County development director outlines permits, flood buyout work and master plan progress

Michael Hurlbert, director of the St. Charles County Department of Community Development, told the County Council on Jan. 26 that his department is organized into three divisions — building and code enforcement, development review, and planning and zoning — and that staff are managing a heavy caseload across permitting, inspections and plan review.

"This will be a 30,000-foot view, not a 10,000-foot view, to try to keep you out of the weeds a little bit," Hurlbert said as he began the presentation.

Hurlbert provided a summary of last year’s workload: just under 6,500 permit applications reviewed, 11,211 building inspections, nearly 3,500 plan reviews and roughly 1,800 code-enforcement complaints received. He also described subdivision, grading and stormwater activity, citing dozens of plan reviews, hundreds of inspections and multiple flood studies and detention-basin reviews.

The director briefed the council on the county’s flood-related buyout program funded through Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) disaster funds tied to a 2019 flood event. Hurlbert said the county has a $15,800,000 federal grant for a buyout program; 27 properties were approved at the previous meeting, and 22 additional properties remain under review, for a total of 49 properties so far.

Hurlbert noted the department’s role in the county’s master planning process. He said the Master Plan 2035 steering committee has met four times and that staff are working with a consultant to draft the plan and an updated future land-use map for committee and council review in coming months. He also outlined the port authority’s ongoing work — including a foreign-trade-zone application and a ferry study group — and said feasibility and staffing work are underway.

On code enforcement and municipal contracts, Hurlbert said the department administers building-permit partnerships with several jurisdictions and handles septic, blasting and damage-assessment services as needed. He urged residents and developers to use the county’s online portal for permit submissions and inspections scheduling.

The presentation concluded with Hurlbert offering to answer council questions; members asked when recently passed property-management code fines could be enforced, and Hurlbert said enforcement requires a 30-day waiting period from approval and should begin by the end of the month.