THE DEPARTMENT
The Community Development department is responsible for ensuring a sustainable and vibrant community that supports a high quality of life for residents, businesses and visitors. It includes the Building, Planning and Housing divisions, and core services include building permits, plan check, inspections, affordable housing administration and housing initiatives, as well as long-range planning and development review. The Building Division is responsible for managing the building permit, plan check and inspection processes for compliance with all applicable State laws, local municipal codes and related policies involving building construction, which requires a high level of customer service with the public and coordination within and across departments and agencies.
THE POSITION
The Building Official oversees the development of programs, projects, operations, and services of the Building Division, and is a part of the Community Development management team. This position will manage a 13-member team, including a Permit Manager, Building Permit Technicians, Plan Check Engineer, and Building Inspectors, and will receive general direction from the Assistant Community Development Director or the Community Development Director. Successful performance in this role requires professional and technical skills in the core functional areas of permitting, plan checking and building inspections, as well as knowledge of public policy and municipal services, and excellence in communication and leadership. The individual must be able to assess the current needs of the department and look for innovative ways to help the department advance to improve service delivery and meet the changing needs of the community. This will require guiding modifications to the City’s land management permitting system (Accela) to improve processes, enhance customer service and monitor data.
With the adoption of the General Plan Update in 2016 and, most recently, the Housing Element zoning-related changes, the City is expected to see physical change as plans come to fruition. A key priority for this position will be overseeing the building permit process for a diverse range of projects from tenant improvements to new single-family residential construction to hotels to large-scale, comprehensive planned mixed-use campuses. Currently, the City has approximately 775 residential units and 260,000 square feet of life science uses under construction, with over 2,000 residential units, two hotels and more than 1.8 million square feet of commercial square footage approved, but not yet under construction, along with a number of large development projects currently under review. To learn more, visit menlopark.gov/projects. Another focus of the position will be on collaborating with the Sustainability Team to evaluate and develop green and sustainable codes and regulations to further the City’s climate action goal, which is one of the City Council’s top priorities.