Eleanor Sharpe, a graduate of Immaculate Conception High School in Jamaica, has been named the deputy director for planning and zoning at the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Department of Planning. She will coordinate the activities of a number of the department’s commissions to ensure that all efforts run smoothly. These commissions include the City Planning Commission, Historical Commission, Art Commission and the staff of the Zoning Board of Adjustment. According to Sharpe, her role will be to oversee how these organizations can work together better by aligning their activities to serve the city’s citizens in a cooperative manner. Sharpe will also serve as the executive director of the City Planning Commission, a job that is closely linked to her leadership of the department.
A native of Jamaica, Sharpe has a BA in architecture from Howard University and first came to Philadelphia to attend graduate school for her Master’s degree in city planning at the University of Pennsylvania. After working with Professor Ira Harkavy, the founding director at the Netter Center for Community Partnerships at the university, she went to work as the director of planning in New Rochelle, New York. Serving in that role for three years, Sharpe returned to Philadelphia to become the director of legislative and intergovernmental affairs at the City Planning Commission.
Sharpe views her role with the Planning Department and the City Planning Commission as “bridging the gaps” between the city’s zoning and planning actions and the ways the community can contribute to the city’s efforts.
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