Stuart Sirota
Stuart Sirota to lead Maryland planning assistance initiatives to local government
Secretary David R. Craig, today named Stuart Sirota, AICP to serve as assistant secretary for the Maryland Department of Planning (MDP). Mr. Sirota, or “Stu,” comes to the department with 29 years of experience as a professional planner, having served as the principal of TND Planning Group, the consulting practice he founded in 2005. In his position, Sirota will be leading the agency’s Planning Services division, which provides technical services to support planning to Maryland’s county and municipal governments.
“Stu brings a wealth of experience in helping local government implement their planning visions,” said Craig. “His involvement with helping advance urban, suburban and rural efforts in Maryland is in line with the mission of MDP, to advise, assist and provide technical planning support to all communities across the state.”
Sirota comes to MDP with a well-rounded planning resume, working at all levels of the profession. Over the past decade, he has been recognized for his work in transformative planning and design for urban, suburban, and rural communities throughout Maryland and the U.S. Mr. Sirota has provided planning and implementation expertise to a diverse client base that has included local and state government, non-profit organizations and real estate developers. Highlights from his recent work include: developing strategies for preserving and revitalizing Port Tobacco in Charles County; working with economists to identify near term redevelopment opportunities around the West Baltimore MARC Station; and providing in-house project management of multiple planning studies at the New Castle County (DE) Department of Land Use. Stu was also involved with planning numerous mixed-use communities on the Eastern Shore, Delaware, and Pennsylvania.
Prior to his consulting practice, Sirota worked at Parsons Brinckerhoff in Baltimore, where he formed and led the Land Use Section to focus on the integration of transportation and land use planning. Prior to that, he was a supervising planner at the Maryland Transit Administration, where he was instrumental in planning new transit facilities and services, introducing new planning tools, encouraging stronger connections between land use and transit.
Stu lives in Towson with his wife, Lisa, and three young children.
MDP sees Maryland cities, towns and communities as attractive, vibrant places to live that will grow in ways that add value to the landscape and provide opportunity to new enterprises. Our natural, cultural and historic resources are catalysts that strengthen and renew economic and community development. Our mission is “Supporting Communities, Preserving Resources, Enriching Lives… Changing Maryland.”