Westmoreland planning department leader shifts to redevelopment authority, land bank

Brian Lawrence won’t move his belongings far when he assumes his new role as executive director of Westmoreland County’s redevelopment authority and land bank.

The 37-year-old Greensburg resident, a 10-year veteran of the county’s planning department, will run the agencies that oversee community revitalization, programs to remove blight and improve living conditions for low- to moderate-income residents. The redevelopment authority and county planning department, where Lawrence serves as a deputy director, occupy offices on the same floor of the downtown Greensburg courthouse extension building.

“It’s just a different direction off the elevator,” Lawrence said. “I’ll be working with the same people, and they all know me.”

Lawrence will be paid $95,000 annually to run the redevelopment authority, which operates on a $500,000 budget. He replaces April Kopas, who now is director of the Westmoreland Cultural Trust.

He was one of two finalists, said Redevelopment Authority Chairwoman Donna Holdorf Roadman. An initial round of interviews in January failed to identify a proper candidate for the position, she said.

The board “saw the change in agency’s leadership as an opportunity to find a candidate with a solid background in planning and broad experience in not only blight remediation but community and economic development via engagement with Westmoreland’s municipal leaders as well as local residents,” she said.

The redevelopment authority and land bank are separate entities but operate with the same four-person staff.

The land bank purchases blighted properties with a goal to rehabilitate or demolish existing structures and have those locations return to the tax rolls.

Lawrence said he wants to continue the work of both agencies.

“It’s a matter to work with our partners and listen to their ideas. I want to hear about how we can do our job and do it better,” Lawrence said.

Lawrence has a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in geography and is a certified urban and regional planner.

He recently coordinated the county’s updated comprehensive plan and has been overseeing Westmoreland’s role in a multi-county study of broadband internet needs.