Planning and Land Use Technician

Do you enjoy helping people navigate their way through rules, maps, and the mysteries of local development codes? Do you thrive in a team setting where collaboration, curiosity, and public service drive the day? If so, you might be the perfect fit for our Planning and Land Use Technician role!

What You’ll Do

As the friendly face of our Community Development front counter, you’ll be the first point of contact for community members who need guidance on permits, land use applications, and development questions. You’ll translate tricky zoning details into clear answers, help customers understand requirements, and make every interaction feel welcoming and supported.

Behind the scenes, you’ll process permits and land use applications with care and accuracy, keeping projects moving smoothly and ensuring compliance with local regulations. You’ll work closely with a tight-knit team of planners, building staff, and inspectors, sharing ideas, solving puzzles, and celebrating wins together.

And yes…. there’s field work too! You’ll head out into the community to conduct land use inspections, verify compliance, and see firsthand how your work shapes the places where people live, work, and play.

You’ll Love This Job If You Enjoy

• Being the go-to staff at the front counter and delivering exceptional customer service
• Working collaboratively with a team that values communication, problem-solving, and humor
• Digging into applications, maps, and documents with a detail-oriented mindset
• Spending time in the field, observing real-world land use and development
• Making a meaningful impact on your community every day

What You Bring

A talent for customer service, a knack for staying organized, curiosity about planning and land use, and a willingness to learn. If you’re team-oriented, adaptable, and energized by variety in your day, you’ll fit right in.

GENERAL PURPOSE

Performs a variety of routine and complex technical and professional work in the current and/or long- range planning of the city and the development and implementation of land use and related policies and regulations; does related work as required.

ESSENTIAL JOB TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The duties listed are intended only as illustrative examples of the various types of work that may be performed by individuals in this classification.  Any of the following duties may be performed.  These examples are not necessarily performed by all incumbents and do not include all specific essential functions and responsibilities the incumbent may be expected to perform.

1. Assists in the development of short- and long-range plans; gathers, interprets, and prepares data for studies, reports, and recommendations; coordinates department activities with other departments and agencies as needed.
2. Provides information on land use applications, ordinances, codes, plans, and related planning programs, services, or regulations to architects, engineers, developers, contractors, owners, community groups, and interested persons.
3. Prepares a variety of studies, reports, and related information for decision-making purposes.
4. Conducts technical research studies and prepares statistical reports and recommendations for drafting or revising local legislation and plans, projecting trends, monitoring socioeconomic data, etc.
5. Assists in the development and implementation of growth management, land use, economic development, utility, housing, transportation, facilities, solid waste, or other plans and codes to meet the City's needs and any inter-governmental agreements or requirements.
6. Evaluates land use proposals for conformity to established plans and ordinances; evaluates proposals; development impact as they relate to the adopted plans of the City and make recommendations.
7. Evaluates land use applications and site plans for compliance with applicable local, state, or federal laws.
8. Monitors assigned land use applications through the approval states and prepares reports and related data as required.
9. Evaluates environmental information and recommends mitigation measures to reduce adverse impacts of development.
10. Assists City staff in the enforcement of local ordinances and in interpreting City codes and master plans.
11. Assists in designs for parks, streetscapes, landscapes, and other municipal projects.
12. Provides staff support to City Boards & Commissions such as the Planning Commission, Hearings Board, and Landmarks Advisory Commission as needed and assigned.
13. Prepares planning reports and supporting data, including recommendations or various land use proposals.
14. Updates a variety of maps; prepares graphics and maps for a variety of reports, plans, grant applications, publications, or meetings.
15. Prepares and writes grant application components relating to geographics, maps, plats, site plans, etc.
16. Assists in maintaining the data base of information for planning purposes.
17. Responds to local citizens inquiring about local planning and zoning regulations and ordinances.
18. Attends professional development workshops and conferences to keep abreast of trends and developments in the field of municipal planning.
19. Represents the City of Albany by responding to the public, citizens, its employees, and others in a prompt, professional, and courteous manner while continuously maintaining a positive customer service demeanor. Regards everyone, internal and external, as a customer and deliver the best service possible in a respectful and patient manner.
20. Serves as a member of various City committees as assigned.
21. Assists other staff in the performance of their duties as assigned.
22. Maintains regular job attendance and adherence to working hours.
23. Operates a motor vehicle safely and legally.
24. May provide training and orientation to newly assigned personnel.
25. Performs other related duties as required/assigned.

Leadership

1. Creates a high-performance work culture by demonstrating a positive attitude and modeling the City’s mission, vision, and values.
2. Demonstrates, promotes, and develops leadership, management, and technical skills for self and other employees.
3. Conducts self with high integrity, proactive in conserving city resources, and seeks and incorporates customer feedback for continuous improvement of operations.
4. Demonstrates continuous effort to improve operations, decrease turnaround times, streamline work processes, and work cooperatively and jointly to provide quality seamless customer service.

