Diana Wheeler Takes Job with Peachtree Corners

Five weeks after resigning from a position as Alpharetta's Community Development director, Diana Wheeler has taken a similar position with Peachtree Corners.

Gwinnett County's newest city named Wheeler as its Community Development director, effective Aug. 27, according to a news release from the city. She will oversee planning, zoning, economic development, code enforcement, and building development functions for the newly incorporated Peachtree Corners, Gwinnett County’s largest city.

“Diana Wheeler is one of the most respected community development
professionals in the southeast,” said Peachtree Corners Mayor Mike
Mason. “Her intelligence, skills and experience in the Metro Atlanta area
will be a great benefit to our residents and businesses.”

Wheeler resigned on July 12 after 18 years as Alpharetta’s Community Development Director. In Alpharetta, she oversaw the creation of a downtown development district and pursued a strategically planned approach to residential, corporate, and retail development during a time of rapid economic growth in Alpharetta and North Fulton, in general.

At the time of her resignation, Alpharetta City Councilman Mike Kennedy said that when Alpharetta was at the center of the development boom, Wheeler never allowed the city to be overrun with haphazard development.

"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.

“This is a unique opportunity to build a department from the ground up in a
city that has excellent leadership and a strong commitment to charting its
own destiny,” said Wheeler. “I’m excited about Peachtree Corners’ future
and thrilled to be given the chance to be a part of it.”

Having local control of community development was a major impetus for
the City of Peachtree Corner’s July 1, 2012 incorporation, and all land-use
services – planning, zoning, code enforcement – will be provided by the
city, introduced in stages over the next year.

“To have Diana oversee our Community Development as we begin our
new city is like winning the lottery” Mason said.