Alexandria — Karl W. Moritz has been appointed as acting director of Planning and Zoning for the City of Alexandria, effective July 7. Moritz succeeds Faroll Hamer, who is retiring.
Moritz joined the City of Alexandria in 2008 as deputy director for Long Range and Strategic Planning. In that position, he was responsible for neighborhood planning, community development, demographics and forecasting, and geographic information systems. In 2013, he became deputy director for Current Planning and assumed oversight of development, land use and zoning, and historic preservation, as well as staff support for the Planning Commission, the Boards of Architectural Review, and the Board of Zoning Appeals.
Prior to his work in Alexandria, Moritz served for 16 years with the Montgomery County, Md., Planning Department and eight years with the Northern Virginia Regional Commission. He holds a bachelor’s degree in geography from Johns Hopkins University and a master’s degree in urban and environmental planning from the University of Virginia.