After an extensive national search, El Paso County has welcomed Dick Anderwald as the new director of the county’s development services department.Anderwald is from Yakima County, Wash., where he was the director of planning and special projects for almost three decades.In response to customer service concerns, El Paso County has worked with business and community stakeholders throughout the past five years to streamline land use review processes in order to provide a customer-focused approach. Anderwald implemented a similar process in Yakima County, which included a development services center, a one-stop permit facility co-locating Yakima County’s development review services to better serve customer needs. He also managed and implemented special projects in other areas of county government. This experience helped Anderwald stand out among applicants for El Paso County’s top land-use job.”There are many types of customers in the development process,” Anderwald said. “Professional developers, first-time individual applicants, public service providers, neighbors and community associations all have a vested interest in development projects. An effective review system takes all of these interests into account.”El Paso County and citizen committees have left no stone unturned in preparing for and implementing the local change effort. I’m pleased to take on the leadership role in moving the review system improvements forward.”The El Paso County Development Services Department is responsible for processing and monitoring development-related applications and regulations for El Paso County’s unincorporated areas. The department is organized into four integrated divisions: customer services, planning review, long range planning/code enforcement and engineering review. The department is located at the new regional development center at 2880 International Circle.
