Get to Know Washington County's Andrew Singelakis

Andrew Singelakis, the director of land use and transportation for Washington County, has worked in similar roles all over the country: New Hamshire, Arizona and Maine, just to name a few. We spoke with Singelakis about the work he's done in Washington County and how his department keeps the people of Oregon informed about the latest transportation news.

Patch: You're coming up on your seventh anniversary as Director of Land Use and Transportation for Washington County. For the uninitiated, what is the work of the Director of Land Use and Transportation?

Andrew Singelakis: Land Use & Transportation (LUT) is one of the largest departments in Washington County. We have a budget of more than $300 million (including capital programs) and more than 325 employees. The department plays multiple roles through its operating divisions.

Planning and Development Services issues building permits and current planning review for the urban unincorporated parts of the county, and under contract for some of the smaller cities. It also provides long-range planning functions and transportation planning for the entire County, including the cities.

Engineering and Construction Services is responsible for the County’s engineering functions, as well as our capital improvement programs which includes the Major Streets Transportation Improvement Program (MSTIP), which funds roughly $175 million in improvements every five years.

Operations and Maintenance maintains our extensive County road networks. Together the divisions form a system of planning and operations with both public and private dollars.

My job is to act as the conduit between LUT staff, our County Administrator and the Board of County Commissioners. In that capacity, I am responsible for developing funding strategies for transportation, and I’m also working with the Board on policy directives. In addition, much of my time is spent working with the cities within Washington County and our regional partners such as TriMet, ODOT and Metro.

It’s a fast-paced working environment that is constantly changing, and very fun.

Patch: Before coming to Oregon, you worked in various high profile roles in planning, transportation and urban design in Arizona, New Hampshire and Maine, among other places. Have there been any rules about land use and transportation that you've found apply to all parts of the country? And what have you found that's been specific to Oregon?

Andrew Singelakis: Oregon, with its Urban Growth Boundary and state-wide planning laws, is truly unique, in my experience, particularly the rules concerning agricultural land.

Vermont’s planning program is modeled after Oregon’s, but it doesn’t go nearly as far in terms of the acreage requirements for agricultural land parcels. However, Vermont did have a state-wide permitting process for development of a certain size and scope.

In New Hampshire, most zoning requirements are developed at the local level. Absent significant farm land in that state, many of the rural towns in the southern part of the state have been developed with one- or two-acre lots which results in a different type of sprawl that is hard to combat, as it’s readily apparent in forested areas. Growth management was a program that limited the number of building permits that a town may issue in a particular year.

In Arizona, the constitution requires that the state auction off its vast land holdings, and the proceeds go into an education trust fund. That results in completely different master planning requirements aimed primarily at determining land value prior to auction.

Really, the big difference between New England and the two western states is the scope of development. In Oregon and Arizona, we see more master-planned communities containing thousands of new residential units. The growth in New England is more incremental, small and much slower. On the flip side, New England had a much greater emphasis on historic preservation.

Patch: You do a great job of promoting Oregon on your social media accounts, giving readers practical advice about stopped signals and addressing tourism in Washington County. Do you ever find it difficult to balance such different topics?

Andrew Singelakis: The department does a great job keeping the community informed through the Washington County Department of Land Use & Transportation website (www.co.washington.or.us/LUT/) our Roads website (wc-roads.com), our Roads Twitter (washcoroads) and Facebook (washco.roads) pages and the Weekly Update newsletter. I’m able to pull from all these venues to push out information. There’s always important information to share about roads, land use projects, building developments, etc. I try to tweet at least once a day. Very often I tweet more often than that, particularly if we’re hosting an in-person or online open house where we’re asking the public to share their thoughts about a particular issue.

Patch: What can Washington County residents look forward to from the Land Use and Transportation department in 2017?

Andrew Singelakis: We are embarking on a very busy capital transportation program. In addition to the MSTIP program described above, we recently formed partnerships with the cities of Hillsboro, Beaverton and Tigard to address the arterial needs associated with in the onset of about 18,000 new dwelling units in master planned communities. We leveraged city development fees to bring major transportation projects forwarded as development occurs, rather than trying to address traffic problems after the fact.

Another big emphasis area for the Board of Commissioners is affordable housing. LUT has hired a planner to specialize in that area. We are currently working on a planning project in the Aloha area that will help us with the right tools to offer flexibility for developing affordable and other housing.

In addition, the Board of Commissioners recently approved a $20 million 10-year program using its “Gain Share” funds to program safety improvements near schools.

Patch: What's your favorite thing about Washington County in the fall?

Andrew Singelakis: Rural Washington County really reminds me of northern New England. Fall is my favorite season in New England, particularly due to the spectacular change in foliage. The hills and vineyards in Washington County are quite similar.

I also like the farmer’s markets. There’s a great spirit of community, in addition to lots of produce.

Another thing I really enjoy is the roads. This time of year, many of the County’s road improvement and maintenance projects are wrapping up. I really like traveling through the County and seeing the results of all the design, planning and construction work that the staff has done. I’m really proud of the great work the staff does, and our roads represent that.

Andrew Singelakis is quite active on social media. Follow him on Twitter for information about fun events in Washington County and practical updates on road closures. The Land of Department and Transportation offers a great weekly update on all of things they accomplish, outlining current roadwork and closures, new funding programs and upcoming neighborhood meetings.