Senior Richmond planner leaves for Vancouver

Brian Jackson, Richmond's acting general manager of planning and development, is heading to Vancouver.

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A Richmond City Hall planner who helped guide the largest wave of development to wash over City Centre has jumped ship.

Brian Jackson, Richmond's director of development, has accepted a new post with the City of Vancouver. Jackson will assume the role of Vancouver's general manager of planning and development Aug. 27.

Jackson joined Richmond in 2008 and promptly introduced a set of awards to celebrate architectural design. Over the next four years he led planning, developer negotiations and development approvals in a city experiencing significant change in its core.

Jackson notified Richmond last week of his resignation. A replacement has not been named, according to city spokesperson Ted Townsend.

With the Richmond Olympic Oval and Canada Line as catalysts, development in City Centre has been moving at a record pace. The value of projects now under construction or in the planning process now total $4 billion, led by the 2,500-condominium project of River Green near the oval.

Jackson was in the midst of stick-handling the largest single application the city's development department has ever received. Jingon International Development Group is proposing to build Vancouver International Plaza next to River Rock Casino Resort, a mixed-use entertainment complex that would feature floating restaurants, high-end hotels and commercial and retail space on 30 hectares (73 acres) of land.

Previously, from 1998 to 2008, Jackson worked as a senior associate for IBI Group, a consulting firm used by Richmond City Hall to help plan the re-envisioned City Centre.

In his last few months at Richmond City Hall, Jackson was filling in for general manager of planning and development Joe Erceg, who is currently deputy chief administrative officer.

Former deputy CAO Mike Kirk retired last fall, opening the door for general managers to take turns in the position.

Jackson will join another former Richmond planner at Vancouver City Hall. David McLellan, who was Richmond's general manager of urban development until 2003, is Vancouver's deputy city manager.