City shoreline planner Peter Namtvedt Best has resigned just as the city prepares for the daunting task of updating its shoreline master plan.
Best, who joined the city in 2001, turned in his resignation late last week. He will continue on a part-time basis until mid-September.
“This is a big loss to me and the department,” Planning Director Kathy Cook said. “We’re working on a transition plan now because he was working on so many big projects. We want to keep him on a part-time basis as long as we can.”
Best said he’s leaving the city to be a stay-at-home dad for his twin toddlers.
“It’s with a lot of mixed emotions that I’m leaving, and I have a lot of hope and pride for the projects I’m working on, but my kids will only be this age once,” he said, noting that he might be open to returning once his children are older.
Best’s position is an important one for a city that boasts 53 miles of shoreline.
He lead shoreline research, reviewed shoreline permits and was successful in obtaining shoreline restoration grants worth millions of dollars.
As founder and coordinator of the city’s Shoreline Stewardship
Program, Best led a corps of volunteers and professionals on
hands-on conservation and environmental education projects. The
program’s 2005 salmon study startled marine biologists with data
that debunked old notions about regional salmon migrations and
revealed that some federal and state protections were falling short
for the most sensitive salmon species.
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