Polk County Community Development

Austin McGuigan, Director

The Mission of the Community Development Department

“Excellence in customer service by providing courteous, timely and professional service to the citizens of Polk County through innovation in administration of planning, building and environmental health regulations and policies in order to protect the health and safety of the citizens of the county.”

The Community Development Department is divided into the following three divisions and two programs.

The Planning Division is responsible for managing the Comprehensive Land Use Plan and administering the County’s zoning regulations and long range land use planning. The Planning Director is Austin McGuigan. He is assisted by Planning Supervisor Jerry Sorte, Assistant Planner Dana Gibson, Assistant Planner Autumn Hillebrand, as well as Planning Technician Coren Hale.

• Land use permits – conditional uses, zone changes, variances, etc.
• Site development plan review
• Long range planning
• Flood plain administration (non-structural such as fill and removal)
• Hazard mitigation planning
• Nuisance complaint and code compliance investigation and enforcement
• Road naming and addressing

The Building Division is responsible for administering the building permit and inspection program in accordance with State building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical and manufactured dwelling setup codes. The Building Official is Mark Burrows. Building inspectors include Rich Morse and Don Renc.  The commercial plumbing inspector is Willy Andrist. The electrical inspector is Greg Evers. The Permits Specialist is Coren Hale and the Building Technician is Ronda Hipp.

• Building permits – County and Falls City only (not Dallas, Monmouth, Independence)
• Electrical permits – County and cities except Salem
• Plumbing permits – County and Falls City only
• Flood plain standards oversight for structures (County only)
• Construction inspection for Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde

The Environmental Health Division is responsible for the review and approval of permits for the installation of septic tanks and drain fields, licensing and inspecting restaurants, swimming pools and tourist facilities, monitoring drinking water systems for compliance with Safe Drinking Water Act, administering the solid waste collection franchise ordinance and coordinating recycling efforts, and conducting food handlers classes. The Environmental Health Supervisor/Sanitarian is Jim Solvedt. He is assisted by Environmental Health Specialist Jason Borzy. Click for information on Household Hazardous Waste Collection Events.

• Food Handler Permits
• Restaurant licensing and inspection
• Temporary restaurant licensing and inspection
• School food service inspection
• Day care inspections (upon request only)
• Public swimming pool and spa pool licensing and inspection
• Motel and RV park licensing and inspection
• Camp licensing and inspection
• Safe drinking water monitoring and compliance
• Solid waste administration (County garbage collector franchising)
• Dead deer pickup on County roads
• Recycling coordination
• Household Hazardous Waste Collection Events
• Animal bite investigation (rabies)
• Ambulance service ordinance administration
• Vector borne disease investigation (rats and mosquitoes)
• Food, animal and waterborne disease investigation (concurrently with Health Dept.)

The Code Compliance program is responsible for investigating complaints and obtaining compliance with the county’s regulations.

• Provides investigation of complaints and code violations for the three divisions listed above.
• Coordinates formal enforcement actions with law enforcement agencies, other regulatory agencies and County attorney.

The Economic Development program is responsible for coordinating economic development and infrastructure development activities throughout the County and administrating grant programs that support these kinds of activities.

• Polk County’s video lottery receipts
• Coordination of Federal grant programs ranking process
• Rural Investment Fund
• Regional Investment Fund
• Other grant programs
• Long range planning

Download: 2005 Water Needs Assessment Report (.pdf)