Farmington Hills announces new director of planning and community development

FARMINGTON HILLS — Although she officially began her new role last July, it was only recently that Farmington Hills announced that Charmaine Kettler-Schmult was promoted to the position of director of planning and community development for the city.

Prior to her promotion, Kettler-Schmult was the city’s community development and special projects coordinator for approximately 12 years.

Overall, she has worked for Farmington Hills for more than 25 years.

In her newest role, Kettler-Schmult is responsible for promoting city development, monitoring property maintenance and managing special planning projects, including updating the city’s master plan.

“It’s exciting, but it’s a lot of work,” Kettler-Schmult said. “So it’s tempered with the knowledge of that additional responsibility and what needs to happen for the overall department.”

Farmington Hills City Manager Gary Mekjian made the decision to promote Kettler-Schmult after the city’s previous director retired.

She applied for the position and went through an interviewing process.

“There were several facets that made her the best candidate,” Mekjian said. “One was her technical acumen as a person in the planning field and someone that’s well respected in that field. Secondly, her familiarity with (the) Planning Commission and those on City Council. … (She) feels very comfortable presenting different cases and different projects before those elected bodies.”

There are also some other specific factors that make Kettler-Schmult an asset to the city, from Mekjian’s perspective.

“She has a very high level of familiarity with our planning ordinances and zoning ordinances … (and) along with other folks in our organization that are part of our development team, it makes us a bit of a force to be reckoned with, to try to get projects through as quickly as possible and into construction,” he said. “So it’s key.”

Kettler-Schmult discussed the primary differences between her new role and the one she previously held.

“My current role is director over the entire department, which includes code enforcements, buildings, planning (and) community development,” she said. “Previously, I was only the community development coordinator, and that would be primarily dealing with grant administration (and) community development block grants.”

Aside from going through the process of updating the city’s master plan, Kettler-Schmult  also has other aspirations in her new role.

“Making sure that everyone on my team is moving forward in a very positive, productive way,” she said. “We’ve got a lot happening through our building department. Our code enforcement’s always keeping up with things that are going on, so the goal, short-term, is keeping everything steady, having that good responsiveness to the community and services that they’re expecting, and then moving forward we’re looking to incorporate some technological advances, especially with permitting and applications.”

Kettler-Schmult expanded on some of the roles she helps play for the city.

“With the planning office, that department handles the requests for new development that comes into the community, so it’s making sure that complies with the goals and vision, or what we see as the future of the community — so different land uses, different areas, the building permits,” she said. “That’s how you make sure you have quality construction going on in the community and making sure that residents are aware of what those updated and necessary regulations are for safety in construction. Code enforcement, they’re out there almost every day looking for issues that pop up, making sure we get that trash taken care of, (making) sure that folks aren’t in violation of codes that make the community a very livable and aesthetically pleasing location. And new development, they’re cranking forward with processing all the federal grants that keep coming our way, so the funding’s being used properly.”

Kettler-Schmult’s new role comes during a time when the city has been considering what could lie ahead over the next half century, as this year is Farmington Hills’ 50th anniversary.

“It’s a very interesting and exciting view for the future, especially since we’re in the middle of this master plan process,” she said. “Looking to see, since we’re at our 50th anniversary for the community, what’s gonna be coming up for the next 50 years? Our development, our planning. Lots of things have been status quo for the last 15, 20, and looking at that new vision the Planning Commission and City Council are trying to put together for different corridors — for a different vision for what’s gonna be happening in the community — it’s pretty exciting to see how this is gonna play out. We’re still in the middle of it, so it’s really hard to predict where we’re going.”