Salisbury has hired Hannah Berg Jacobson as its new community planning director. In her new role, she will lead the community planning department which includes code enforcement, urban planning and development services.
Most recently, Jacobson was a planner, and subsequently promoted to senior planner, in the Durham City-County Planning Department. There, she led the community planning process to update the Durham Comprehensive Plan’s policies and Future Land Use map in the planned light rail transit area; worked collaboratively with city residents and community stakeholders on updating various Land Use, Downtown and Urban Open Space plans; and designed a Land Use study to remove zoning regulatory barriers for businesses in a historic retail district.
Prior to her work with Durham City-County, Jacobson was a transit-oriented development consultant with the Urban Land Institute of Minnesota and as a consultant with the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission.
“As our city continues to grow and take shape, I’m excited about Hannah’s arrival in our community,” said City Manager W. Lane Bailey. “Not only does she have a solid background in planning, but she is well-versed in historic preservation, working collaboratively with diverse groups on comprehensive planning, and the relationship between transportation and urban design. I would be remiss not to mention my indebtedness to Brian Hiatt who served us as interim planning director following Janet Gapen’s retirement. I wish him the best as he continues his retirement, uninterrupted.”
"I am very excited and honored to be selected as the next planning director,” said Jacobson, “and I look forward to working with the talented staff, committed elected officials and the entire community to help honor the history and shape the future of Salisbury."
Jacobson holds a bachelor’s degree from St. Olaf College in Minnesota and a master’s degree in city and regional planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She also is an accredited American Institute Certified Planner (AICP).