Greenville has been without a planning and development manager since July and now the longtime city employee who has served in the interim is leaving. Bryan Wood, the city’s zoning administrator and interim planning and development manager, has accepted a job as community development director in Perry, Ga., a city about 30 miles south of Macon. His first day on the job is Dec. 20.
Greenville City Manager John Castile said in an email Thursday that the city has made a contingent offer and could announce a new planning and development manager as soon as next week. Greenville conducted a national search to fill the position, one of the most important positions in a city where development is booming and is expected to continue to do so.
If the new planning manager is not in place by the time Wood leaves, the city does have a contingency plan, Castile said. The city will use the Appalachian Council of Governments under a contractual agreement. The Council of Governments provides support throughout 10 counties in the Upstate and is well versed in planning and development, the city manager said.
In addition, Castile said the city’s economic development and community development staff will provide support during the transition, and Nancy Whitworth, the city’s economic development director and deputy city manager, will provide direct oversight, Castile said.
Castile said the new manager would provide guidance in structuring, staffing and managing a planning division.
“We will focus very quickly on filling any gaps we have and ensuring that all aspects of planning are properly addressed including process, design, development review, long-range planning and regulation,” Castile said.
Wood said city employees work well together making sure plans are reviewed in a timely manner. Still, he said, given the amount of development Greenville sees, the city’s planning and development department is smaller than departments in other cities with a similar amount of development.
The city is also has a contract with Bello Garris Architects to provide design review for major development projects, Castile said. Formed in 2015, Bello Garris Architects is a partnership with Eddie Bello, who had previously served as director of urban design and preservation for the City of Charleston, and Eric Garris,
Wood said he decided to become Perry’s community development director because it was a department head position and it offered a new challenge.
“It was time for a change,” he said.
Perry’s community development director position was vacant for more than a year, according to a report in the Macon Telegraph. The city eventually hired a company that searches for job candidates and Wood was among the applicants, the Telegraph reported. The newspaper reported Wood was selected based on his experience in urban planning and code enforcement.
Wood is originally from Spartanburg. He has a bachelor’s degree in architectural design and a master’s degree in city planning from Clemson University.
