by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
In November, City Planning and Development Department Chief Bill Killingsworth will mark his 21st anniversary on the job.
After a stint in the Army, Killingsworth enrolled at the University of Florida where he studied real estate and urban analysis. After graduation, he worked as a real estate broker before joining the City’s planning department.
He credits an 1982 event during his leisure time in the service for leading to his eventual career.
“Some friends of mine and I entered, and won, a sandcastle-building contest in Carmel, Calif. That’s what got me into planning,” said Killingsworth.
He said the people who work in planning and development look at issues on several levels. Part of the job is determining how best to manage growth and part of the job is how to use planning to promote growth.
In the long term, they look at how roadways will function in 20 or 30 years. Another long-term view is how land use will be allocated.
“That’s one of the most important things we do. That determines how the City will generate revenue through property taxes, how many new schools will be needed and where they’ll have to be, and how much police and fire protection we’ll need,” said Killingsworth.
In the short term, he said, the department studies the zoning of individual sites and in the “real short term” develops guidelines for zoning variances and exceptions.
The department recently received an award from the American Planning Association when the organization recognized the historic Riverside Avondale area as one of the “Great Places in America” and one of the country’s 10 best neighborhoods.
Killingsworth said the intensive planning effort in the historic neighborhoods started in 1974 and he’s proud the effort paid off.
“Planning is a long-term effort the City does in cooperation with citizens. Otherwise, plans can just sit on the shelf,” he said.
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