Community Development

The Community Development Department strives to implement the community’s vision for Corvallis. This includes careful land use planning, facilitating safe construction and development, expanding affordable housing, and providing innovative opportunities to help businesses grow and thrive. Community Development is made up of four divisions, including Development Services, Planning, Housing & Neighborhood Services, and Ecomonic Development. Each division plays a key role in ensuring the community’s vision is clearly defined, interpreted, and implemented.

Which Division Do You Need?

The Development Services (DS) Division serves as the City’s “one stop shop” for the review and issuance of building permits, along with field inspections for development projects. Development Services can also help with zoning inquiries, site engineering questions, as well as guidance on proper grading and erosion control measures for your construction project.

The Planning Division is responsible for the City’s long range planning program and processes most of the land use applications necessary for development.

The Housing & Neighborhood Services (HNS) Division provides financial and technical assistance to develop and maintain affordable housing and rehabilitation loans to low-income homeowners. The division promotes fair housing and information and referral service for renters and property owners. HNS promotes community livability through outreach, education, and neighborhood engagement.

The Economic Development Office (EDO) is a collaboration between the City of Corvallis and Benton County. The EDO aims to improve the quality of life for the region’s residents through the expansion of the tax base by attracting new capital investments and creating new, highly skilled jobs for the region’s residents. For more information, go to https://www.yescorvallis.org. 

The links below will take you to some of Community Development’s most commonly requested information and services.