Montgomery County, a suburban D.C. jurisdiction with over a million residents, has a new head of the department that plans how its 317,000 acres are used.

Jason Sartori will serve as the new director of Montgomery County Planning, the Planning Board announced Thursday, following a six-month nationwide search. Sartori, who has been with the county Planning Department for the past eight years, served as chief of the Countywide Planning and Policy Division since January 2019.

“My colleagues and I are confident Jason will lead Montgomery Planning in delivering innovative, equitable, and economically competitive land use recommendations and policies for the county,” Planning Board Chair Artie Harris said in a release.

“I know Jason will further the Planning Board’s priorities of accelerating the production of housing, especially affordable housing as this is a critical challenge our county is facing,” he said.

Sartori will lead a 150-person team and report directly to the county’s five-person board. The director guides the growth of the county based on the recommendations of its general plan, Thrive Montgomery 2050, which in 2021 was overhauled for the first time in over 60 years.

The county is focused on attracting businesses and residents, even as developers push back against newly passed rent control measures. It is also working through creating more widespread public transportation options as the Purple Line, which has been in the works for years, has had its opening delayed until at least 2027.

“I am excited to harness the department’s outstanding interdisciplinary expertise and independent analysis to craft plans and policy recommendations that strengthen every community and create a greater sense of place and inclusion for all,” Sartori said in the release.

“And I’m committed to using our community-focused, data-driven approach to advance the county’s priorities identified in Thrive Montgomery 2050,” he added.

Montgomery Planning has undergone some upheaval over the last year.

Last October, all five members of the board simultaneously resigned at the request of the Montgomery County Council, which said it had “lost confidence” in the body. That came after the board chair at the time, Casey Anderson, was disciplined for unprofessional conduct — he has since been cleared of the charges — and after it removed longtime Planning Director Gwen Wright three months before she was set to retire without explanation.

In April, Wright filed a lawsuit alleging the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, a state agency Montgomery Planning is a part of, wasn't compliant with public records laws in response to a records request she filed.

Sartori will start on Nov. 27, replacing acting Director Tanya Stern, who will resume her position as one of two deputy planning directors.