LEBANON — Nathan Reichert, Lebanon’s new director of Planning and Development, likens his philosophy of being a good municipal planner to the Big 10 football teams he remembers from his youth in Muscatine, Iowa.
Those teams, Reichert told the Valley News in a recent phone interview, were not necessarily exciting to watch, but they were consistent and highly effective.
Like those teams, “good planning works when you are methodical and thoughtful,” Reichert said. “To quote my Iowa Hawkeyes, ‘We are not the flashiest car in the parking lot, but we sure get to the end zone.’ And that’s the way we have to be sometimes (as planners).”
Reichert, 52, started as Lebanon planning and development director on Oct. 3, replacing Senior Planner and Zoning Administrator Tim Corwin, who had filled the planning director role as an interim. Reichert’s annual salary will be approximately $124,800, according to Lebanon Deputy City Manager David Brooks.
Lebanon appealed to him, Reichert said, because of its smaller town community culture, where Reichert has always felt most comfortable, and because Lebanon is a city “with a bright future and a lot of positive momentum.”
Reichert said that Lebanon possesses a wealth of vital assets for building a strong and vibrant community, including a “terrific” education system for grades pre-K through 12, its proximity to Dartmouth College and a teaching hospital at Dartmouth Health.
“You go back to those basic inputs of today’s economy, which is centered around ideas and people,” Reichert said. “Lebanon sits in a place where the creative class can come together and make things happen. It’s the center of the regional economy where people come to work, and there’s a lot of positive motion that’s happening.”
Before coming to Lebanon, Reichert served as the director of land use in North Stonington, Conn., where he provided staff support to the town’s planning and zoning commission, economic development commission and other town boards and committees. Reichert also previously served as the zoning official for the town of Westerly, R.I., a coastal town with a population of over 17,000 people. Reichert also served three-terms as a state representative in the Iowa General Assembly from 2005 to 2011.
“It was the most powerful and amazing opportunity I have had in my life,” Reichert said of his time as a legislator, attributing his decision to enter politics to his passion for community and for issues such as accessibility to housing and healthcare.
Reichert said he left politics after losing his district seat in the 2010 general election to Iowa state Rep. Mark Lofgren, R-Muscatine, by 5,458 votes to 4,014.
“That’s part of how our democracy works,” Reichert said. “We pick and choose the people who represent us, and hopefully they will do great work. And if the tide changes and goes the other way, we hope that whoever replaces us takes that same seriousness and focus on representing the interests of the people to heart.”
Reichert said he learned more during his six years as a legislator than in any of his studies, including at the Henry B. Tippie School of Management at the University of Iowa, where he earned a Master of Business Administration, and the University of Northern Colorado, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree.
“For every bill that came through, you had to be cogent in order to make a determination, so you have to be fluent in all the forms of legislation that the legislature touches,” Reichert said.”And through that process I learned an enormous amount.”
In addition to gaining a breadth of knowledge in relevant topics ranging from economic markets and housing to government operations, Reichert said he also learned through politics how to work effectively with others and navigate processes to achieve successful outcomes.
Good governing, Reichert said, “is about relationships and about making sure that people are getting taken care of. If that happens then you make good laws and policies.”
Taking care of people, building positive relationships and cultivating dialogue are also components of his philosophy as a planner, Reichert indicated.
In his interview with the Valley News, Reichert stressed that good planning should be “thoughtful and methodical” and focused on “smart growth,” meaning growth that aligns with a community’s values and needs.
When asked about Lebanon’s historical reputation for having cumbersome regulations for new development, Reichert declined to speculate about the city’s challenges.
“I can’t speak to that,” Reichert said. “For me, that perspective and history started on Monday (Oct. 3).”
Reichert acknowledged that housing is a major challenge, in Lebanon as well as regionally. But Reichert also pointed to Lebanon’s current work to develop new zoning ordinances to facilitate the development of new housing types, such as cottage courts and accessory dwelling units.
Several of these new zoning proposals, which the City Council reviewed recently, aim to address “the missing middle,” an industry term describing the lack of housing options for families who need three or more bedrooms. The majority of new housing additions in the Lebanon area are either studios or apartments with only one or two bedrooms.
“Everyone has to have an opportunity to find their place in life,” Reichert said. “That high-end home has to be available, but you also need to have housing opportunities for everyone. And striking that balance is a challenge, no matter what community you are in.”
Reichert also spoke frequently about the importance of strong communication and healthy dialogue, particularly with the community a planner serves.
“On one hand, we make rules and enforce them from the standpoint of what you can build or where,” Reichert said. “We also engage the community to find what the community is seeking and what its needs are. And that conversation is powerfully important to shaping smartly and thoughtfully and developing a place where people want to be.”
Lebanon hired Reichert to replace David Brooks, who served as the planning and development director from 2005 until September of this year. Brooks was promoted to Lebanon’s deputy city manager following the retirement of former deputy city manager Paula Maville.
Patrick Adrian can be reached at padrian@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.