Principal Planner or Senior Planner

The Community Development Department is seeking a Principal or Senior Planner, depending on qualifications, to help lead the Planning Division. This position will fill a vacancy due to the upcoming retirement of the City’s longtime Principal Planner. This is a great opportunity to develop your management and leadership skills by supervising staff or to grow into directly supervising staff if you haven’t before. This position is ideal for a planner that wants to apply their skills and experience to develop policy, manage projects, and improve process in a collegial environment where humor is appreciated.

The Principal/Senior Planner will have a lead role in advanced planning initiatives such as the Safety Element update, which is underway in collaboration with other San Mateo County jurisdictions. The City is also planning updates to the Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) and SB9 regulations to implement the certified Housing Element, as well as zoning code updates to modernize and streamline older code language. This position will also process the most complex development projects including market rate housing, affordable housing, and large-scale office/R&D. Additionally, the Principal/Senior Planner will participate in the annual budget process and work with the leadership team to improve process and procedures.

In the last decade, Belmont has established an impressive track record of modernizing policies and programs under the leadership of a strong City Council. In 2017, Belmont adopted a comprehensive General Plan update as well as the Belmont Village Specific Plan for the area around the CalTrain station. These policy changes have led to the first wave of significant housing development in decades. Since the adoption of these plans, the City has completed construction of over 1,100 new housing units and has another 550 currently in our development pipeline. The City also recently received State-certification of its 2023-2031Housing Element. Belmont is currently undertaking a Specific Plan to prepare for the future annexation of the Unincorporated Harbor Industrial Area (HIA) from San Mateo County into the City. The Harbor Industrial Area is planned to be an employment center for Belmont, with a focus on research and development, office, and advanced manufacturing.

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