Fort Mill has stolen away Lancaster County’s Planning Director.
Penelope G. Karagounis began work Monday helping to lead the town’s residential and commercial growth. She had been Lancaster County’s Planning Director for nearly seven years.
Mayor Guynn Savage introduced Karagounis during a town council meeting on Monday morning. The new planning director had not even picked up her business cards.
Background. Chris Pettit has been serving as temporary planning director, and he is now assistant town manager. Pettit had been serving in the role after former planning director Joe Cronin quit in late 2017 to become town administrator for Seabrook Island.
Municipal planning directors have sway over the construction of homes, businesses and building projects as developers consult them to discuss zoning, annexation or building density options.
Someone like Karagounis may look over requests and provide advice on whether they should be accepted or not by the town planning commission. The Fort Mill Town Council considers that advice before making any decision.
Karagounis is a graduate of UNC Charlotte, where she received a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Geography with a focus on Urban and Regional Analysis. During her studies, she worked a two-year stint in the planning department in Pineville, where her immigrant father operated two restaurants for nearly three decades, according to media reports.
Karagounis went to work for Lancaster County in 2004 before becoming Planning Director there in June 2012.
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