Jamie Whitehouse named Sussex P&Z director
On March 10, Sussex County Council named Jamie Whitehouse as planning and zoning director. Whitehouse replaces former director Janelle Cornwell, who resigned in January to take a planning position with the City of Lewes after three years as county planning director.
Whitehouse will oversee a staff of nearly a dozen employees in one of the county’s highest-profile departments. Planning and zoning staff, among other duties, oversee land use in unincorporated areas, and support county council, planning and zoning commission and board of adjustment as development applications work through the rezoning, subdivision, conditional-use and variance processes.
Among his highest priorities in the coming months, Whitehouse said, are drafting and implementing ordinances to enhance Sussex County’s land-use code and support the recently adopted comprehensive plan, strengthening the office’s use of geographic information systems to provide more detailed information to the public on land use, and helping the public be better engaged in the planning application process.
“This has been my long-range goal since childhood, being able to give back to the community at a level such as this, and I’m so honored and privileged to be afforded this chance by the county council,” Whitehouse said. “Delaware has been so welcoming to me and my family, and I look forward to being able to reciprocate that hospitality in my new role as Sussex County’s planning and zoning director.”
A native of Walsall, United Kingdom, Whitehouse moved to the United States with his wife and children in 2016 to be closer to her family, and to help him realize a boyhood dream of living in America.
As a planner the past 16 years, Whitehouse has worked in the public and private sectors in England and Delaware, holding professional accreditations with both the American Institute of Certified Planners and the Royal Town Planning Institute. He holds an undergraduate law degree from Coventry University in Coventry, England, and a master’s degree in spatial planning from Birmingham City University in Birmingham, England.
Whitehouse joined Sussex County in 2017 as a staff planner and most recently served as planning and zoning manager. Before his tenure with the county, Whitehouse worked for the Delaware Department of Transportation as an engineering-planning-surveying technician. Prior to that, while in his native England, Whitehouse worked for Birmingham City Council as a senior planner, and operated his own consulting company, which provided land-use services to local communities similar to Sussex County. In addition to land-use planning, Whitehouse has a background in urban and rural design, community engagement and problem-solving.
“His credentials are very impressive, he’s very knowledgeable, and he has a firm grasp on the challenges and complexities facing Sussex County in the years ahead,” said Council President Mike Vincent. “I am confident that this is a good move for him and another great step forward for Sussex County.”
