In an effort to better serve community planning and development needs, the City of Salem has streamlined services and created a new Community Planning and Development Department. The new department, under the direction of Kristin Retherford, is a merger of several City Departments and work groups including Urban Development, Community Development, Salem Housing Authority, Development Services, Development Engineering and Survey.
“For many years, the City's housing, planning, and development functions were organized across multiple departments. To streamline services to the community and better support housing production and economic vitality in the community, these functions have been re-organized under a single department,” said Director Kristin Retherford.
Community Planning and Development Department services include:
- Planning: Long range, current planning/site development, historic
- Building and Safety: Plan review, inspection, Permit Application Center/permitting
- Compliance Services: Code compliance, parking, multi-family inspection, park ranger
- Development Services: Planning, permitting, development engineering, survey
- Urban Development: Economic development, urban renewal, real estate, federal programs and housing incentives
- Salem Housing Authority: Housing development, operations
The Community Planning and Development Department includes all functions related to planning, developing, and building within Salem as well as the City's economic development and urban renewal programs, compliance services and parking enforcement, federal entitlement and housing incentive programs, and affordable housing production and management under the Salem Housing Authority.
The City of Salem’s urban renewal and Salem Housing Authority functions are separate legal and budgetary entities under the Urban Renewal Agency and the Salem Housing Commission.
