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Planning director outlines multi-year projects and grant portfolio as committee recommends planning budgets
Summary
Planning Director Tom Daniel reviewed the Planning Department’s FY2027 requests, described management of roughly $10 million in grant funds, highlighted housing and corridor work (including Jefferson Avenue and South Salem commuter rail coordination), and the committee recommended several planning budgets to move forward.
Tom Daniel, the city’s director of planning, presented the Planning Department’s FY2027 operating request and the committee’s hearing focused on multiple long-range projects, grant management and capital priorities.
Daniel said the department staffs about 12 boards and commissions, manages long-range planning and permitting, and administers roughly $10 million in active grant funds. He noted that a previously reported $34 million federal grant for an offshore wind terminal had been terminated, which accounted for a higher historical figure in performance measures.
On housing, Daniel emphasized the housing roadmap work and recent policy changes, including the elimination of parking minimums for multifamily housing and ongoing work on single-room occupancy (SRO) policies. He said the Jefferson Avenue corridor study is underway and being coordinated with planning for the South Salem commuter rail stop; regulatory proposals will follow the study’s completion.
Daniel described Oldtown Hall renovations focused on energy efficiency and accessibility and said interior work estimated at about $12 million will require a mix of city and outside funding; he also listed other park and open-space projects (Willows, Curtis Park, High Street Playground and Mansel Field).
Councilors raised concerns about the Planning Department’s reliance on Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding for some positions and programs. Daniel and staff said contingency planning had been done and that while some service levels could be shifted or covered temporarily from stabilization funds, there was no single formal fallback that would preserve all CDBG-funded activities if funding were cut.
The committee recorded motions to recommend multiple planning-related personnel and expenditures budgets (including planning board and general administration requests). Councilor King moved and Councilor Flynn seconded each motion; recorded votes were five hands in favor and the chair declared the matters carried. Daniel also flagged a reporting error in the FTE count in the budget book and said the underlying FTE total is unchanged.
The hearing advanced planning budget recommendations and clarified near-term implementation priorities such as ferry terminal design funding and continued work on corridor and housing initiatives.
