Dayton City Merges Planning And Economic Development For Greater Impact

Press release from the City of Dayton:

June 17, 2021

To provide better customer service and community engagement, the City of Dayton is combining its Departments of Planning & Community Development and Economic Development into one.

The new Department of Planning, Neighborhoods & Development will operate under the direction of Todd Kinskey, with the proposed merger pending final confirmation by the City Commission on June 16. Kinskey has served as the Director of Planning and Community Development since 2018.

“Serving residents better is at the core of this change,” said City Manager Shelley Dickstein. “By merging these departments, we will bolster our community engagement efforts throughout the city and grow capacity in our neighborhoods. Additionally, the merger will increase communication across divisions, allowing us to realize synergies in development and pivot to neighborhood-based development strategies while removing barriers for the public.”

The new model re-establishes the Division of Community Engagement and combines Housing and Zoning to better serve the needs of our neighborhoods and allow for more robust enforcement of residential and commercial codes. The new community engagement function will have seven full-time employees who will be focused on outreach with residents and building capacity in our neighborhoods.

Additionally, businesses will see greater efficiency in the City's Business Services area as the permitting and in-take process become more streamlined for better customer delivery. The new department will have 91 full-time employees and have a total operating budget of $10 million. The department will also oversee grants and special project budgets of over $29.2 million.

This press release was produced by the City of Dayton. The views expressed here are the author’s own.