Developer Switches Sides, Becomes Planning Director

Schichtling's leap hasn't come entirely out of the blue - he has also served on the city council, and been a longtime proponent of New Urbanism. As an architecture student at the University of Virginia, he studied under Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk and Andres Duany:

Schichtling told the Maryland Gazette that as Planning and Code Administration director "...he plans to continue focusing the city on the kind of mixed-use and transit-oriented development emphasized as "smart growth" both in Gaithersburg and throughout Montgomery County."

Schictling also told the reporter that he is a big fan of The Kentlands, a nearby New Urbanist development, and he often gives people tours there to illustrate New Urbanist ideas.