PITTSBORO — Few town employees liaise with residents as often as the planning director.
A municipality’s planning department administers all zoning and subdivision regulations for property within the town’s jurisdiction. It facilitates and processes all requests for building permits and zoning changes — hefty responsibilities when, like Pittsboro, there’s meteoric growth taking place.
New Planning Director Theresa Thompson, then, has assumed a weighty role.
Thompson, who has served as Pittsboro’s interim planning director since former planner Jeff Jones left about six months ago, was officially awarded the permanent position last month.
“We’re excited to remove her interim tag,” Town Manager Chris Kennedy said in a recent town board of commissioners meeting. “She’s worked really hard for us over the last few months and so we’re excited to have her in that capacity.”
Thompson has been a regular fixture in Pittsboro’s board of commissioner meetings, where she presents the planning department’s recommendations for land and infrastructure development requests. She has also been Pittsboro’s point person in recent months as the town completed its Unified Development Ordinance.
The Siler City resident has worked for years helping planning departments in other towns and counties around North Carolina to improve their workflows and establish strong relationships with residents. Now she’s poised to assume what might be the greatest undertaking of her career: strengthening a skeletal planning department into something robust enough to keep pace with the east coast’s fastest growing community.
The News + Record caught up with Thompson (whose husband, Bryan, is Chatham County’s assistant county manager) to see how she’s settling into the new role and what plans she has for her first few months.
To reach Thompson, Pittsboro residents can call 919-542-2063. The planning department is housed at Chatham Mills and is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, with in-person services currently limited to permitting and planning submittals. Although walk-in customers are accepted, the town encourages residents to use recently improved online services and mail-in submittals when possible.
First things first, can you tell me a little about your background and how long you’ve been in planning?
I’m from Fort Bragg, N.C., and have a B.S. in Community and Regional Planning from Appalachian State. Having nearly 15 years of experience, I have served as a planner in several communities, including the planning director in Montgomery County (two years), planning director for the Town of Lillington (six years), as well as the planning supervisor for the Moore County Planning Department (six years).
You said in a recent board of commissioners meeting that you’ve long wanted to work in Pittsboro. Can you elaborate on that, and tell me how you finally ended up here?
After moving to Chatham County in 2013, my family and I have always enjoyed visiting Pittsboro, exploring its charming downtown and enjoying all the fun shops and restaurants. I would often think about how great it would be to work in a town with so much going on, so when I saw the planning position open up last year I didn’t think twice before applying.
Before we get into some of what you hope to accomplish, can you explain what exactly your role and responsibilities include? How would you describe the planning director’s job?
I think the planning director helps sets the tone for the department. Part of my job is to help make the planning department an inviting place for anyone to feel welcome and know that we are here to help. I also know how stressful a workplace can be, so I want to be there for the planning staff. We have a new department, so my main goal right now is creating a productive and healthy work environment. We all have specific skills and abilities and I want to help foster everyone’s interests in how we craft our roles and responsibilities.
What’s happening with staffing and how will it affect the way you all serve the town? I know already you’ve brought on some new folks. Can you tell me about those positions and what your longer term plans are for the department?
Currently we are a department of four. Two new planners were recently hired. Both are a good fit with what is needed for the department including being able to handle a challenging workload. Our customer service specialist is also a vital part of our team and is really the backbone of our department. She not only helps with planning but also helps keep the parks, engineering and public utilities departments running smoothly. So, along with the two new planners recently hired we are going to be hiring two additional planner positions this upcoming fiscal year. We also have a lot of housekeeping to do such as updating our processes, checklists and filing systems.
Can you talk about how Pittsboro is poised for growth as you see it from your perspective? I would guess there aren’t many times a planning director knows so clearly that she’ll be overseeing enormous expansion within just a couple of coming decades. Is that daunting, exciting, useful, etc.?
Growth management tools, such as the Unified Development Ordinance and Land Use Plan, assist the town in implementing standards that influence the type and location of new development. Part of the planning department’s responsibilities includes drafting land development standards, per direction by the planning board and town board, enabling the town to grow in an organized and sustainable manner. We will also assist in updating the Land Use Plan, which is an important tool in managing desired and expected growth, which is consistent with the community’s vision.
Any standout projects that you think are especially exciting? Maybe you could share a bit of timeline on big milestones to come?
It’s great seeing all the work going on downtown — seeing the vision of the downtown business community taking shape is impressive. It is encouraging to see how this space is being well-maintained and improved to create greater access and opportunity for the community to come together and to showcase the Pittsboro experience. I am also eager for us to work on UDO updates. I’ve listened and have taken notes on questions and concerns raised over the last several months and am ready to draft language and provide options to the boards to make the UDO more tailored to Pittsboro.
Are there any things I didn’t address that you’d like people to know about you, your new role, the department or anything else?
Planning departments sometimes have a reputation of being difficult to work with. I think this is largely due to our responsibility to process development applications and permits according to the local development ordinances. While this is the reality of the work we do, I definitely want everyone to know that the Pittsboro Planning Department is committed to providing exceptional customer service and working for success with all citizens and our business community.