Reed taps Tim Keane, Charleston’s planning director, for City Hall job
New chief has pushed for bicycling, pedestrian improvements
- College of Charleston
- Tim Keane
Mayor Kasim Reed yesterday announced that he is hiring Tim Keane, the planning chief of Charleston, S.C., to come lead the same department at City Hall.
“Tim brings the right expertise to help the Department the meet the long-term goals of my administration. I am confident that his experience, vision and exceptional commitment to public service will help our city continue to grow in ways that will benefit all our citizens.”
Keane’s appointment, which must still be confirmed by the Atlanta City Council, comes nearly nine months after former Commissioner James Shelby abruptly left City Hall.
“I am honored to join Mayor Kasim Reed and his Administration as the Commissioner of Planning and Community Development,” Keane said in a statement. “I look forward to working with citizens to ensure everything that is planned, designed and built makes the city a better place to live and work.”
The Atlanta gig, Keane told the Charleston Post and Courier, “a big job in a big city, and it’s a real opportunity because Atlanta is growing so fast. And it has the resources so it can compete among the biggest cities, and that interests me.”
Keane currently serves as Charleston’s Director of Planning, Preservation and Sustainability under Mayor Joe Riley, considered a champion of preservation and urbanism. In that role, Keane has been responsible for urban planning, design review, historic preservation, and zoning. And the hair, my Lord, what hair.
More recently, the Post and Courier says, Keane’s department has “been at the forefront of several of the city’s hottest issues recently, from controversial redevelopment plans for the Sergeant Jasper site to a proposed moratorium on new bars and restaurants that serve alcohol past midnight to restructuring the city’s Board of Architectural Review. He also participated in a recent mobility study that urged the city of Charleston to look into restoring street cars, create a new parking complex for visitors in the northern part of downtown, and do more to promote walking and biking.”
According to a statement from Reed’s office, the University of North Carolina-Charlotte graduate also oversaw code enforcement, beautification efforts, and tourism planning management. Keane also led the creation of a “Century Five Comprehensive Plan — a ten-to-fifteen year guide for growth and development.” Keane joined Charleston city government in 1999, left to run his own planning firm, and then returned to lead the city’s planning department. He also has served as planning director for the Town of Davidson, N.C.
As ATL Urbanist notes, Keane also focused on the city’s issues with public urination. Judging from published reports, he’s saying the right things For example, he understands the importance of bicycling and pedestrian improvements and improving residents’ quality of life. And he’s also got a pretty interesting perspective on traffic, which you can hear about in this Pecha Kucha talk he gave in Charleston:
Welcome to Atlanta, Tim Keane. We hope the various forces in town don’t make your life miserable.