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What Community Development does: permits, code, inspections and planning explained
Summary
Community Development Director Dana Gray outlines the department's four divisions—permits, code compliance, building inspections and planning/zoning—and explains how each function protects public safety, enforces standards and guides long‑range growth.
On the Douglasville Impact podcast, Community Development Director Dana Gray described the department’s responsibilities and how residents can engage with staff. Gray summarized the department’s four primary areas—permits, code compliance, building inspection and planning/zoning—and said those divisions work together to process permits, investigate complaints, inspect construction phases and guide the city’s long-term land-use decisions.
"So, we are community development, and we have, 4 divisions, 1 being permits, another 1 being code, and building inspection... and then planning and zoning," Gray said while describing the roles of each division. He said the permits team handles everything from small fence permits to large commercial projects, code compliance uses five officers assigned to five wards to investigate resident complaints and the inspections team verifies construction at key phases, culminating in a certificate of occupancy that confirms a building is safe to occupy.
Gray also emphasized the department’s educational approach to enforcement—officers generally give residents an opportunity to correct issues before issuing citations—and encouraged residents with questions about projects to use the Community Development contact pages on douglasvillega.gov.
