Planning Director To Retire

Planning Director Charlie Tiedemann is retiring from his position after almost 10 years of service to the town.

He will remain in his position until a new director is found, which will probably be in January. The town is currently seeking applicants, who will work with Tiedemann before taking on the position.

This will be his second time that Tiedemann has retired, but he said that this time it is for sure.

Tiedemann retired from the surveying business in 1999 before coming out of retirement to join the Planning Department in 2002 as the Zoning Administrator.

Since he started, he said that his department was not nearly as organized.

“Before it was a hodge podge of regulations, now it is more streamlined,” said Tiedemann.

He also said that Town Hall has definitely gone through some changes since he started and he has enjoyed seeing the town’s business district develop. The development of larger shopping centers on 101A is one of the things he believes has made a big mark on Amherst.

Although the town has developed over the years, Tiedemann said that residential developments have been done tastefully and kept a nice, colonial atmosphere.

He lives with his wife in Amherst, where he has been for 49 years, but loves to travel and plans to do a lot more now that he is retired. He now plans to travel to the southeast portion of the country where it is a little warmer.

Tiedemann joked that he still has a lot of work to do, well, mainly for his wife and her “Honey-Do” list.

Although he will enjoy his official retirement, he said that he will miss his fellow employees in town.

“There is a wonderful group of people that work here,” said Tiedemann. “They are pleasant to work with and I think I will miss that camaraderie.”