Christopher Hadwin, the director of planning for the New York City Department of City Planning’s Staten Island borough, has been named the new director of planning for Palm Springs, City Manager Justin Clifton announced Friday.
Hadwin has been with the New York City Department of City Planning for the past seven years. He was hired in 2015 to serve as a senior planner and promoted to deputy director of the Staten Island borough in 2017. He was appointed director of the borough the following year.
“Chris Hadwin is a talented executive whose many years of planning experience, working with stakeholders, and tackling community issues in the City of New York and in Canada will be a tremendous asset to the City of Palm Springs,” Clifton said in a news release issued Friday. “We are excited to welcome him to the management team at City Hall.”
Hadwin replaces Flinn Fagg in the role. Fagg, who came to Palm Springs in 2014 after serving as planning director in Las Vegas, was recently promoted to deputy city manager.
Prior to his position in New York, Hadwin served as an associate negotiator and land use representative with the Ontario Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs in Toronto, Canada from 2013-15. He also served as a planner for the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and for Rocky View County in the Calgary area.
In his role with the city of New York, some of Hadwin’s key accomplishments include adoption of the Bay Street Corridor rezoning, a revitalization plan, and $250 million investment to facilitate 1,300 new affordable units within a mixed-use, transit-oriented community. He also implemented Staten Island’s inclusionary housing program in several large private developments to create new affordable housing, collaborated with stakeholders to modernize outdated zoning regulations to protect the area’s unique natural features and freshwater tidal wetlands, and implemented new zoning measures to assist with recovery from Hurricane Sandy.
Hadwin received a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto.
“I am humbled by the opportunity to continue my dedication to public service by joining the incredible team at the City of Palm Springs,” said Hadwin. “I look forward to meeting and making connections across the community and working to enrich all that makes Palm Springs such an inclusive, dynamic and vibrant place to live.”
Hadwin and his husband Ryan, along with their dog Roscoe, will be relocating to Palm Springs within the next few weeks. He begins his new position at City Hall on Aug. 1.
This is the second director-level hire in the city in less than a month. In late May, Yvonne Wise was chosen as the new director of the Parks and Recreation Department. She begins her new position on Monday, June 27.
