Jefferson County recently selected Josh Johnson as their new Director of Development Services. After a decade’s worth of experience as a leader in both city planning and military roles, Johnson said he is ready to work with his team to create a more livable county.

His main focus over the next several months will be updating the county’s comprehensive development plan, last updated in 2008, that will help shape the county’s future land use for the next decade or more according to previous comments from Jefferson County Public Information Officer Helen Hays.

So, what are your responsibilities as director of development services?

So, we’ve got a lot of different functions in our department here. In general, I administer the county’s planning, zoning, permitting, and inspect demolitions. And we also have supportive GIS [geographic information systems] functions, that kind of supports directly and indirectly, all those aspects that we work in.

And what do you hope to accomplish during your time in this role?