City Manager David Sykes appoints Chris Burton to lead the City’s growth
After a nationwide recruitment, San José City Manager David Sykes has promoted Chris Burton to the Director of the Planning, Building and Code Enforcement (PBCE) Department. Burton will fill the role on June 21.
“Our City continues to evolve from a suburban to an urban environment,” said Sykes. “Chris is well equipped to help us transform and meet our growth challenges with innovative solutions in an equitable manner.”
“For more than a decade, Chris has proudly served San José, managing programs that support job creation and the development of housing,” said Mayor Sam Liccardo. “His ability to bring together diverse stakeholders, and creating room for each to have a seat at the table, will ensure San José continues to be recognized as a world-renowned urban center.”
With 15 years of experience leading large and small scale developments, Burton understands that the future of San José includes our diverse community, businesses of all sizes, land use, and economics. He began his career in the City of San José as a Project Manager in the PBCE Department’s Planning Division where he worked on more than 200 development projects. These included multi-family residential projects, mixed-use commercial developments, major corporate campuses, and some of the largest industrial projects in North San José, such as the Samsung headquarters. He has spent the last 13 years in the City Manager’s Office of Economic Development (OED); he was first a Business Development Officer and most recently served as the Deputy Director of Business and Economic Development. In OED, Burton led the implementation of the City’s comprehensive economic strategy to catalyze job growth, private investment, and revenue generation. He has worked on the development and coordination of major initiatives including the study and establishment of the Commercial Linkage Fee to ensure that affordable housing opportunities are available, and the ideation of the Development Fee Framework to create transparency for developers and investors as they consider San José as an opportunity. Burton has taken a lead role on complex programs including the creation of the Downtown Highrise Incentive to further the vision of the city’s urban core.
“I am honored to lead this department and its dedicated staff at this critical moment in time. I look forward to continuing to work with this amazing community to facilitate quality development while building an inclusive and prosperous future for our residents,” said Burton.
With an annual budget of approximately $65 million with almost 300 employees, the Director of PBCE provides leadership for the City’s broad range of planning and development services, including implementation of the Envision San José 2040 General Plan, and leads citywide initiatives such as implementation of the Diridon Station Area implementation, and the Housing Crisis Workplan.
Burton holds a Bachelor of Arts in Human Geography from the University of Westminster, London.
About the City of San José
With more than one million residents, San José is one of the most diverse large cities in the United States and is Northern California’s largest city and the 10th largest city in the nation. San José’s transformation into a global innovation center has resulted in one of the largest concentrations of technology companies and expertise in the world. In 2011, the City adopted Envision San José 2040, a long-term growth plan that sets forth a vision and a comprehensive road map to guide the City’s anticipated growth through the year 2040.