SUPERVISION RECEIVED/REVIEW OF WORK

Works under the general supervision of the Planning Supervisor.

Lead Work/Coordination of Work of Others

This is a non-supervisory position. Lead work/coordination of the work of others is not a typical function assigned to this position.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education and Experience:

Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university in land use planning, urban planning, landscape architecture, public administration, or a closely related field 

AND

one (1) year of job-related experience; 

OR

an equivalent combination of education, training and experience that provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities.

Special Requirements:

1. Possession of or ability to obtain a valid Oregon driver's license.
2. The individual shall not pose a direct threat to the health or safety of themselves or others.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

Knowledge of: zoning laws and comprehensive plans including their formation, process of adoption, and enforcement and planning programs and processes; personal computers; and basic knowledge of GIS applications is desirable.

Skill in: operation of listed tools and equipment used.

Ability to: communicate effectively, verbally and in writing; understand and carry out written and oral instructions; establish and maintain effective working relationships with employees, other departments, architects, contractors, developers, property owners, and the public; operate computers for data entry, word processing and/or accounting purposes.; operate small office equipment, including copy machines or multi-line telephone systems.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

In the performance of the job duties, the employee will be working in an office environment under usual office working conditions and may occasionally work in outside weather conditions. Work may also be performed in meeting settings in offices, conference rooms, and public spaces. The noise level in the work area is typical of most office environments, with telephones, personal interruptions, and background noises and moderate in the field.

Travel is normally limited to various city work sites.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The factors described herein are representative of, but not all-inclusive of, those that must be met by an individual to successfully perform the job.Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Detailed information may be available in a supplemental Job Task Analysis document.

The work is sedentary work which requires exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects, including the human body. Additionally, the following physical abilities are required:

• Balancing:   sufficient to maintain body equilibrium to prevent falling while walking, standing or crouching on narrow, slippery, or erratically moving surfaces. The amount of balancing exceeds that needed for ordinary locomotion and maintenance of body equilibrium.
• Climbing: sufficient to ascend or descend ladders, stairs, scaffolding, ramps, poles and the like, using feet and legs and/or hands and arms. Body agility is emphasized.
• Crawling: sufficient to move about on hands and knees or hands and feet.
• Crouching: sufficient to bend the body downward and forward by bending leg and spine.
• Feeling: sufficient to perceive attributes of objects, such as size, shape, temperature or texture by touching with skin, particularly that of fingertips.
• Fingering: sufficient to pick, pinch, type, or otherwise work, primarily with fingers rather than with the whole hand as in handling.
• Grasping: sufficient to apply pressure to an object with the fingers and palm.
• Handling: sufficient to pick, hold, or otherwise work, primarily with the whole hand.
• Hearing: sufficient to perceive the nature of sounds at normal speaking levels with or without correction. Ability to receive detailed information through oral communication, and to make the discrimination in sound.
• Kneeling: sufficient to bend legs at knee to come to a rest on knee or knees.
• Lifting: sufficient to raise objects from a lower to a higher position or moving objects horizontally from position-to-position. Occurs to a considerable degree and requires substantial use of upper extremities and back muscles.
• Mental Acuity: sufficient to make rational decisions through sound logic and deductive processes.
• Pulling: sufficient to use upper extremities to exert force in order to draw, haul or tug objects in a sustained motion.
• Pushing: sufficient to use upper extremities to press against something with steady force in order to thrust forward, downward or outward.
• Reaching: sufficient to extend hand(s) and arm(s) in any direction.
• Repetitive Motion: Substantial movements (motions) of the wrist, hands, and/or fingers.
• Speaking: sufficient to express or exchange ideas by means of the spoken word including the ability to convey detailed or important spoken instructions to other workers accurately and concisely.
• Standing: Particularly for sustained periods of time.
• Stooping: sufficient to bend body downward and forward by bending spine at the waist. Occurs to a considerable degree and requires full motion of the lower extremities and back muscles.
• Talking: sufficient to express or exchange ideas by means of the spoken word including those activities in which they must convey detailed or important spoken instructions to other workers accurately, loudly, or quickly.
• Visual Acuity: sufficient to observe violations of codes, to effectively operate standard office equipment; ability to read and write reports, correspondence, instructions, drawings, etc.; and to operate motor vehicles and/or heavy equipment, by both day and night.
• Walking: sufficient to move about on foot to accomplish tasks, particularly for long distances or move from one work site to another.

TOOLS & EQUIPMENT USED

In the performance of job duties, the employee will use a personal computer and various software programs; motor vehicle; calculator; digital camera and/or video recorder; portable radio; phone; copy and fax machines; and other related tools and equipment.

Safety Equipment:

This is not an exhaustive list. Hearing protection (including earmuffs), safety glasses, steel toed boots, gloves (nitrile, latex, leather), hardhat, knee pads, dust masks, traffic cones, safety vest, fall-restraint equipment when required.Develops safe work habits and contributes to the safety of self, co-workers, and the general public.