Mary Phillips, Project Director

Mary is a land use planner with nearly two decades of experience in both the public and private sectors, specializing in housing policy, urban design, and development code reform. Her work covers the full range of land use regulation, from drafting comprehensive plans, zoning codes, and design standards to administering and applying them as a public sector planner, giving her a practical, grounded understanding of what makes policy work in the real world.

Her expertise includes creating residential land use regulations and design standards that expand housing choice, support attainable housing, and reflect local community character. She has authored neighborhood master plans and historic preservation plans that maintain a unique sense of place while supporting sustainable growth, led development code audits and updates to streamline regulations and support equitable development, and refined design standards and development review processes to improve predictability and usability for all stakeholders. Throughout her work, she integrates meaningful public participation to ensure community voices help shape policy outcomes.

As a skilled communicator, Mary translates complex regulatory concepts for diverse audiences, including community members, practitioners, and decision-makers, to support thoughtful, informed policymaking. She brings that same clarity and care to every project, with a commitment to creating implementable land use policies that foster vibrant, inclusive communities.

She holds a Master of City and Regional Planning and a Bachelor of Architecture from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Outside of work, she can be found hiking and camping with her family, tending her farm, building with Legos, or playing saxophone in her local community band.