Diana Wheeler, Alpharetta's Community Development Director, Resigns

UPDATED 6:40 p.m., with a third City Council member's comments, plus contacts for the public in Community Development.

Alpharetta's Community Development Director has resigned as of today, July 13.

Diana Wheeler, who had been the department's director for the past 18 years, turned in her resignation effective July 13, confirmed Assistant City Administrator James Drinkard. He said the city does not discuss personnel matters.

Drinkard said the Mayor and City Administrator Bob Regus will have to sit down with City Council and plot out the department's future. In the meantime, the three prime contacts in Community Development are:

• Paul Ivey for building
• Lynn Pierson for land development
• Kathi Cook for everything else

Some City Council members offered their thoughts on Wheeler's tenure.

"I think over her tenure we went form a city of less than 10,000 people to where we are today, depending on who you talk to, population of 60K, with a daytime population of 150,000," Councilman D.C. Aiken said.

Her accomplishments are all over that growth, he said.

"I just saw that Forbes magazine article naming Alpharetta the number one place to live. That's part of her resume," he said, as it is part of a lot of person's work

"That's impressive, looking at a city that's grown six fold over time," Aiken said.

"I think the overall city's direction is to continue to improve the quality of life for the citizens of Alpharetta. She has been a part of that for a very long time," Aiken said, and he doesn't think that will change with a new person.

"She was all about live, work and play in the same place, and I think that's going to continue. [It's] certainly the direction of our Mayor and of the council."

"I just think either her or David [Belle Isle, Alpharetta's Mayor] felt that it was time for a change. But I think the next director has got some big shoes to fill to keep the momentum," Aiken said.

City Councilman Mike Kennedy said, "Diana Wheeler is one of the smartest professionals with whom I have ever worked."

When Alpharetta was at the center of the development boom, Kennedy said she never allowed the city to be overrun with haphazard development.

"It’s no easy task to balance the explosion of corporate office development, retail development and residential development that we experienced during her tenure, but she did it incredibly well," he said. "Elected officials come and go, but if I had to point to one person who is directly responsible for the tremendous quality of life enjoyed by everyone in Alpharetta today, it would be Diana."

Kennedy said as the city begins its search for a new director, he knows the many good people in the department will continue to provide Alpharetta residents great service.

"The day to day business of the department will continue on, as usual, but there is no doubt that Diana’s influence on our city will be greatly missed,” he said.

Councilman Chris Owens said he enjoyed working with Wheeler, and she will be missed.

"She has a great many accomplishments to her credit – too many to count. She helped the City manage a great number of priorities during a period of tremendous economic growth across the region," Owens said.

"Any time that a key staff member changes, it has the potential to give the City a new image to the community," Owens said in response to a question about what changes could come with new personnel. "I believe that Alpharetta has a great many good things yet to come. There is a solid staff in place at Community Development who will continue to provide excellent services to their customers while we search for a new Director."

The city has updated its Unified Development Code many times in the years she headed the department. This includes creation of a downtown development district and a formal policy setting rental (apartments) to non-rental housing in the city.