LEWISTON – City officials will promote a land-use inspector to a new position in the Planning Department.

David Hediger, who has been with the city as part of the code enforcement staff since 1998, will become the new deputy director of planning and code enforcement.

“We had some very good applicants, but he really was the logical choice,” said Gil Arsenault, director of the department. “The position he’s occupied has been integral in planning affairs all along. He’s been more of a behind-the-scenes player, but he’s always been significant.”

The position is new, part of the staff reorganization the City Council adopted in May. The Community Development Department was split in two, creating a new department devoted to planning and code enforcement. The position of senior planner, formerly the top planning official, was cut.

Arsenault and Hediger will split many of those duties in the new department. Hediger’s current land-use position will be filled and will become more planning-oriented, Arsenault said.

Hediger is a University of Maine at Farmington graduate and is working toward his master’s degree at the University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School of Public Policy.

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