Whatcom County has a new director for its Planning and Development Services department after the County Council voted unanimously to confirm James Marks, the appointee of County Executive Satpal Sidhu, to lead the 53-person agency responsible for permitting, code enforcement, and long-range land use planning across Whatcom County. Marks is scheduled to start on September 14, 2026.

The appointment fills a senior leadership role in one of the county's most consequential departments, which touches nearly every significant construction project, environmental permit, and zoning decision in Whatcom County. Planning and Development Services handles building and development permits, plan reviews, life and safety inspections, environmental permitting, current planning, and code enforcement for a county that is navigating intense pressure from housing demand, environmental protection requirements, and a changing regional economy.

Who Is James Marks?

Marks comes to Whatcom County from the private sector, where he currently serves as Alaska Area Planning Principal at HDR Engineering, one of the largest infrastructure consulting firms in North America. In that role, he leads a community and transportation planning practice spanning corridor studies, freight and hazard mitigation work, and local planning throughout Alaska.

Before joining HDR, Marks served as Planning Director for the Alaska Municipal League, where he worked directly with communities across the state on capacity building, climate resilience planning, hazard mitigation, economic development, and grant strategy. His public-sector background before that includes a significant tenure as Director of Planning and Program Development at the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, where he oversaw statewide planning and programming for one of the largest and most geographically diverse transportation systems in the country.

During his time at the state transportation agency, which ran from 2018 to 2024, Marks managed Alaska's capital program as it grew from roughly $700 million to $1.4 billion annually. He led a staff of 70 and oversaw planning for highways, bridges, the Alaska Marine Highway System, more than 200 state-owned airports, resource development projects, and long-range transportation initiatives. He holds an MBA and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Alaska and is relocating to the region with his family.

What Executive Sidhu and Marks Said

"James has a reputation for bringing people together and creating an environment where teams can succeed," County Executive Satpal Sidhu told the Council when he submitted the appointment for confirmation. "He looks for practical and innovative ways to remove unnecessary complexity and improve customer service. I am confident he is the right choice to lead Planning and Development Services into its next chapter."

Marks himself signaled that he came into the hiring process with his eyes open about the challenges ahead. "As I've gotten to know your community, I have become more and more excited for this job, not because the challenges are smaller, but because I understood them better," he said. "Improving complicated processes, building a culture of continuous improvement, developing and supporting strong high-performing teams, these are all things I know. I'm really excited for what comes next."

Why This Matters for Whatcom County Residents

Planning and Development Services is the county department that most directly affects how quickly homes get permitted, whether environmental rules are enforced, and how well the county's building inspection process works for contractors and homeowners alike. With 53 full-time positions, the department is large enough to have significant bureaucratic inertia but small enough that leadership tone and process design decisions flow quickly through the organization.

Whatcom County has faced persistent criticism in recent years over permitting timelines, particularly for residential construction during a period when housing demand has significantly outpaced supply across the region. Marks' stated focus on removing unnecessary complexity and building data-informed decision-making cultures suggests he is aware of those frustrations and intends to address them.

His background in transportation planning at a statewide scale also positions him to work constructively on the intersection of land use and mobility planning, an area where Whatcom County has significant work ahead as it updates its comprehensive plan and works with the Whatcom Council of Governments on long-range transportation planning through 2050.

What Happens Next

Marks is scheduled to begin his role on September 14, 2026. Residents who work with the Planning and Development Services department on permits, inspections, or code enforcement can expect continuity in staff during the leadership transition. The department's full range of services, including online permitting through the county's e-services portal, remains available in the interim through whatcomcounty.us.

For context on how this appointment fits into the county's broader leadership picture, readers following Whatcom County government can find additional background on the county's departmental structure and recent administrative changes through the county's official news releases, archived at whatcomcounty.us. More detail on how the permitting process works and what changes residents might eventually see is worth watching for in the months ahead as Marks settles into the role and sets his priorities publicly. Prior coverage of county planning and development topics is available in our earlier reporting on county civic decisions.