultant right now to do long range planning," Callahan said.
Craig Babes, deputy director for community development of operations, emphasized outreach and cost savings as benefits of an in‑house long‑range planner. "This person would most likely be that which would conduct the public outreach in a lot of these projects...it would be very, very advantageous in that aspect as well as the cost benefit...to reduce the contractor amounts that are outsourcing right now, especially for the comp plan update," Babes said.
Staff provided a count of current‑planning staffing: three Planner II positions and one Planner III handling application processing, plus additional Planner I positions at the front counter. Commissioners said they preferred to wait several months before deciding.
The chair asked staff to return the item as a business item in three to four months so the board could consider directing human resources to recruit or convert the position if needed. The chair added that delaying would help ensure the county does not lose the ability to fill the post if market conditions change.
No formal vote was taken; the item was discussed for direction only.
Kootenai County officials plan to bring the conversion proposal back to the board for formal consideration after the interim period.
