City planning chief leaving
HIGH POINT — A member of the city of High Point's executive team will be stepping down to take a position with another municipality.
Sushil Nepal, who has been director of Planning and Development since July 2022, said his last day with the city will be Nov. 27.
Nepal said he has taken the job of planning director for the city of Gastonia to be closer to his family in Charlotte, and that he will begin his new post in early December.
"Mostly, it was a personal decision to be close to home. It was nothing that High Point did that pushed me out," he said. "My plan was definitely to relocate to High Point, but with inflation and everything, things didn't fall in place. The commute was working and was fun for a little bit, but it was not going to be sustainable for a long time."
Nepal came to High Point from the town of Harrisburg in Cabarrus County, where he served as planning and economic development director.
Prior to that, he was principal planner for the town of Huntersville just north of Charlotte.
He oversees the city department that handles rezoning and special-use permit cases, approves site plans for development projects and administers long-range plans like the High Point 2045 Comprehensive Plan, which was fashioned and adopted during Nepal's tenure.
The new plan lays out recommended patterns of development throughout the city and serves as the official guide in assessing rezoning requests.
"That's something I'm personally proud of, and we all as a staff and the community have done pretty amazing work, going through the process of creating that new vision through the comprehensive plan," he said. "I think we've built a solid foundation to get us to the next level."
Another project Nepal helped implement was streamlining the city's procedures for rezonings to give the Planning and Zoning Commission final decision authority.
"I'm thankful for the opportunity and proud of what we've done in High Point, working with staff, elected officials, the development community and homeowners alike. I feel like we moved the needle, in terms of taking High Point to the next level," he said.
