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After 3 Years With Interims, City Picks Taiwo Jaiyeoba As Planning Chief

Taiwo Jaiyeoba

The City of Charlotte has a new permanent planning director, after three years without one.  Taiwo Jaiyeoba starts on Jan. 16. 

The city says Jaiyeoba has more than 25 years of planning industry experience in the public and private sectors.  He worked most recently for HNTB Corp. as associate vice president/regional business development leader for its Southeast Division. He’s lived in Charlotte since 2015.

Among Jaiyeoba’s duties will be overseeing a rewrite of Charlotte’s zoning and land-use rules.  

Charlotte hasn’t had a planning director since 2014, when Debra Campbell was promoted to assistant city manager. Ed McKinney is the current interim planning director.

After Campbell was promoted, a national search in 2015 didn’t result in a hire.  A new search didn't get serious until after the hiring of new city manager Marcus Jones last winter.

Jaiyeoba previously worked as transit principal at HDR Inc., as market sector lead at AECOMM, and as the planning director in Grand Rapids, Mich., and Sacramento, Calif. 

“I am humbled by the opportunity to lead the City of Charlotte’s Planning Department and become part of such a great team,” Jaiyeoba said in a press release. “Charlotte is a vibrant and exciting city, and what an amazing time to work with the planning commission and community to help design for the future.”

Jaiyeoba has a master of science in urban and regional planning and a bachelor of science in geography Obafemi Awolowo University (Ife University) in Nigeria. 

David Boraks previously covered climate change and the environment for WFAE. See more at www.wfae.org/climate-news. He also has covered housing and homelessness, energy and the environment, transportation and business.