KEN HART, Senior Associate

Ken Hart has over 35 years’ of public sector experience in the area of land use planning. During his career with the Santa Cruz County Planning Department, he was widely known and highly regarded for his collaborative approach to project management, his creative problem solving skills, and for his ability to strategically and successfully navigate the land use entitlement process. He is adept at finding an appropriate balance between adopted policies, regulations, and community input.

 

Mr. Hart has a broad skill set in the area of staff and project management, permit processing, site evaluation and design, environmental planning, and impact analysis. Over the course of 25 years, he managed the Environmental, Code Compliance, and Development Review Sections of the Santa Cruz County Planning Department. He was appointed as the Permit Center Manager for the County, a role that required coordination between all sections of the Planning Department, the Office of Economic Development, the Department of Public Works, Environmental Health Services, and fire agencies to facilitate project review and resolve any conflicting issues between reviewing departments and agencies. He was involved in permit processing for numerous commercial, mixed-use, and residential development projects and served as the County Environmental Coordinator and as staff to the County Planning Commission.

 

Mr. Hart is on the Board of Directors of Retrouvaille of Santa Cruz/Monterey, a local chapter of an international organization offering help for troubled marriages; he volunteers at Camp Attitude, a week-long camp for special needs children; and participates in Club Dust, an organization that uses volunteers to build homes for families in Tecate, Mexico. He is also an avid road cyclist, logging an average of 2,500 to 3,000 miles per year.

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