After a little over four years with the City of Revelstoke as planning director, John Guenther has decided to seek other planning and development opportunities, says in a Friday afternoon news statement from City Hall.
Chief Administrative Officer Tim Palmer said Guenther was hired to help lead the City of Revelstoke in planning for and facilitating the transition of the City towards a more resort based community, especially with the major development of the Revelstoke Mountain Resort, a world class destination ski mecca. His duties included the overall management of the planning, bylaws, development services, building inspections, and animal control for the City of Revelstoke.
One of his major focuses has been work on a Unified Development Bylaw (UDB). The major objective of the proposed Unified Development Bylaw was to put all development bylaws together into one document including updating the existing Zoning Bylaw. The processes become very lengthy and problematic so in January of this year Council decided to segment the proposed bylaw and adopt changes to existing bylaws independently.
“I would like to thank the community, agencies and other staff for their exhilarating engagement; and City Council and the Commissions for their leadership, mentoring, and guidance,” Guenther said in the statement. “Many undone planning endeavors remain, but the City will conceive of innovative ways of shaping the future. The people within their neighourhoods and other partners will hammer out the ambitious goals of the Official Community plan. They say you never know how great your friends are, until you have to say goodbye; and Revelstoke’s people spring from a truly magical and enduring land.”
Tim Palmer said “his innovative approach with the UDB will continue to have lasting impact on the city’s growth. We wish John all the best and are confident that he will continue to thrive with his future endeavours.”
The City of Revelstoke’s Director of Engineering, Mike Thomas, will assume the responsibilities of the planning department in the interim.
