Kenney creates Office of Planning and Development

In one of his first official acts after being sworn in as mayor on Monday, Jim Kenney signed an executive order creating the Office of Planning and Development within the Mayor’s Office.

The Department of Planning and Development was added to the Home Rule Charter after voters approved it in the November election, but the legislation accompanying it gives the new administration a year and a half to formalize the new structure. Kenney’s executive order jumpstarts the process by creating a new cabinet position and allowing him to begin reshuffling people and resources in the various affected agencies. According to the terms of the charter change, the Department of Planning and Development will officially come into existence in summer 2017.

Last week, Kenney announced that he had selected Anne Fadullon, a developer and former president of the Building Industry Association, to lead the new Department. Fadullon will eventually oversee the Planning Commission, the Historical Commission, the Zoning Board of Adjustment, and a new division of housing.

The new Department, which is intended to streamline the development process and coordinate various municipal functions which have sometimes been out of step with each other, was proposed by City Council President Darrell Clarke in 2014.