Rollin Stanley, 49, will begin work as the Montgomery County Planning Board’s new planning director on Feb. 4, filling a position that has sat empty since November 2005. He will oversee a department that is responsible for making recommendations to the board on site plans, zoning amendments and a host of other land-use issues.
Stanley comes to Montgomery County after five years as the director of planning and urban design in St. Louis and 20 years as a planner in Toronto.
What interested you in planning?
I wasn’t good in math, so I ended up in geography courses, then I went to a planning school in downtown Toronto.
What are some of your proudest
accomplishments from your time
in St. Louis?
We have led the country in the use of historic tax credits — the mayor and I were just in London where we won the world leadership award in housing. We have tremendous old warehouse buildings in St. Louis that were just sitting there abandoned, and we created thousands of new housing units in them through historic preservation and using tax credits.
What are some of your goals
for Montgomery County’s planning?
I see the staff wants to be creative, and I hope I can help them do that. It’s not just about building form, it’s about quality of place, creating an environment where people want to live, where they can feel safe and have their needs met — from recreation to shopping to work, etc.
Any similarities between St. Louis and what you think awaits you here?
St. Louis is a very diverse place in both physical form and makeup of the community. Montgomery County has elements of that too. I plan on working with the community to make sure those differencesare both preserved and enhanced.
How about differences?
The cost of living is a very big difference.
