Outgoing Greensburg planning director worked to make office more 'approachable and welcoming'

Greensburg is looking to beef up its planning and development office next year by adding a code enforcement supervisor.

It also will be searching for a new planning director, as Jeff Raykes resigned from that role effective Friday.

Raykes, who joined the city staff in 2019, is leaving to focus on a private planning firm he operates in his hometown of Indiana, said Councilman Gregory Mertz. Council accepted Raykes’ resignation Monday.

“His leadership put the city in a good position moving forward,” Mertz said. Mertz cited the addition of an online OpenGov portal for pursuing city building permits and other planning-related documents among the improvements made during Raykes’ tenure.

“I am most appreciative of his work to make city government more approachable and welcoming,” Mertz said. “The office itself is communicating and functioning as a unit.”

Planning, zoning and code enforcement functions all have fallen under Raykes’ supervision.

“We budgeted for bringing on a code enforcement supervisor so that department can stand on its own,” Mertz said. “Having good management in the planning office has put us in a good position to start with hiring someone as a code enforcement supervisor, and then we can look at replacing (Raykes).”

Mertz said the city also has consultants to turn to during the planning department’s staffing transition. Planning consultant Denny Puko helps with reviews of planning- and zoning-related ordinances, and Gibson-Thomas Engineering has assisted with site reviews.

Raykes said he’s departing from City Hall, in part, because “I need to do something different.” That includes spending more time growing the Stuart Group Consulting firm he started in 2014.

“I want to keep solving problems for people,” he said. “There’s a lot of work to do.

“My focus is on community engagement, bringing people into the planning process and helping them make decisions around the consensus that we try to find.”

Other initiatives during Raykes’ time in Greensburg include completion of the Shape Greensburg comprehensive plan update and College Connect events intended to increase engagement of students at area universities and colleges with city businesses and organizations.

He also was involved in planning for the recently installed city welcome sign on South Main Street and the improvements that are under construction at Spring Avenue Park.