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New DPLU director urges investment after finding the department understaffed
Summary
Carol Bain, the new director of Permitting and Land Use, told aldermen the department is operating with 11 of 14 authorized positions filled and more than half of staff eligible to retire, delivering high permit and inspection volumes and forecasting a non–status-quo budget request next year to add capacity.
Carol Bain, newly appointed director of the Department of Permitting and Land Use, told the Board of Aldermen she inherited an understaffed department with heavy workloads that risk delayed reviews and reactive rather than proactive enforcement.
"There are 14 total authorized positions and only 11 of those are filled right now," Bain said. "More than half of the 11 staff that we currently have in place are eligible to retire either now or in the next couple of years." She described an average of about 3,500 permits issued and roughly 5,600 inspections annually for the buildings division, and reported that building-fee revenue has averaged more than $1.7 million per year over the past five years.
Bain said the planning and zoning office is a one-person operation for many technical reviews and that long, multi-month plan-review cycles are common. She previewed that next year’s budget request “will not be status quo” and identified at least one clear near-term need: an assistant city planner to share workload and provide continuity. "The workload is too much for one person to do," Bain said.
Why it matters: DPLU manages permitting and land-use decisions that affect development timelines, life-safety reviews and revenue from permit fees. The director warned that state mandates and upcoming workload increases will make staffing a central budget decision.
Board follow-up: Aldermen asked about recruiting, which positions are vacant (chief building official, a clerk and an administrative assistant) and whether current salary levels are competitive. Bain and HR Director Tanya Barnes said two administrative positions fall under the MEA bargaining unit (new tentative agreement) and that negotiations will cover supervisor classifications like the building official.
