Katz Named Arlington County Planner

Peter Katz, the founding executive director of the nonprofit Congress for the New Urbanism and author of "The New Urbanism: Toward an Architecture of Community," has been named county planner for Arlington.

"New Urbanism" is defined in a county news release as "an approach to planning that recognizes walkable, human-scaled neighborhoods as the building blocks of sustainable communities and regions."

Katz has been a planning consultant since 1990, and lived in the Washington metro region from 1999 to 2004. He has advised Arlington County staff and elected officials on the Columbia Pike Initiative.

“Peter brings to this critical position a deep knowledge of the planning principles that Arlington is all about,” Arlington County Director of Community Planning, Housing and Development Robert Brosnan said in a news release.

“He understands and appreciates the robust community engagement that is a hallmark of planning in Arlington. We expect Peter to provide strong leadership and vision as we continue the work of building a sustainable community.”

Katz will start work on Oct. 11.

His annual salary will be $150,000.