Montgomery County Planning Board Hires New Planning Director, Filling Two-Year Void

SILVER SPRING, MD – The Montgomery County Planning Board has selected a new planning director, placing a professional who has held top planning jobs in St. Louis and Toronto at the helm of the county’s 170-member planning department.

Rollin Stanley, St. Louis’ director of planning and urban design, will begin his post in Silver Spring beginning February 4.

“We are thrilled to have Rollin lead our professional planning staff as we continue to work to improve quality of life in Montgomery County through smart land-use planning,” said Planning Board Chairman Royce Hanson. The Planning Board, which has been vetting candidates for more than a year, selected Stanley earlier this month.

Stanley’s five-year tenure in St. Louis includes authoring a comprehensive strategic plan that outlines ways to revitalize the historic city. Stanley also laid the groundwork for a 1.3-mile-long civic open space corridor that will bisect the city and oversaw staff teams addressing neighborhood revitalization, tax incentives and other initiatives.

Before his stint in St. Louis, Stanley spent 20 years in Toronto as a planner who was instrumental in transforming the city’s industrial district into a mix of residential and retail.

Stanley becomes Montgomery County’s first planning chief since November 2005. Since then, the department – which is responsible for making recommendations to the board on subdivision plans, site plans, zoning amendments, forest conservation and a host of other land-use issues – has been led by interim directors, including current Acting Planning Director Gwen Wright.

Stanley, 49, has a degree in urban and regional planning from Ryerson University, Toronto. The Canadian native has twice won a World Leadership Award and is a division chairman in the American Planning Association. He is married and has a grown stepson.

Special note: Planning Board Chairman Royce Hanson will host a press conference on Friday, January 4, to introduce Rollin Stanley. Details to follow.