Bryan County recently welcomed a new planning and zoning director, Jeff Adams, who joined the staff on April 1. Prior to accepting this position, Adams was the Community Development Director for St. Marys, GA. Adams brings over 20 years of experience of land planning experience from coastal, resort and military communities to his newly appointed role in Bryan County.

In his previous role in St. Marys, which boasts a population of over 18,000, Adams led the city to its first citywide Master Plan and their first rewrite of their zoning code in over 20 years. While there, Adams worked with UGA’s Marine Extension and SeaGrant services and county partners to lead a nationally-recognized sea rise study, investigating the impact of rising waters and storm surge on public facilities.

Adams has also worked in the Sun Valley area of Idaho, as Regional Planner for Blaine County, where he led the County through award-winning, visioning process and comprehensive planning and zoning code rewrite, called Blaine 2025. The two-year project was awarded the Idaho Smart Growth Award for Citizen Participation. His work in Kansas, for the Flint Hills Regional Council, involved acting as Regional Planner for a seven-county regional government. These planning efforts worked across nineteen counties in Kansas and Oklahoma and several other state agencies and partners. The Flint Hills Frontiers project won the Missouri American Planning Association’s 2015 Outstanding and Innovative Plan award.

Adams earned his Bachelor’s of Landscape Architecture, from the University of Georgia, a Master’s of Landscape Architecture from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana and a Doctorate in Social Theory from the University of London’s London Consortium.

Adams’s wife Marilyn is a graduate of Georgia Tech’s School of Architecture and has worked for over fifteen years in affordable housing and historic preservation. They have two children; their son is in his final year at Furman and their daughter will be a junior next year in high school. Their family enjoys Georgia football, camping trips, and a good game of tennis. They are also active participants in their church and enjoy volunteering in the community.

“We are fortunate to have someone so experienced and qualified join the county's staff," Bryan County Administrator Ben Taylor said. “This position is extremely important to county operations, and Chairman Infinger and the commission have full confidence in Mr. Adams. His training and experience in St. Marys, which has experienced tremendous growth as a coastal community – just like we are now, have equipped him to lead the planning and zoning department into the future, and we congratulate him on this well-deserved appointment."