Eric Arbeene, who has served as Wellesley’s planning director for the past three years, announced at the end of the Dec. 1 Planning Board meeting that he is resigning effective Dec. 31. Arbeene said he’s taking a new job in the private sector.
Serving as the town’s planning director, he said, “has been quite an honor, it’s been a challenge, it’s been interesting, it’s been a learning experience.” Arbeene thanked Planning Department staff and the Planning Board for their support.
Arbeene was promoted to planning director near the end of 2022, moving up from the senior planner role he’d served in since mid-2021. He replaced Don McCauley after he retired.
The Planning Department and Board in Wellesley have been in the middle of non-stop action regarding development in town during Arbeene’s tenure, from the town’s compliance with the MBTA Communities Act to controversy over residential incentive overlay zoning to the creation of a Strategic Housing Plan. As Arbeene told the Planning Board, “it’s never boring.”
(We found Arbeene excellent to work with, and thank him for his support in posting public notices on Swellesley.)
Of course, goodbye doesn’t always mean goodbye when it comes to town government. The consulting firm that employs former Wellesley Planning Director Michael Zehner, for example, was tapped to manage the MassBay Site Visioning Project (the initial workshop for that has been postponed as the town mulls legal action against the state). So who knows, maybe we’ll see Arbeene down the road sometime…
The Planning Department is also now looking to hire a preservation planner after Madison Vlass recently left.
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